Kathleen Connell Joins NASA Watch as a Guest Blogger

Thank you to NASA Watch for inviting guest bloggers like myself to post on this nicely remodeled site.

My focus is on "space solutions of benefit to humanity," which I discuss on my blog, http://www.missiontohumanity.com. I suspect that if we, in the U.S., attempted to generate measurable returns on the public space investment as a matter of space policy, we might well see more national support for an increase in our public sector space budget. In an era of many crushing demands on the U.S. taxpayer, tangible returns from every public investment are critical.

National and global challenges, including global warming, health advances, natural disaster mitigation, aging populations, societal parity for women and children, universal education, poverty, clean economic development, and international space economic development partnerships are all areas in which space can provide constructive solutions.

I welcome your views on this topic, as well as suggestions about how to grow a robust space portfolio focused on returns for the U.S. taxpayer and for all humankind.

So with this brief introduction to a complex topic, I want to ask the NASA Watch community a question: Over the next decade, should the United States commit to both space exploration and intentional space solutions to American and global challenges? Thanks in advance for your views.