At a cost of roughly $2.0 billion, the Europa Clipper mission will set Americans back less than a single B-2 stealth bomber, and much less than they spent on potato chips last year [1]. Nonetheless, a mission to Europa is a major investment, which is why we often assume that only a rich and powerful government could sponsor the endeavor. However, in the age of Kickstarter and commercial space flight companies, we might not be surprised if a large group of proactive and semi-wealthy Europaphiles cobbled together the funds for their own version of Clipper.
Would it surprise you to learn that there are also hundreds of individuals who could personally fund such a mission? According to Forbes Magazine’s annual list of the world’s billionaires, there are currently 736 people on the planet whose personal net worth each exceeds $2 billion. Here, we highlight our choices for the “top ten” individuals who could launch their own private mission(s) to Europa – with plenty of cash to spare.
Honorable mentions go to Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and Carlos Slim Helu, who could afford 26, 33, and 36 Europa Clipper missions each, respectively. Together, the top five richest people on Earth could fully fund NASA (annual budget $17B) for more than fifteen years.
[1] “Rising Above the Gathering Storm, Revisited” (2010), National Academies Press. http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12999