I'm Pete du Pont with the National Center for Policy Analysis. What do you do when you have money to burn? Buy an NBA team? Create a philanthropic empire? Run for the senate?
Well, I liked Dennis Tito's idea: Go into space.
Tito paid the russians $20 million for a six-day trip to their space station. I was trying to figure out how they charged; what's six days, five nights when there is no day or night?
Aside from being envious, I also like the way Tito thinks. He makes the argument that space programs are very expensive, and they're mostly government-funded. Open it up to tourists, he says, and a free market approach could enliven the space program. Competition for travelers could make space programs more efficient and maybe even someday profitable – all good for science.
Now, film director James Cameron wants to go, maybe with the idea of making a movie to popularize space travel. And if Michael Jackson really wants to moon walk . . . Well…
Those are my ideas, and at the NCPA we know ideas can change the world. I'm Pete du Pont, and I'll see you next time.