It goes without saying that their loss is a tragedy beyond description for their families, friends, and colleagues. It should not be hi-jacked by a nation on the brink of war as a means of finding binding grief.
That said, the gulfs between spaceflight, test flying in its various guises (all of which occupy their individual places in this sliding scale), and operational flying, continue to widen.
Does this reflect better safety in operational flying, or a failure of those managing spaceflight and testing to learn the appropriate lessons and take forward the right principles from the huge leaps in operational flying safety in recent decades? Does the developing difference between operational flying and testing mean that safety lessons will reach the testing world less frequently and in more dilute form? What will the consequences be?