...a diamond tipped cutter for cheese.
That may be handy for a block of 25 year old Parmigiano-Reggiano. Then again, I already have a chain saw, so I might try that instead.
Even if their was a 25% failure rate (which is obscene and not within the realm of feasibility) I guarantee that you'd have volunteers lined up to man the missions.
Would you be willing to take a commercial air flight if the failure rate was 25%? 15%? 5%? How many pilots would fly with those failure rates? How many companies would send expensive cargoes with those failure rates?
Hell - if things go right they'll be lining colonists up at the gate in the next few decades - and I'll be in line even if I only had a 75% chance of surviving.
Yes, they'll have a lot of volunteers, but how many of those volunteers will have the necessary physical capabilities and specialized skills? Those that do will be too valuable to risk unnecessarily. Besides, where can we put a colony? There simply isn't anyplace that compelling.
Spending a million dollars is worth it if it prevents just one child's life from being destroyed by a marijuana joint as long as that money is spent on my agency or company.
There, I fixed it for you.
The flow chart is a most thoroughly oversold piece of program documentation. -- Frederick Brooks, "The Mythical Man Month"