When star treckers Kirk and Spock scoured the
heavens in search of whatever, one question was never asked: What did space
travel cost? Now, fifty years since
their debut, another such trek is about to begin. This time, however, the price tag is the
central feature. Facebook founder Mark
Zuckerberg and Russian venture capitalist Yuri Milner, both billionaires, with physicist
Stephen Hawking in attendance, recently announced plans to explore the Alpha
Centauri star system, located 4½ light years (26 trillion miles) distant. Dubbed Breakthrough Starshot, its projected
cost is $100 million to establish feasibility of the project, followed by far
more to actually send spacecraft.
If ultimately successful, what will be
accomplished? Except for providing
monumental ego satisfaction for the instigators, together with salaries for a
lot of chosen people, it’s difficult to describe exactly how anyone will
benefit. A justification for the
endeavor was offered by Dr. Hawking, who proclaimed “We commit to the next
great leap into the cosmos because we are human and our nature is to fly.” That may have applied to the Wright brothers’
1903 undertaking, but it doesn’t seem to be a rational explanation for blowing
hundreds of millions of dollars on an enterprise with no recognizable payoff. And, of course, Breakthrough Starshot will be
federally approved as a non-profit foundation, so the U.S. taxpayer will pick
up a substantial part of the tab.
I’ll now digress by suggesting how $100
million might be applied to benefit society more meaningfully. First off, we don’t spend it; rather, it’s
safely invested so an earned income is available, in perpetuity, by laddering
it into $25 million each of 5, 10, 20 and 30-year treasury bonds. Under today’s interest rates this produces $1,950,000
annually. And how will the cash be
used? Students having completed two
years at community colleges with excellent grades in math, physics or
chemistry, will be paid $10,000 in each of their junior and senior years while
earning their physical sciences degrees.
Even at the current low interest rates, this will generate a couple
hundred graduates per year. If interest
rates rise in the future, their numbers will increase.
A final thought: I concede that the prospect
of a rocket ship into the cosmos is more titillating than graduates who
excel. This is why Breakthrough Starshot
will probably proceed while scholarships to deserving students will never be
considered.
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If you enjoy this weekly Straight Talk by Al Jacobs, you’re invited to check out my monthly Financial Newsletter, as well as my new book, The Road to Prosperity
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