Life Insurance Restrictions For Space Tourists

RockDoctor writes: Reuters reports that there are changes afoot for life insurance contracts, which will require additional premiums for "space tourists." While not likely to be a disabling issue for the industry — the statistics for astronauts dying in flight are not that bad — it is an issue that people considering such a jaunt will need to address. Obviously this has been brought to the fore by the unfortunate crash of the Virgin Galactic craft under test. Relatedly, an article at IEEE Spectrum explains why SpaceShipTwo's rocket fuel wasn't the cause of the accident.

Comments

Doesn't the submitter even RTFA?!?!?

[Anonymous Coward]

The submitter, passed by the "editor":

Relatedly, an article at IEEE Spectrum explains why SpaceShipTwo's rocket fuel wasn't the cause of the accident.

Not.

It says this:

The company’s larger suborbital vehicle, SpaceShipTwo, also employs a hybrid rocket, which at the time of this writing did not appear to have caused October’s tragic accident.

"wasn't" != "does not appear to be".

Q - What's the best decade of a Slashdot editor's life?

A - Third grade.

Gawd.

[i kan reed]

All I want to do is get on a giant pile of explosives, accelerate at several G's, go many times the speed of sound, up into a place utterly lacking in oxygen, sit in unfiltered ionizing solar radiation for a few hours, plummet rapidly to the ground, and go home.

What's so dangerous about any of that?

Re:Gawd.

[i kan reed]

I'd actually wager that's true, but mostly from you underestimating 15th century disease mortality, not any sort of substantial overestimation of space travel risk.

Almost meaningless

[CrimsonAvenger]

Anyone inclined to become a "space tourist" is, pretty much by definition, rich.

In other words, he or she almost certainly doesn't need life insurance to make sure the spouse and rugrats can afford the lifestyle to which they've become accustomed when the breadwinner gets splattered all over the desert.