July 8, 2011 6:30 PM

Poll: Most say shuttle program was worthwhile

By
Brian Montopoli
Topics
Polling
(Credit: CBS)

CBS News Poll analysis by the CBS News Polling Unit: Sarah Dutton, Jennifer De Pinto, Fred Backus and Anthony Salvanto.

Most Americans say the tens of billions of dollars spent on the space shuttle program have been worthwhile, according to a new CBS News poll - though only about half are disappointed the program is coming to an end.

Sixty-three percent of Americans say that given the costs and risks of space exploration, the space shuttle program has been worth it, while 31 percent say it has not.

Estimates vary on precisely how much the shuttle program cost in its four decades of existence, but NASA and outside scholars place the figure at close to $200 billion for 135 launches since 1981.

Atlantis launched into orbit for the final time on Friday, and its scheduled return to Earth in almost two weeks time will mark the end of the vaunted program that had initially promised to make space flight cheap and routine. NASA had predicted each mission would cost about $7 million.

Perceptions of the shuttle program have fluctuated over the years: A slightly smaller percentage of Americans - 59 percent - saw it as worthwhile in 2005. But in 2003, three in four Americans said it was worthwhile. And in 1986, after the Challenger disaster, the percentage who saw the program as worth the costs and risks reached 80 percent.

(Credit: CBS)
Meanwhile, only about half of Americans say they are disappointed that the program is coming to an end. Forty-eight percent expressed disappointment, while 33 percent said they don't care; 16 percent said they were pleased it was coming to an end.

Men seemed to like the shuttle program more than women: 54 percent of men were disappointed it was ending, compared to 43 percent of women.

Americans have a mixed view of the U.S. space program overall. Thirty-six percent say it has accomplished less than they expected since the moon landing more than four decades ago, while just 23 percent said it has accomplished more than they expected since the moon landing. Thirty-five percent said the space program roughly met their expectations.

Older Americans were more likely than younger ones to say the program exceeded their expectations. While 29 percent of those 65 and older said it has accomplished more than they expected; only 17 percent of those between the ages of 18 and 29 feel the same way.

Read the full poll (PDF)

This poll was conducted by telephone on June 17-20, 2011 among 1,045 adults nationwide. Phone numbers were dialed from samples of both standard land-line and cell phones. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups is higher. This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.


Add a Comment See all 26 Comments
by venusvegasvada July 13, 2011 12:48 PM EDT
The shuttle and the space station. Both half-a@# shadows of what they were supposed to be/could have been. The Low Earth Orbit Shuttle and Low Earth Orbit Space Station are worth what? Did they build the hanger bay into the Space Station as in the original idea? No. So they can't service or build anything there. Artificial Gravity? True beachhead into space? Not really. It's just a bigger version of Skylab. They should have called it Skylab II. Want to transfer to the moon easily from there? Can't. It's not at high earth orbit. The shuttle doesn't have the lift to put a lot of mass at HEO, so it's useless. NASA needed a real heavy lift rocket to take it to the next level but they got this instead. Better they put the shuttles in museums than to let the same rocket scientists that allowed Colombia to re-enter without a visual inspection to continue on.
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by gadfly65 July 9, 2011 1:10 PM EDT
I think the space program is worthwhile but our approach hasn't used our money as effectively as possible. Manned spaceflight is a great thing; the symbolic value of the greatest technological achievement in history, sending people to the moon, is inestimable, but we've focused too much since then on manned spaceflight. More good science could have been accomplished with unmanned probes. Within the scope of manned flight we also wasted money, and even lives, with the shuttle program. Our romantic desire, fueled by science fiction, to have a reusable spaceship caused us to overreach our technology and put an excessively delicate and expensive system into service. I believe NASA is headed in the right direction by scrapping the shuttle; let's help them by reducing our interference in other nations' affairs and redirecting funds to the space program.
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by euge005 July 9, 2011 4:14 PM EDT
I gree fully. The shuttle was a good idea for it's time, but the real missions for it ran out and the corrupt pols got involved & kept it as corporate welfae to help their states long after the technology should have been parked. I would extimate the end of Clinton's first term is when that should have happened. And like everything else Ronnie did the space station which they claimed would cost 9B and be America's actually cost 60-70B instead and became the international station because the gov under Bush was going broke.
by Danize July 9, 2011 12:53 PM EDT
A sad day for America. This and other space programs epitomized American ingenuity and the spirit of exploration and adventure. What a symbol it was of a nation's forward movement. And, if you are not moving forward in this world, you are moving backwards.

One would hope that this spirit can be rekindled with a serious program of Mars exploration, not just a vague decades- in-the-future type thing is needed here: rather something more like JFK's visionary commitment to the Apollo Program.

As for the cost of such a program, it would be a fraction of a still bloated military budget. With the money fearless leader W flushed down the tubes on neocon fantasies of conquest, we could be exploring the next galaxy.
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by curse914 July 9, 2011 1:43 PM EDT
"if you are not moving forward in this world, you are moving backwards."

