Medical News
Space
21 June 2019
A return trip to the moon isn’t very popular among AmericansNASA/JSC
By Chelsea WhyteIn the last year, the US government has made a big push for NASA to return astronauts to the moon, but the rest of the US isn’t entirely on board with the plan. A poll to gauge public opinion on the US space program conducted in May 2019 found that most people don’t favour the plan to land on the moon within five years.
The survey was conducted by the Associated Press in partnership with researchers at the University of Chicago and included a representative sample of 1137 adults from all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Most people in the US say it’s important for NASA to monitor asteroids and comets that could impact Earth, and a majority support the agency’s scientific research to learn more about Earth, the solar system and the universe.
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The lowest priorities, at around 20 per cent approval, were establishing a permanent human presence on other planets and a US military presence in space. In 2018, the Trump Administration directed the US military to create a branch called the Space Force, but it is still unclear precisely what its role will be.
Only 42 per cent of people surveyed favour the Trump Administration’s moonshot plan, while 20 per cent oppose it and the rest were neutral. Just over a third of people say the US should go to Mars instead of the moon, while 43 per cent of people don’t think either destination should be a priority for the US.
US public opinion is a bit more optimistic about space tourism, with about half of people surveyed saying they would take a ride to Earth’s orbit if given the chance. But most say they would not travel to the moon or Mars. Of the 31 per cent of people surveyed who said they would take the trip to the Red Planet, less than half would go on the years-long journey if there was no chance of returning to Earth.
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