In addition, he said, if and when Earth becomes overpopulated, the moon could serve as a springboard for humanity’s expansion into space. He sees economic benefits there, with the resulting new tech spilling into areas outside the space business. He pointed to the first-ever landing by a spacecraft on the far side of the moon, by China in January.Ībdul Lotiff, 28, a retail security company manager in Mason City, Iowa, also favors a return to the moon. “It’s pretty bad that we have to rent a spot on a Russian spacecraft to get to the space station,” said Curtis, a store cashier who says he’s an occasional bounty hunter. space program is now a second thought, he said. Compared with its feats of the 1960s and 1970s, the U.S. “It would cost a lot of money to send somebody to Mars,” she said, “and we have roads and bridges that need repaired here.”Īs for the moon, Dewey noted, “We’ve been there.”īut Alan Curtis, 47, of Pocatello, Idaho, considers moon and Mars trips a top priority, especially if the U.S. Toni Dewey, 71, a retired clerical worker in Wilmington, North Carolina, said space exploration should benefit life on Earth and the explorers should be machines versus humans. That came after a confusing tweet from Trump in which he said that NASA “should NOT be talking about going to the Moon” and instead focus on “much bigger things” including “Mars (of which the Moon is a part).” NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine later explained that the moon can be used as a “waypoint” for Mars access. President Donald Trump, who wants to create a Space Force as a new military service, said at a rally formally kicking off his reelection campaign this week that, if he wins a second term, the country will “lay the foundation” for landing astronauts on Mars. While other goals were considered at least moderately important by majorities of Americans, about half called a military presence and space colonies unimportant. In a dead heat for last place among the nine listed goals: setting up permanent human residences on other planets, with 21% ranking it as a very high priority, and establishing a U.S.

Searching for life on other planets came in fifth with 34% rating it at least very important, followed by 27% for human Mars expeditions and 23% for crewed moonshots. Close to half said the same about sending robotic probes, rather than astronauts, to explore space, and about 4 in 10 said the same about continued funding of the International Space Station. “This other stuff can wait.”Īfter asteroid and comet monitoring, scientific research to expand knowledge of Earth and the rest of the solar system and universe came next on the list of Americans’ space priorities - about 6 in 10 said that was very or extremely important. “There are all kinds of other things, not the least of which is climate change, that deserve our attention,” Dizard told the AP. In all, 12 NASA astronauts stepped on the moon. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on July 20, 1969, became the first humans to walk on another celestial body. About another third called each of those moderately important. The poll comes as the White House pushes to get astronauts back on the moon, but only about a quarter of Americans said moon or Mars exploration by astronauts should be among the space program’s highest priorities. About two-thirds of Americans call that very or extremely important, and about a combined 9 in 10 say it’s at least moderately important. The poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, released Thursday, one month before the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, lists asteroid and comet monitoring as the No. (AP) - Americans prefer a space program that focuses on potential asteroid impacts, scientific research and using robots to explore the cosmos over sending humans back to the moon or on to Mars, a poll shows. attitudes toward the space program ĬAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.

Graphic shows results of AP-NORC Center poll on U.S.

Nasa asteroid watch