Aboard the shuttle for this flight was the first teacher in space. Should civilians be allowed on what is basically an experimental launch vehicle? At that time many felt that the placement of a teacher on the shuttle was for purely political purposes. President Reagan was widely seen as doing nothing while the American educational system decayed. Cynics felt that the teacher-in- space idea was cooked up as a method of diverting attention from this problem as was to be seen as Reagan's doing something for education while he really wasn't doing anything. What are the ethical implications if this scenario is true?