> I'd wager there are plenty of aspiring Astronauts that would be okay with an earlier death

The pool of talented astronauts is already surprisingly slim. And every one of them has a brilliant career ahead of them, on a safe planet, if they want it. I bet the percentage of qualified astronauts who are fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants daredevils willing to face certain death for fleeting glory, is actually kind of small. You know what they say about old pilots and bold pilots.

So I'll take your wager.