Poll: Americans aren’t over the moon about paying for space exploration

Sam Matthews
·Executive Producer, Yahoo News
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Lately, it seems like NASA will take any chance to remind you that we're going back to the moon. Returning to the moon after more than 50 years is an exciting prospect, and one that could have huge ramifications for how we live here on Earth. But a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll shows that Americans aren't overwhelmingly enthusiastic about NASA's lunar ambitions — or the steep price tag that comes along with them.

Video Transcript

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- Nowadays, it seems like NASA will take any chance to remind you that-- we're going back to the moon.

BILL NELSON: We're going back to the moon.

CHRISTINA KOCH: We're going back to the moon.

STANLEY LOVE: Put footprints on the moon dust.

SHANNON WALKER: I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about it.

- Returning to the moon after more than 50 years is an exciting prospect. But a new "Yahoo News" YouGov poll shows that Americans aren't overwhelmingly enthusiastic about NASA's lunar ambitions.

50% of people told us they're excited by the possibility of returning to the moon, versus 36%, who said they aren't. The rest, well, they weren't so sure.

And when it comes to the specifics of the upcoming Artemis missions, 58% of Americans said they've never heard of it, with just 8% saying they've heard a lot. However, a clear majority considers it important for the US to maintain its status as the world leader in space exploration.

That said, Americans are far more divided on whether space missions are a good use of taxpayer money. 40% say yes, and 36% say no. And weirdly enough, here, America's political divide finds a rare moment of unity. Roughly the same number of people who voted for Biden versus Trump in the 2020 election say space missions are a good use of taxpayer money.

So why aren't Americans over the moon about flipping the bill for space missions? Tom Zelibor, CEO of the Space Foundation, says it may come down to a lack of space awareness.

TOM ZELIBOR: First of all, space is the one place, or the one topic, that I do see bipartisan support, at least in the government. It's not this bipolar approach to things. And so I see that, first of all, as very positive.

As far as the general public, the awareness side of space that people don't get is that the majority of the technologies that we have to develop for being in austere environments in space absolutely benefit us on Earth.

The landscape is replete with examples. Football helmets, WD-40, makeup, sunglasses technology. I mean, I could go on. Everybody has one of these things in their pocket. Well, it's not-- 90% of that phone is useless if you don't have space technologies attached to it. We have to do a better job on the space awareness side. Because people will see dollar signs, but they won't equate it to what it does for us on Earth.

- So even though NASA's missions may seem like they're dealing with issues very far away from our day-to-day lives, the things they learn along the way can have a huge impact. And with the first manned Artemis missions still more than a year away, there's a lot of time for moon fever to catch on.

Well, that's all the time we've got for this week. We'll be back next weekend with another "This Week in Outer Space."

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