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My father, who flew combat missions for the Navy in Vietnam and then became a test pilot, told me after the loss of Columbia that if he had had a chance to make that flight and spend 7 days in Earth orbit, even knowing that he'd burn up on reentry, he'd have done it.

rvnx 18 hours ago [ - ]

One way to see it:

  1) Eventually you will die, no matter what. It can be the most mundane thing. Slipping on a ketchup splatter can cause great damage for example.

  2) It's a profession where you intentionally kill people, so, that changes the calculation for your own risk.

  3) It's a unique opportunity.

(and potentially)

  4) Gives a sense of living / be in history books for his family.

So you have a possibility of a guaranteed exciting life for a death that you anyway will have, but doing something you love, it's not too bad.

pdonis 6 hours ago [ - ]

> It's a profession where you intentionally kill people

Not being an astronaut (or being a test pilot, for that matter). That's the context in which he was speaking.

WalterBright 18 hours ago [ - ]

Your father is a better man than I am.