1 A guy dies doing something he knows is extremely risky, that he really wants to do. I don't know if I'd call that tragic. It's sort of like astronauts. They all know it's risky, and think it's worth it. Some would say the worst thing about the Challenger explosion was that the crew didn't get to space. *knocks on wood* I tend to think of completely pointless, wasteful death as more tragic.

2 I see your point, but if we had video of the Columbia astronauts being ripped apart by the hypersonic wind, that would have been tragic. I think it's the account of the video recording of Shaw's last moments that got me. The fact that you knew how it would end, but that he kept plugging on.

3 I have a fair amount of "Six Degrees to Kevin Bacon" connection to astronauts and wannabe astronauts. Make space flight directly suicidal, non-return missions, and I'd bet you would still have more qualified applicants than you could use. And yeah, I don't think I could watch the tape. If forced to watch it, the whole time I would be hoping for a different outcome.