“I’ve always had this burning passion for space. I’ve known from a very, very young age what I’ve wanted to do.”

So began an interview with National Space Society Executive Director Paul Damphouse in the Space News Profiles section for April 2, 2012.

Background information provided about Damphousse included his masters degree in aeronautical engineering and a distinguished 22-year career in the Marines, including the U.S. Space Command, the National Security Space Office, and two tours of duty in Iraq. Prior to accepting the position at NSS, Damphousse completed a one-year stint in Senator Bill Nelson’s Washington office as a NASA fellow, providing him with political experience and convincing him that NSS needs to do a better job of influencing public space policy.

In expressing NSS support for the Commercial Crew Program, Damphousse stated “Our position is that commercial holds the potential of really being a game changer.” When asked what programs NSS wants, he responded:

“There has to be an infrastructure in space. The international space station could very well be the first piece of that. Other pieces can be other private space stations; on-orbit fuel depots, which is something we advocate very, very strongly that NASA be doing; cis-lunar transport systems; and potentially cryogenic fuel depots out at the libration points, which if you really look at it may be more advantageous than actually putting depots in low Earth orbit. Having an architecture in space is really how we’re going to establish that beachhead….”