John Kerry responded to questions submitted to him by Space News and Space.com, and Brian Berger has compiled and discussed the highlights in an article that appeared recently on Space.com. I recommend the whole piece, but provide some direct quotes from Kerry's responses below:
"NASA is an invaluable asset to the American people and must receive adequate resources to continue its important mission of exploration... However, there is little to be gained from a 'Bush space initiative' that throws out lofty goals, but fails to support those goals with realistic funding...
"The most critical element of our space program should be reducing the costs and increasing the reliability of space transportation to and from low Earth orbit. This is just one of the many critical areas lost in the Bush initiative.
"The civil space program acts as an engine of innovation for the entire country, making its enormous benefits hard to quantify but even harder to discount... I'm excited by potential advances in pharmaceuticals that microgravity could lead to... Unique drug treatments produced in the microgravity environment may play a vital role in reducing the cost of health care and in developing defenses against chemical and biological terrorist attacks....
"While reducing the Bush Administration's reckless deficits will be one of our early challenges, continued investment in a reinvigorated NASA that is innovating, creating jobs, and returning real value to the American taxpayer is what you can expect under a Kerry presidency."
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