Is Jeb a satire on real life astronauts?

[samstarman5]

I was thinking how the incredible fame the early astronauts enjoyed was not entirely deserved. After all, they didn't design the rocket or the mission or do all the math needed to make it possible. (for the most part). Apollo era astronauts were mostly there to float in the can and flip switches on demand from mission control, just like Kerbals.

However, there is something to be said for the bravery the early astronauts showed when they boarded those multi-story colossi crammed to the gills with fuel and liquid oxygen. It does take serious guts to ride a barely tested rocket.

And I wondered, so if I were looking for humans to stuff in my shiny new rocket, what characteristics would I look for? I'd want to find someone who was educated and skilled and willing to strap themselves into a crazy untested contraption and have a good attitude no matter what went down...

Wow, you really need to do your research before just blabbing stuff. Granted they didn't have any influence on the first Mercury capsule, they did press for many changes to it. Gus Grissom and others designed the Gemini capsule, and all of them had influence on what became the Apollo and Space Shuttle. NASA Astronauts are not glorified monkeys. They are accredited engineers, mathematicians, and scientists out to do more with what they know. Jebediah Kerman is a satire on the real astronauts, yes, but he is not a representation. Jeb is a speed freak with zero concept on what makes the rocket go up. The Mercury Seven were speed freaks who knew exactly what they were getting into, and knew that they could very well figure out a way to come back home if something went wrong short of the entire craft exploding.

'What about Apollo 1?' You may ask. Apollo 1 was a case of bureaucratic stupidity that overruled any arguments the astronauts came up with, and was also a case of so many things going wrong at once that should never have been expected. It was a tragedy that would have been prevented with the foresight of experienced astronauts who would have designed the door to open outwards.

You do all space services a disservice by assuming astronauts are nothing but ballast on any flight.

[Requiem762]

Not intentionally I think the devs just wanted a true space cowboy

[KSK]

Until sometimes goes wrong (Murphy's Laws assure us it WILL). Like total power failure. Then you have to pilot your own capsule using only your watch, eyeballs and some marks you've made on capsule's tiny window as navigation tools. And deal with carbon dioxide level rising dangerously (because no power). Gordon Cooper managed to bring his failing Mercury capsule safely down while fighting against such odds. That takes some serious guts and skill - dumb luck goes only so far.

I'm fairly sure I read something similar about the Apollo missions. The sim team reckoned they could take any reasonably intelligent person and teach them to fly to the Moon and back - providing that everything worked. Landing on the Moon was entirely different matter though.

[Camelotking524]

Jeb = Test Pilot

Bill = Scientist

Bob = Isn't even sure why he is here.