Stuf4 wrote:
[snip]

Are you talking about leaving home every morning and getting in your car
to go to work? Picture yourself in the poster holding your child, with
the caption "Are you ready for Daddy to go to work?"

You can't eliminate risk...but you can avoid unnecessary risk.


I would be interested to hear how astronauts convince their families
that doing laps around the planet is *necessary*.

If I were an astronaut and I were saying goodbye to my family just
before launch, I could think of lots of reasons why it will be fun.
Lots of reasons why it will be beneficial. Lots as to why it will be
important.

...but *zero* reasons as to why it would be _necessary_.

*

Examine your own line of work. Suppose you die in a traffic accident on
your way to work. Do you consider that to be a necessary risk? The
supreme sacrifice for your company?

Or do you take it as an accepted risk needed to put food on the table?
If so, you could lessen the risk by moving out to the country, or make
any number of lifestyle changes all geared to minimizing the risk. But
maybe your job is glamorous or cool...maybe you get to associate with
astronauts all the time and that justifies the risks you take.

By extension, the astronauts justify the risk they take for their own
personal rewards. Perhaps it's the fame and notoriety, the prestige,
the chance to experience something that few people on earth will ever
know...

They assume a larger risk than you (or I) to achieve something greater,
and are able to justify it to themselves (and their family). Of course,
I would be incorrect if astronauts are resigning from NASA in droves
following the Columbia accident. I wonder how many mission commanders
turned down the next flight before they settled on Eileen Collins.


Tangentially...

I have a friend who is a Navy test pilot who made the Navy cut and is
preparing for his NASA interview for this next astronaut class. In my
last conversation with him, I chose not to ask him how his family
feels about the whole thing. If he gets selected, I will be very
happy for him. And I hope his family will be as well. And I hope he
has a safe and long career.


Perhaps you should warn him about the dangers of spaceflight or ask him
to receive therapy before he needlessly risks his life.


~ CT