[euyyn]

Planes can take off, fly, and land themselves. Do you expect that a pilot can do anything for it? They don't solder anything, nor change batteries.

> Where would one find an expert in lunar circumnavigation?

The branch of astronautics that deals with navigation in space is called Astrodynamics. It is taught at universities across the world. You can find experts among the astronauts of the various space agencies. Or you can train your own, the same way those agencies do.

[jessaustin]

Which planes are these? I've never seen an autopilot that could take off or land.

The people who need to know astrodynamics are those who plan the tour. They will encode all the maneuvers required before launch. In the exceedingly unlikely event that corrections need to be made, they'll be made by radio. Even if they wasted an $80M berth on a pilot, where would she practice twiddling the knobs?

[euyyn]

> Which planes are these? I've never seen an autopilot that could take off or land.

Have you seen many autopilots, to be that certain?

Civil planes equipped with autoland are commonplace.

Some fighter jets take off from carriers in autopilot. The pilots are actually required to grab a couple of handlebars in the cabin during take off, to make sure their instinct doesn't overcome them.

> In the exceedingly unlikely event that corrections need to be made

The set of bad things that can happen in a complex spacecraft isn't limited to needing a route correction. That is obvious, but even if it wasn't obvious to someone, history tells us.

> where would she practice twiddling the knobs?

Do you honestly think astronauts go to space untrained, because "where would they practice"?

They practice in simulators. Even the two tourists will have to be trained, for obvious reasons.