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Bill Gates Doesn’t Care About Space Race, Wants to Eradicate Diseases First

Billionaire and philanthropist Bill Gates will not be rushing to space any time soon. Although several rich people raced each other to space this year, the Microsoft co-founder has other priorities, among which is the eradication of diseases like malaria and tuberculosis.
Bill Gates on Space Racing 7 photos
Photo: Instagram / Bill Gates
Bill Gates on Space RaceBill Gates on Space RaceBill Gates on Space RaceRichard Branson's Space TripJeff Bezos' Space TripBill Gates on Space Race
2021 came with its challenges, but we have to look at what we’ve achieved this year. Now people who aren’t professional astronauts are able to travel to space, which is an amazing achievement. Granted, it comes with an undisclosed price, and only billionaires and lucky winners managed to see space for a few short minutes.

Nevertheless, it’s groundbreaking. And it’s a clear path onto achievable space tourism in the near future.

However, while Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson raced each other this past summer to be the first non-astronauts to reach space, some other rich folks, like Bill Gates, aren’t that eager to blast off. Just yet, anyway.

During his interview with CNN's Becky Anderson, Gates admitted the benefits of the space race his fellow wealthy colleagues started, but can't help but blast that their motives aren't all philanthropic: "The space race, a lot of that is a commercial market. Having great internet connections throughout Africa is a good thing. Using observation satellites to see what's going on with agriculture and climate change. So that's not philanthropically motivated altogether. I do hope that people who are rich will find ways to give their wealth back to society with high impact. Clearly, they've got skills. They can't, or shouldn't, want to consume it all themselves."

The fourth richest person in the world according to Forbes, dedicated climate change activist and philanthropist, Bill Gates will be steering part of his wealth to achieve his purpose. He shared his “total focus” will be to get rid of "all these diseases that are so terrible in poor countries.” That will definitely take a while.

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Editor's note: Gallery showing pictures of Bill Gates, but also Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos' space adventures.

About the author: Monica Coman
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Imagine a Wenn diagram for cars and celebrities. At the intersection you'll find Monica, putting her passion for these fields and English-Spanish double major to work. She's been doing for the past seven years, most recently at autoevolution.
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