How do you put a whole country on stand-by?

[nikvoodoo]

@nikvoodoo: Yes, food rations will be the limiting factor of course. It is disturbing how extensive the communication blackout is actually.

Besides, I guess that you must have already accumulated a lot of bad karma if you are orbiting earth while hell breaks lose on the planet, like Gennady Padalka and Michael R. Barratt onboard the International Space Station (see Expedition 19 which start in March 2009). What would you do if your chances of returning to earth are exactly zero?

Put on a space suit and hope for the best on reentry?