Hacker News Reader

Comment by comrade1 | Hacker News Reader

Part of me can understand why test pilots in the 50s, 60s, 70s, etc did what they did. American test pilots and early astronauts did it for country first (in the context of the cold war), humanity second.

I have a hard time understanding why a test pilot would risk their life so that Jerry Seinfeld can fly to the edge of the atmosphere and back.

View on HN

Acrobats risk their lives while entertaining casino guests:

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/cirque-du-soleil-da...

I suspect that the test pilot who gets to fly a new kind of spaceplane finds it more gratifying than the acrobat who does the same show every night for a decade.

As a stage performer, you're grateful for every performance you get to do. It might get a bit old, but it beats not being on stage. (Also: You don't last for a decade at any given show. You keep moving on to other things.)

And for many, being on stage is every bit as exciting as flying a space ship. The emotional energy from a good performance is amazing. (It's certainly not the pay that keeps them)

Someone should write a book on how to exploit people who do things for a love that transcends money.

You say that you understand people risking their lives "for country". I don't understand that.

There are lots of motivations in life and nationalism is only one reason. Personally, I don't think nationalism is good for motivating people towards more than warfare. I would argue that even the Apollo Program wasn't motivated by nationalism (it merely exploited nationalism for budget and attention) – its real motivation was true to the George Mallory explanation for risking his life climbing Everest: because it's there.

I do understand doing things to reach the edge of space because its there. For the engineering interest. To change people's perspective about what is difficult and what is easy. To make people look towards space instead of towards their borders and flags.

People have stopped thinking that progress can be made in space. Virgin Galactic and other commercial space companies are trying to change that. Sending rich people to space is simply a funding model.

> American test pilots and early astronauts did it for country first (in the context of the cold war), humanity second.

That's a bold statement. You don't think it might be an adreneline rush / wanting to push your body to its very limits kind of thing?

Just basing my statement off of American pop history. But I do believe it. My brother was a test pilot and I've also met some true patriots in my professional work.

It sounds rather fun flying experimental rocket ships. I'd give it a bash if I was any good at that stuff and they'd have me.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com