good egg, regarding your fourth paragraph, once you have computers making most of the decisions regarding sequencing and spacing, in the event that a "contingency for human recovery" becomes necessary, it simply ain't going to happen.
Humans are usually poor at monitoring systems. I'd say this is particularly true of controllers. We get bored, quickly, when not engaged. If a situation arises requiring human intervention, it's highly unlikely that the people doing the monitoring will (a) be 'on to it' in time, or (b) have the currency or experience required to take an effective course of action.
Once you open the bottle of that genie, it's staying open, and forget about going back.