Americans’ opinion of space exploration is pretty high.In an Ipsos poll conducted last week just after the launch of Artemis II, US adults say, 62% to 34%, that the benefits of NASA sending people into space are worth the costs, with nearly identical levels of support among both parties.Even amid dismal ratings for the US government overall, views of NASA remain relatively starry-eyed. The agency gets an 80% favorability rating in Ipsos’ survey. And, in contrast to opinions of many other agencies, opinions of the space program are relatively unpolarized.AdvertisementAdvertisementThat stands out because views about the country’s space program haven’t always been so positive. In polls taken shortly after Americans first landed on the moon in 1969, less than half the public thought the costs were justified – 39% in a 1970 Harris poll, and 41% in an NBC/AP survey fielded nine years later. But in the years since, Gallup has found, views of the space program’s merits have charted a steady upwards trajectory, reaching a record 64% when they last asked around the moon landing’s 50th anniversary.One polling caveat here: Unlike the space programs they’re asking about, survey questions don’t exist in a vacuum. Polling that’s focused more on costs can tell a different story. In a 2003 CNN/USA Today/Gallup survey, support for launching a new program to send astronauts to the moon was 22 points lower if the phrase “spending billions of dollars” was mentioned in the question.Public opinion polling, much like America’s space program, came of age during the mid-20th century, meaning that we have plenty of data of Americans’ views of space throughout the years. A few other findings from those surveys, courtesy of the polling archives at Cornell University’s Roper Center, are below.unknown content itemAdvertisementAdvertisement-The public was initially dubious about the chances of a moon landingAsked by Gallup in 1949 whether “men in rockets will be able to reach the moon” within the next 50 years, just 15% said yes. About five years later, confidence in the men in rockets’ prospects had more than doubled to 38%. And by 1957, asked to guess at a timeline for reaching the moon, around 40% expected it to happen in the next quarter-century or so, although 14% still gave answers that were reported by the pollsters as falling into the category of “never, silly.”Most Americans are just fine down here, thanksAmericans’ early skepticism about space flight was even stronger when they were asked if they might like to go along. In a Gallup poll conducted near the start of 1955, just 9% said they’d like to go along on the first rocket ship to the moon if asked, and two years later, just 5% said they’d volunteer to be the first one up in a spacecraft.Spiro Agnew and Lyndon Johnson Watch the Apollo 11 Lift off, Florida, USA, 1969. Former President Lyndon B. Johnson and Vice President Spiro Agnew watch the liftoff of Apollo 11 at Kennedy Space Center on July 16, 1969. – Heritage Space/Getty ImagesIn more recent years, interest in experiencing space travel has increased, although it still often falls short of a majority. In a 1999 CBS News poll, 21% said both that they expec …
