We live in exciting times, being on the precipice of taking our first real steps into the solar system and beyond.
If we only had the money.
Truly, that is the only thing stopping this utopian dream we call a "technical paper" from coming to fruition.
A small country could easily afford the space program described herein. One hundred billion dollars is all it takes to make the dream come true. Lunar Diamonds would guarantee that the country would get their $100 billion back plus make another $100M for the second phase. With an eventual annual revenue of $13 billion, the space program would at least pay for itself.
A country that owns a vibrant orbital and lunar program would be considered more prestigious than a country that owns nuclear weapons.
However, as described in this technical paper, there should be enough people in the world who could collectively raise the $50 billion that is needed to get to the Lunar Diamond stage. A privately–run company is better than a government–run program.
In the end, the Overview Effect is really the only reason to have space tourism. With enough affluent people inflicted with the illness, the world really could change for the better.
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