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The astronauts add that raw aspect of bravery and potential sacrifice to the story. Not that long hours over years and years dedicated to a single project is no
by gradus_ad 3y ago
The astronauts add that raw aspect of bravery and potential sacrifice to the story. Not that long hours over years and years dedicated to a single project is not sacrifice. But that doesn't hold a candle to a risk your life type of sacrifice.
In 2024 people still get nervous going on domestic flights. I can't imagine how someone could muster the sheer courage to volunteer as an astronaut, either then or now. It's a testament to humanity's willingness to risk even death in pursuit of something greater.
- fsloth 3y ago"humanity's willingness to risk even death in pursuit of something greater." I would rephraze this as 'humanity's capability to sustain a large range of psychological profiles and the capability to filter out from the general population the particular individuals fitting for a given task'. My understanding is the astronauts were a very specific niche group and mostly wanted to fly faster and higher than anyone before them, and were willing to pay any price to achieve this.