Few Americans think NASA’s top priority should be sending humans to the moon or Mars

The majority of Americans think it is “essential” that the U.S. remain a global leader in space, but that private markets won’t ensure enough progress on their own, according to new polling data from Pew Research Center.

Pew asked more than 10,000 American adults about their attitudes toward commercial space, NASA, the global space race and the outlook on space over the next 50 years. The poll comes at a time of major transformation in the space industry: rocket launches are now commonplace, space tourism is getting on its feet and NASA’s Artemis program is advancing toward its second mission.

Notably, few Americans (just 12%) said sending astronauts to the moon or Mars should be among NASA’s top priorities. Instead, 60% said one of the top priorities should be asteroid monitoring, and five-in-10 said NASA should focus on monitoring Earth’s climate. This stands in sharp contrast to how Congress intends to allocate the space agency’s funding for the next fiscal year, with lawmakers actually looking to increase the amount of funding earmarked for Artemis and related programs, while putting science missions on the chopping block.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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