The Pardee Papers, No. 1, August 2008

The Future of Space Exploration
and Human Development
By A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

August 2008 (18 pages)
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This paper – the first in a new series of research and foresight papers, titled “The Pardee Papers”, is based on the keynote address by the then President of India, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, at the 2007 Pardee Center conference on The Future of Space Exploration.

The paper concludes that: “Our space vision for the next 50 years has to consolidate these benefits [of the past] and expand them further to address crucial issues faced by humanity in energy, environment, water, and minerals. Above all, we have to keep upper most in our mind the need for an alternate habitat for the human race in our solar system. The crucial mission for the global space community is to realize a dramatic reduction in the cost of access to space.”

Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam is one of the world’s leading space scientists, the moving force behind India’s nuclear program, and former President of India.