We must work on things that people can get excited about. Things that inspire the American people like they were inspired in the 60’s. We have to spur the imagination of the American people again. Doing so will not and cannot be a small act, but a large one. We do this and the economy will come up again, because these types of acts give the American people confidence in the economy.

A lot of the positive impact we have will have to be psychological, but the engineering and science will also have to be able to substantiate those thoughts. The work will be expensive but the funds that go into it will not be an expense; they will be an investment. An investment with tangible results that have midterm payoff and short term economic stimulation.

Possible ideas that we could work on include:
1. Further development of “vertical farms” — which could be used in in the exploration of Mars some day. On earth it could be used to create ethanol and food; while allowing the farm land to become forests again — which will help earth balance itself and eliminate global warming. http://www.verticalfarm.com/ for more info
2. Like I said in a previous post we can help develop open source tools that allow small business technological firms to be created at low costs. A lot of tools have been developed by NASA to help exploration of space. In the past these tools were given to private industry for further development and maintenance. In the 80s that was the best strategy, but today open source development from research institutions and universities is a much better approach. It allows anybody to have access and that is a great thing…this could be limited to Americans if politically necessary.
3. We have to open up the information that is not critical to national security up to the research public at large. We have to work on making it accessible to everyone — not just the ones that know about it.
4. We can also need to tap the intellect and knowledge of our many scientist and engineers to develop educational material that is accessible to everyone. The work that they do will help the young engineers and scientist as well as help industry.
5. Whatever happened to the Space Elevator Project? The technology needed to complete that project would have remarkable industrial use. Although I doubt it is as simple as the previously mentioned ideas. However this might be something that is better left for massive development a few years from now.
6. Programs like STEMS which is NASA sponsored have to be magnified. Those are the programs that will inspire our youth to help NASA continue its legacy. Education over the internet about space and science could help this cause as well. NASA could take the driving seat on Internet education (for math, science and engineering) which is something that our country is currently lacking and I believe will be a huge aid in helping our school systems become competitive in comparison to those of foreign countries.

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Well those are some ideas of things I think could have an impact to the American people in a very direct way. I hope that people will follow this with more brainstorming ideas.

Again, I completely agree that part of our mission should be the massive development of things the American people will benefit from directly.

We have to inspire the general population, not just us tech geeks. In order to do this we will need more funding, but we will also have to become more efficient ( which is where I think a good chunk of the extra funding should go into).

Even if it’s not a macroengineering project like powersats, I think we – as a community – really need to start thinking about how what we do is beneficial in a way that the American public can embrace. If our answers come up short, then we should instead think about what we can do that America will actually get behind.

That’s where a formal mechanism for better relating and coordinating public policy with human space flight would really be a big help. With the relatively broad support NASA has in Congress these days, now would be a good time to build those bridges.

Sec.102.(b) says that space activities are the purview of a civilian space agency so long as such activities are not primarily defense-related.

Sec.102.(c) requires that agency to “seek and encourage” the fullest commercial use of space.

NASA must also “contribute materially” to the following:
Sec.102.(d)(4) – The establishment of long-range studies of the potential benefits to be gained from, the opportunities for, and the problems involved in the utilization of aeronautical and space activities for peaceful and scientific purposes.

Sec.102.(d)(5) – The preservation of the role of the United States as a leader in aeronautical and space science and technology and in the application thereof to the conduct of peaceful activities within and outside the atmosphere.

Right at the beginning, NASA is given a charter to study the utilization of space for the national benefit and take the lead in the application of space science and technology.

It’s a bit of a stretch, but Sec.102.(e) also calls for NASA to “contribute to the objectives of developing energy- and petroleum-conserving ground propulsion systems, and of minimizing the environmental degradation caused by such systems.” Clean energy for pluggable hybrids and electric cars could be considered a contribution to that effect.

Another option could be to exercise NASA’s prize authority under Sec.314 and open up a “Powersat Challenge.”