Tales of the Heliosphere

A new poll from Zogby International shows Americans are interested in space travel, both private and governmental. According to the Zogby press release, only about a third of respondents said they follow the nascent space tourism industry but 41 percent would travel to the moon. The full poll is available only to subscribers but here's a portion of Zogby's press release:

"While large percentages of Americans are receptive to commercial space travel, that doesn't signal a death knell for NASA. In fact, large majorities of Americans back a space program. Four in five said that it's important to America's international prestige to have a space program, and 71% oppose any cut to NASA's budget, while one in three Americans would back increasing NASA's funding levels.

In an era of space shuttle accidents and astronaut deaths, though, there is some hesitancy to boost men and women into orbit. While 80% of Americans see a space program as vital to America's international prestige, a lower 75% believe a manned program is necessary to this purpose." (Here.)

With a margin of error of +- 1.4 percent, that 5 percent difference does not seem very significant. The numbers still show that 3/4 of Americans surveyed support human space travel. However you look at it, the glass is still well more than half full.

-tdr

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