Do you think sociopaths like current 'leader' would change significantly upon such experience? I unfortunately don't share such optimism.
You don't have to be an optimist. You have to try.
Trying and seeing what happens is also science, after all.
The point with the last bit was that they should be put in an unsafe craft.
"Houston, this is Golden One. I'm looking down on the big, beautiful, blue world. They love me down there. They all love me. I'm the greatest astronaut ever in the history of mankind. No one has ever orbited like this before."
Yeah, you may be right.