FLYING to space is just about the most dangerous thing a person can do. That’s part of the reason nobody has ventured past the International Space Station since the Apollo programme ended in 1972. But as government agencies like NASA and firms including SpaceX start to talk about putting humans on the moon and beyond, it is time to rethink how we approach risking lives in space.
NASA will only approve a spacecraft for human use if there is less than a 1 in 270 chance of crew fatalities over the course of its mission. That is still incredibly high. Good statistics for high-risk activities are hard to come by, but base jumping is about 10 times safer, according to one study that says there is one fatality for every 2317 jumps.
Nominally, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which regulates private space flight in the US, permits higher levels