tile repair, perhaps forgetting their research projects FromTeaching Ethics, Fall2003, pp. 89-91. Reprinted with permission of the Board of Directors of Teaching Ethics.. THE CHECK IS IN THE MAIL & quot; or releasing uncharted debris into space, the tiniest fragment of which could have catastrophic effects on future shuttle and space missions? Would they collapse from emotional stress, or even harm each other there in their small, now-lethal cocoon? The astronauts are about to die in the performance of their own professional duties. Not performing them well could affect others. But if there is a chance of survival, even a slim one, wouldn ' t their performance level be diminished by the stress of knowing their fate? This is an argument for not telling them what we know. But if this were a case in medical ethics, the assumption would be made just the other way around. Suppose, for example, that you ' re a physician, and have seven cancer patients, each of whom will die. Would you tell them the truth? Yes, of course; truthtelling even in fatal cancer diagnoses is now standard practice in medicine-though physicians try to do so with tact, empathy, and for Among the standard arguments understanding. people who are facing death truthtelling are that should be allowed to have time to say goodbyes, to set their affairs in order, to make amends, or, if they ' re religious, to make whatever final confessions and prayers they