Well, after saving a little of it for a rainy day, I would then think about investing the rest in something useful. I think I would invest it in the search for alternative energy. We have spent the last century burning fossil fuels like coal and oil and now we realise that we are warming our planet up too much causing problems for ourselves and everything else that lives here. If we can generate energy from wind, the power of the waves and tides, the sun, we have the chance to generate all the energy we need without causing damage to the planet. Although we know that we can get energy from all these sources of energy, we still have a lot of work to do to make it more efficient, and cost effective, so it would be great to think of my investment of one million minus a little bit could help to solve some of the probelms still remaining in relation to alternative energy.
I would definitely like to use some of it to get my pilots licence. Maybe look into building my own kit plane too.
Work related, I would love to invest in or use it to help research in the technology of living off the land on the moon or other planets. I believe that this technology is not only the most important hurdle for us to overcome in human space exploration it will also have a direct and profound impact on our own lives here on earth.
I think Ned’s answer is really good, using it for helping with renewable energy. We have a group at ESA focusing on what’s called Technology transfer… looking at technologies that we use in the Space industry to see what applications we could find for them on Earth and also vice versa. All of our spacecraft use solar panels, which of course are now used on Earth for renewable energy generation. If I had a million euros to spend for work related purposes, I would try to use it as grants for Irish companies trying to get into the space industry and for scholarships for student placements and funding Irish students to go to the International Space University to do Masters courses.
I would spend it purely on building and launching an Irish satellite. The money would need to be divided to pay for the rocket launch, the satellite itself and also the training of all Irish engineers/scientists participating on it. With that amount of money, I think we can easily get quite a few Irish individuals involved and help them to enter the Space career ladder. Having a small experience in building, testing, launching and operating a satellite opens doors in the space industry for all involved.
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