For the price of the Iraq War, we could've sent the entire population of South Ossetia into space.South Ossetia is the region at the center of the conflict between Russia and Georgia. In 2000, it had 70,000 residents. Recently, many refugees have fled to North Ossetia or other places as a result of war.
Anousheh Ansari, the world's first female space tourist, paid $25 million to go to space for eight days. At that price, sending the entire population of South Ossetia into space would cost $1.75 trillion, which is less than Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes' estimate of over $3 trillion for the cost of the Iraq War.
