Space Exploration: Why haven't we questions.

I have a question regarding space exploration. Many Government in the world have a NASA like program. Many countries study space and send satalites up and probes to conduct tests, and a lot of people in the general public in my opinion are interested in exploring space, so my question is this:

Why hasn't NASA or any of these other governments asked for a volunteer to be sent on a life long mission to see what is out there?

I think it would be pretty feasable (and I am no rocket scientist here) to have one person in a device that would initialy once into space, have some sort of propulsion to get it going. Once the fuel ran out of the propulsion system, it would have enough speed to keep moving through space. This person could have supplies for a few years or so and write down his findings, contacts or whatever and send them back to Earth's direction through a smaller rocket or something attached to his craft. Would this not be a good way to collect data or information about the universe?

Has this secretly been done before? What does everyone think?

Originally posted by JackCash

Why hasn't NASA or any of these other governments asked for a volunteer to be sent on a life long mission to see what is out there?

What does everyone think?

well, baby steps dude....first, the effects of being in a zero grav environment over long stretches are not totally known.
i do know that astronauts lose bone density and such....

Yeah, I'm sure it would be the new Big Brother, as all getting to watch this guy stuck in a capsule for 10 years, until the poor Stargate fan suddenly realizes he doesn't want to do it anymore.

It takes years just to get to Pluto. We would have to send a baby to get the person any real distance away, but even then the nearest star system that could harbour life is something like 100 light years away, which is - if you're travelling there - 100 years of travel time if you're travelling at the speed of light.

There's no point in sending people to go search the stars. All new military technology is about unmanned planes and such. Ever wonder why? Because humans are a waste of space. Why put a heater and oxygen system in when a HDTV camera and a microwave sensor will also fit there?