External hard drive to ipad?

Can you connect a external hard drive to a Ipad?

No, there is no connection if you are seeking direct expansion of storage space. On the other hand, you could "file share" via WiFi. However, this would require manual file transfers to/from specific apps that have this support -- i.e., not a means to automatically read/write files.

A USB port would be nice....

There is a USB port......and it is exposed in the (yet to be delivered) Camera Connection Kit.

However I seriously doubt the APIs will be exposed to app developers, or if they are they will be one way only - camera to iPad.

Once I get my iPad (waiting for 3G) and the camera Connection Kit (mid-April) I'm going to look seriously at what I can do from an App.
I'm not holding my breath on being able to do what I would want it to do when traveling. Still will need to take the laptop for proper fieldwork for my photography.

I didn't contemplate this as a requirement when I ordered.

Steve