  Public engagement (PE) initiatives can lead to a long term public support of
science. However most of the real impact of PE initiatives within the context
of long-term science policy is not completely understood. An examination of the
National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Hubble Space Telescope,
James Webb Space Telescope, and International Sun-Earth Explorer 3 reveal how
large grassroots movements led by citizen scientists and space aficionados can
have profound effects on public policy. We explore the role and relevance of
public grassroots movements in the policy of space astronomy initiatives,
present some recent cases which illustrate policy decisions involving broader
interest groups, and consider new avenues of PE including crowdfunding and
crowdsourcing.
