Go and read the accounts of how Neil Armstrong had to steer Apollo 11 past a field of boulders, in order to make a safe landing on the Sea of Tranquility, and just try to say that again with a straight face.
The astronauts insisted on considerable autonomy during missions to respond to changing conditions, and it has often become essential. It was the Soviets who turned their cosmonauts into mere passengers, with every system radio-controlled from the ground. (Until Mir.)
They are incredibly brave passengers. All rockets are designed to just barely not blow up -- sometimes they do anyway.