Poll: Americans Say U.S. Should Go To Mars
(CBS)
Fifty-one percent of those surveyed back the journey to Mars. Forty-three percent opposed it. In 2004, 48 percent said the U.S. should send astronauts to Mars, while in 1999 that figure was 58 percent.
As the country marks the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing, meanwhile, there is widespread agreement that landing men on the moon was worthwhile. Seventy-one percent said it was worth the time, effort and money that went into the endeavor, while 24 percent said it was not.
(CBS)
Yet many Americans say the space program has fallen short of their expectations. Thirty-two percent say the space program has accomplished less than they expected, while 27 percent say it has exceeded their expectations. Thirty-six percent say the program has accomplished about what they expected.
The U.S. has sent spacecraft such as rovers to Mars, but humans have yet to set foot there. Men (62 percent) are far more likely than women (42 percent) to favor sending astronauts to the planet.
In addition, Americans under age 45, who were less likely to have watched the moon landing on television in 1969, favor exploring Mars. Older Americans are opposed to the idea.
NASA on Thursday unveiled refurbished video of the 1969 moon landing, in conjunction with its 40th anniversary. On Wednesday, space shuttle Endeavour launched on a flight to the international space station. NASA plans to retire the shuttle fleet after seven more launches.
Read the complete poll (PDF)>
Complete Coverage: 40th Anniversary of the Moon Landing
This poll was conducted among a random sample of 944 adults nationwide, interviewed by telephone July 9-12, 2009. 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.
Popular in Politics
- Obama prom pictures surface 130 Comments
- Obama forgets to salute while boarding Marine One Play Video
- IRS' Lerner was asked to resign, refused: GOP Sen. 156 Comments
- Is President Obama ending the war on terror? 279 Comments
- Now, some unions upset over Obamacare
- GOP Rep.: Obama elected because of Reagan's immigration reforms
- IRS official Lois Lerner placed on leave 131 Comments
- Rand Paul uses 2016 bully pulpit to push Obama on drones
----
Maybe they expect to find those WMDs...
They have over 150 people doing Public Relations work alone---no wonder their numbers are high like this. The lost research for areas from medicine to human engineering to alternative fuels has been staggering. Enough with the fancy daydreams already.
We are on this planet and need to take care of it and of ourselves first.
That's not surprizing considering the bleak future Obama is creating.
The people are on to the republican party and the party is over. republicans are about to go the way of the whigs.
The major difference here is that the Whigs were the liberal party as opposed to the conservative Democratic party (until they switched to liberalness later). But I do think you're right though.