In article ,
Peter Stickney wrote:
...If the goal is to get instruments to that height, Sounding
Rockets are a much more economical and safer...

You might try pricing sounding rockets sometime -- they are not cheap. As
for "safer", that's a word with many definitions. Sounding rockets are a
good deal less safe for both the payload and the innocent bystanders --
that's why cargo aircraft have pilots, to keep the cargo and the people
on the ground safe.

(As in no Pilot Risk with no Pilot)

And this matters... why, exactly? Again, why is this so different from
a cargo aircraft?
--
"Think outside the box -- the box isn't our friend." | Henry Spencer
-- George Herbert |