Re: experience
We've been in space since 1961 but not often enough to have the same confidence about technical and human capabilities in space and in vacuum as airliners have about staying in air and flying from point a to point b.
It's very important to be able to immediately return the crew, in case of emergency.
The problem, perhaps, is that NASA didn't consider this a priority: the Habitat module, the trusses, solar panels were built and paid before the escape capsule or lifting body was brought up in the equation.
Before I learned how to accelerate (driving a car), I had to learn how to brake. It's a matter of priority.
Raoul