[bogey1]

Astronauts - Heroes? No, but certainly courageous. It takes balls to get on top of a giant mass of fuel and hope you both make it up and back down again.

police officers/firemen - I have to separate these. Firemen, yes. I've known a few and they really strive hard to save people, houses, etc. I think most are a little crazy, but maybe that's part of makes them want to tackle burning buildings.

police - No. In fact, most are [censored] that enjoy being in a position of power over others. I've met one policemen on or off duty that wasn't an [censored] and he hated his job and coworkers so much he committed suicide.

soldiers - too much variance to generalize. I think, in large part, they're people who got into the service because it was one of the only things they were qualified to do and too poor to get other training. I suspect they do courageous things, but I have a hard time believing the majority really joined to "save/serve their country".

sports figures - Absolutely not, certainly no higher percentage of altruistic heroes amongst them than the general populace.

teachers - Maybe more than the average. Many teachers get into teaching out of a desire to help kids and that in and of itself lends to what I'd think of as heroic actions. Maybe not physically heroic, but going that extra mile for people.

politicians - Nope, barring a very very few examples. I think in this day of age, politics prevents heroes from getting anywhere in politics.

artists - Nope, no altruism or desire to help others here. It's about self expression by and large.