Yeah, well this epitomizes the infinite growth ethos. I guess space is the right direction given the planet is finite.
by euge005 July 9, 2011 4:16 PM EDT
True when JFK set a goal to go to the moon, the national debt was one trillion. Ronnie doubled it, W doubled it again and now Obama has had to increase it more to keep things running & cover up the Bush era blunders.
by curse914 July 9, 2011 11:48 AM EDT
The article states $200 billion in estimated cost, but when this number is adjusted for inflation, which is a more accurate number, it is $790.0 billion.

I could only say it is worth it base on scientific discovery, which is hard to quantify especially since most the science was geared toward zero-G space. But given our inability to take care of the planet we live on, I wonder at space exploration if the return home is to a dead planet.

With the financial sector fiasco looming fresh in the mind, I would take a NASA sinkhole any day over Banker shenanigans which have been rewarded with bailouts, bonus' and record profits as our economy spirals out of control due to this fatal blow. Money spent at NASA flowed through the economy, where as Investor Class Heroes have chosen to take their recent profits and ship them over seas for assured returns...in the short term, maybe even to a Chinese space exploration program.
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by mylifetolive July 9, 2011 9:04 AM EDT
Was it worth it? Billions and billions of taxpayer dollars spent only to find out that the moon is uninhabital and living in space stations is limited in scope, and limited by costs to only a few in the world.

Space travel did not help the average taxpayer. It did not help the rich, nor the poor, nor hungry children, nor homeless, nor disabled.

It wasted billions. The money could have been spent on better things, and even other living areas, such as underground cities or underwater cities.
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by HikerDan July 9, 2011 4:10 PM EDT
Yeah... Let's invest only in something that can be worn or eaten.... Let's defund, for example, archeology - there are no meat on them bones anyway... NASA, of course - the corn can't be planted on the Moon... Let's invest in our stomachs... THAT is something that is close, that CAN be felt right away. Let's never rise our head up to the stars - only down, where the food is. Then you will be proud of yourself - you live your life not to be hungry and you achieved your goal. Be proud of your sense of accomplishment.
by longtree-2009 July 9, 2011 3:43 AM EDT
what has it contributed in the way of tangible results, products, for americans? it seems to have been a race for prestige and some chest thumping of look what we can do. billions spent and for what? how has it made anyone's life any better in the usa?
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by 6591Hou July 9, 2011 7:56 AM EDT
look for NASA spinoffs on the internet, you'll find a lot of things listed.
by K. Daraa July 9, 2011 3:04 AM EDT
Not even a valid poll. The majority of Americans of all age groups, DO NOT KNOW some of what the shuttle program was used for. They funded it, they cried when crew members died, but there were probably many things the shuttle was used for, that never reached public knowledge. I'm willing to think that some of these things were very important for America and Americans, and like the great dreadnought of a bygone era, or the world's fastest plane, they now take their place in history. Now for our gigantic military and it's massive anchor of a budget!
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by 6591Hou July 9, 2011 7:59 AM EDT
The biggest accomplishment was the International Space Station, which is a National Laboratory for science. Now scheduled to remain in orbit until 2020 it is there to perform experiments that can't be done on earth, zero gravity being so hard to come by and all...
by brian_norwood July 8, 2011 9:04 PM EDT
I love NASA for what they do. But, in retrospect, I don't believe the Shuttle Program was worth it. As amazing as the technology was, it was too expensive to operate and never met the launch turnaround needed to make it as effective as was promised.

Couple that with the fact that two of them blew up with tragic loss of life, I give it "one thumb down."
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by 6591Hou July 9, 2011 8:01 AM EDT
135 flights wasn't good enough for you? It accomplished the Hubble launch and maintenance, and the assembly of the ISS (which could not have been done without it) for the exploration of science.
by trillion1 July 8, 2011 8:34 PM EDT
The morons that think it was good most likely are the same people who vote for the incumbents that got us into this economic mess and expect them to get us out. The shuttle was interesting but how did it really help this nation. How many jobs did it create? how many hungry people did it feed? How many homes did it save from the greedy bankers. What giant leaps in science has it caused? The answer to all these is none!
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by 6591Hou July 9, 2011 8:02 AM EDT
you need to inform yourself before you post
by HikerDan July 9, 2011 4:13 PM EDT
You measure happiness by the fullness of your stomach??
by wfw3536 July 8, 2011 8:19 PM EDT
Can you imagine what president Kennedy would say if he were alive to see the end of our space program. It is hard to believe the Obama administration has billions to waste on another needless war in Libya, but no money for the space program. It also means thousand more of jobs lost.
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by retm-w July 8, 2011 8:25 PM EDT
I don't hear boehner, or mcConnel crying about it. Bet NASA was right behind Medicare and Social Security on the republicans defund list. Or did you forget the republicans now control congress.
by brian_norwood July 8, 2011 9:09 PM EDT
I don't really see it as the end of our space program. I am pretty juiced about how private industry is getting in the game. Seems like a natural progression to me and in the end will probably prove very effective.

What drove NASA was competition with the Russians. It was more about global ***** measuring than about the actual mission. Private sector competition may, in the end drive innovation.
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