It was a more exciting time, back in the early years of deep space exploration. Anyone who could afford a good ship and a tank full of fuel could strike out into the vast empty reaches to find his fortune among the stars.
Of course, you'd have a better chance of finding your fortune if you had remembered to check a nav chart before heading off into the void. Now you're nearly out of fuel and air, you're tired and hungry -- and desperately hoping you can find someone monitoring the distress channels.