All a bunch of chimps, I know - the brilliant engineers just load the hairy little bastard into the capsule, lob him up there, and catch him on the way back down. If your local bus company killed as many passengers, percentage-wise, as NASA did with its "passengers", you'd hang those engineers from a tree. How many NASA engineers died for the space program, Mme?
Astronauts have lost much cachet, so perhaps I shouldn't cavil. Sort of like the Kennedys. Nobody cares about the shuttlenots, launches are only televised after the fact and much edited, and unmanned exploratory craft were always a better buy, anyway. If a self-indulgent rich guy can buy a ride, riding isn't something that important anymore.
Once again, you equate thrill-seeking and risk-taking with courage, to which I'd observe is a shallow attitude. I'd find more to admire in an astronaut if I'd ever seen one buck Nasa authority. Here's another story...you know why Nasa started arranging some of the conjugal visits? The noughts wouldn't sleep with their wives, wouldn't even kiss them. They were TERRIFIED of catching colds. It's awful hard to blow your nose in a space suit, so they'd scratch any who came down with any infection. The flier, once clued that he was part of a planned crew, would immediately avoid all contact with his family. Nasa did not approve, so they'd try to well--encourage things along.