News Commentary Today

It all began with the X Prize Foundation, a non-profit prize institute based in Los Angeles, California. Their self proclaimed mission is to create radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity. So a few years ago they offered the X Prize, a $10,000,000 reward for the first privately funded, non-government group that could successfully build a reusable spaceship that could carry two passengers to a height of 100 kilometers in altitude above the Earth, return safely to Earth, and repeats the achievement with the same vehicle within two weeks. The goal was to motivate private-sector development of rocket ships and start a push toward an industry of space tourism. Over two dozen contestants from around the world vied for the X Prize. In October, 2004, SpaceShipOne, designed by Burt Rutan and financed by the likes of Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen won the coveted prize.

Now the race is on between a dozen or so companies to build rocket planes in order to launch ordinary rich people out of this world. Up until now only the super-duper rich could fly into space. Dennis Tito, Mark Shuttleworth and Gregory Olson each put about $20 million on their Platinum credit cards to ride along on a Russian rocket ship to the international space station. Poor Lance Bass, of pop group 'N Sync, did all of his astronaut training, but came up a little short on the entrance fee.

Companies like Rocketplane Kistler, Virgin Galactic, Planet Space and Space Adventures are hoping that in two or three years they will able to send their first customers into orbit. US Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta pledges that the government would move quickly to grant space travel licenses to worthy companies. According to Richard Branson, CEO of Virgin, tickets should start at around $250,000 a piece, for a two hour trip into suborbital space, 60 miles above the surface of the Earth, where passengers will experience a few minutes of weightlessness.

It is so wonderful to see the astounding achievements of the human race. It is fantastic that in the 21^st century, thousands and thousands of people, with a quarter of a million dollars burning a hole in their pocket, can amuse themselves with a ride on a 60-mile diameter Ferris Wheel. Unfortunately, in 2006 there will be over 1 billion people in the world who won't share in all the excitement. That's because they don't have access to safe drinking water and a third of them don't have access to a basic toilet.

Everyday over 4,500 children die from diarrhea, due to unsafe drinking water and unsanitary conditions. These children don't need bottles of Imodium-AD, they need large amounts of capital to invest in water and sanitation projects in their neighborhoods. Think New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, but on a global scale. According to the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), approximately 400 million children are at risk of water born diseases, which kill a child somewhere on the planet every 15 seconds.

So what does space tourism have to do with drinking water? The common denominator is large amounts of money to see these ventures flourish. There is plenty of profit to be made in providing safe water and sanitary services. The World Health Organization commissioned the Swiss Tropical Institute to carry out a economic evaluation study and found that every dollar invested in water and sanitation infrastructure would provide an economic return of between $3 and $34 dollars on the investment, depending on the region. The only question is the order of our priorities.

If Richard Branson is an entrepreneur, shouldn't a 30-multiple return on his investment raise his interests or does Virgin Galactic have more pizzazz then Virgin Water Works? If the X Prize Foundation truly is committed to create radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity they should focus on the hundreds of millions in need of clean water instead of the hundreds who want a extraterrestrial thrill. Space tourism no matter how interesting it sounds does not benefit humanity. It only benefits a few businessmen and a miniscule segment of the population who obviously have no idea what to do with all the extra money they have amassed in this world of income disparity.

Before we shoot off to the stars, those who have the means should first focus on the cosmic changes we can bring to the humans on the planet Earth.

# posted by BFEEENTG @ 5:07 PM