ELI5 Life Insurance - why the astronauts of Apollo 11 couldn’t buy life insurance?

How does life insurance actually work? What is the difference between term and whole life insurance? How do life insurance companies make money if everyone already dies? How do my lifestyle and health affect my premiums? How did a horror movie use life insurance to sell movie tickets? What happened when the astronauts of Apollo 11 tried to buy life insurance?

... we explain like I'm five

Thank you to the r/explainlikeimfive community and in particular the following users whose questions and comments formed the basis of this discussion: querycrook, lord_probability, andrewtyne, demanbmore, babybunnybelly, longhorninnebraska, upset_force66 and blipsman

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