The delicacies of society rely on many systems of infrastructure that take time to install and constant effort to maintain. Economic regulation is one such system that, on a nationwide scale, has been a civilized norm since our twilight Greco-Roman years (and probably much earlier). Despite thousands of years to hone the craft, we have yet to perfect a flawless economic order. Currency, by its nature, sides with chaos. Times of depression are inevitable side-effects of denomination dependency. We are witness to global economic entropy, where digital debts pile up on physical hard drives scattered across the developed countries of the world. The red zeros multiply as they change from hand to hand, and when they reach the billions, they lose all meaning whatsoever.

At a certain point, the body politic will acknowledge that the only way to reverse economic bane is to invest in the self. It is a reliable road to recovery, slow though it may be. But there is another way; get others to invest in you as well. This is very tricky business for the inexperienced. One tried and true industry that never fails to be lucrative is tourism. The scenic corners of the Earth will never have a problem harboring cottage industries that capitalize on the land's natural beauty. But many are stuck in barren, boring or just plain flat parts of the countryside that offer nothing in the way of originality. Tourism is bound by all that is breathtaking, and there are only so many Alps and Himalayas in the world.

While Mt. Everest is majestically overwhelming, Olympus Mons on Mars is nearly thrice its size. Over the shoulders of Olympus Mons the sun also sets. It would be a staggering view if anyone could get there to see it. The notion of space tourism exists exclusively in science fiction imagination. But the recent retirement of the U.S. Space Shuttle Atlantis is a living metaphor that the torch of space exploration, research and development has been passed to the private sector. Cutting edge space companies, like those competing in Google's Lunar X Prize, are making dreams come true today. What was previously confined to fantasy can now be laid out in blueprint. Free from the shackles of governmental protocol, the budding space market has already made great strides forward. The rich can charter private expeditions into low Earth orbit. A pool of twenty-some teams with fresh, innovative perspectives are vying to send their own rovers to the moon first within the next two years. The potential of space tourism, like all new markets, is exponentially infinite. And it might just be the relief this aching world needs.

It starts slow. Adventurous souls skydiving from the edge of Earth's escape velocity. Rovers loaded with modern artifacts from the people, documenting the first ever art gallery on the moon. Perhaps, there are regular voyages available to the public offering tours of our only natural satellite within the next twenty years. In one lifetime, we trek to Mars, and then to the moons of Jupiter, and then to the rest of our solar system. If we're the eyes and ears of the universe, then we should make an honest effort to see and hear it all.