[delayed]

I think they were saying they would sign up just for the experience, even if it's unnecessary to the program.

But that was exactly the point I was responding to, no? If NASA was fine with skipping the astronauts, then they would just send it unmanned, not find a random volunteer.

especially not one that may chicken out ( "very not brave" ) and destroy the cabin from the inside out by any means necessary (bashing at walls, pissing in cracks, etc.)

This is an interesting comment -- your life is precious brother, you might have something in store down the road :)

Depending on one's age, maybe not honestly? (Not the OP)

If they’re that age, they’re not qualified to be in the crew anyway.

John Glenn was 77 when he flew on the Space Shuttle...

In your opinion: at what age does someone become unworthy of life?

That’s definitely not my point, what I meant was it’s not unreasonable for someone who’s older - maybe children have grown, at our nearing retirement, etc. - why not take a risk to fly to space?

Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori

I wonder how many young minds were twisted by old hypocrites.

the old lie

The young die.

I too played rome total war!

I haven't, but I read the Wilfred Owen poem about young men dying for nothing in WW1.

My theory is that this is something I’d say/do aged 20, and laugh at aged 60. I’m slightly closer to 60 and am into the ‘No’ zone.

I'm sure the other astronauts are really looking forward to fly with a person showing signs of suicidal ideation.

I read this as "accepting a risk of death in exchange for getting to have the incredible experience of flying to the Moon", not that they want to die.

There are different outlooks on risk, but the attitude can certainly be described as cavalier towards life, and may signal something stronger.

Suicide ideation and someone willing to take massive risks for something awesome are very different things

I'm sure the other astronauts are really looking forward to fly with a person showing signs of tolerating massive risks.

Each and every one of them is fully aware that it’s a massive risk and has made their peace with that. You’re getting strapped to a giant rocket. It’s inherently dangerous

Right, so let's add more risk by flying side by side with some nutjob with no regard for their own life. Sounds reasonable.

I don’t actually think astronauts take massive risks. They take massively well-understood and meticulously mitigated risks.

Maybe this is a perspective or semantics thing, but I think it’s distinct and important. They’re not Mavericks they’re Icemans.

> They take massively well-understood and meticulously mitigated risks.

Hopefully they're well-understood and meticulously mitigated risks. Because if they're not... well there's always modern day Boeing.

Historically, around 60% of all astronauts were from the military which is a high-risk occupation.

In the 50s, there was something like a handful of test pilots dying every single month. A subset of the ones who survived became the first astronauts. My understanding is that there are still a significant number of astronauts who were test pilots first.

If you don't have massive risk tolerance, you don't sign up for a moon mission.

> The trip is far more awesome than anything I have planned for the rest of my life.

If you would give your live for a single awsome trip (and you would still have multiple years to live), then you are likely suicidal.

Even if it is rational because your live sucks so hard, I would still have to classify you as suicidal.

Is jumping on a grenade to save another person suicidal? Or is it just a matter of you not agreeing with the rational?

No. You save another person. An awsome trip isn't the same.

Of course it isn't the same, but it does show it is just a matter of you not agreeing with the rational

...no? It's the same as when you say you'd 'die for somebody'. I don't want to die, but if I had to die to save my family I would. That's not being suicidal. Similarly, if space is important enough to you to take this risk (which realistically is a pretty low risk!) I wouldn't call that suicidal either. I take the risk of death driving in my car every day; that's the nature of life.

HN generally skews towards the life-affirming/death-fearing quadrant so I don't think many will relate to you here. It still seems safer than being in an active warzone which hundreds of millions of people somehow manage to tolerate.

You would probably not IRL and if you would anyway it would just mean you're not qualified for the flight. Nasa needs smart people who wants to live and succeed their mission, not people who are ok to die because muh space exploration