Comment Re:Why? (Score 2) 178
Why not go back to expendable men though?
One of the reasons manned flights are so damn expensive is because there's redundancy after redundancy to try to do absolutely everything to ensure 99.99999% crew survival rate. By letting crew survival rate go down to, say, 25%, things could get a lot cheaper.
Now, some people are going to say, it's inhuman of society to gamble with the lives of its citizens, but I ask, isn't it ultimately the choice of every *individual* whether or not they want to gamble with their lives? Shouldn't an individual have the right to risk their life if they choose to? Tons of people bungee jump, hang glide, ride motorcycles, parachute, rock climb and so on, taking risks with their lives and society doesn't stop them. I know there would be people who would also choose to risk their lives for the advancement of our spaceflight. Why not take on those people who are willing to volunteer their lives, build some risky rockets, and go to space a lot cheaper.