Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
As NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover revs up to start rolling, a new poll has looked into public backing of a human mission to Mars. Now Americans are slightly more supportive of sending a human to the Red Planet.
A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 36 percent of American adults think the current goals of the space program should include sending a person to Mars.
In the mix of poll numbers, 38 percent disagree, while 27 percent are not sure.
The national survey involved the polling of 1,000 adults and was conducted August 7-8, 2012 by Rasmussen Reports.
The questions asked:
1* How closely have you followed recent news reports about the U.S. space program?
2* Do you have a very favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat unfavorable or very unfavorable impression of NASA?
3* Since we first landed on the moon, has the United States’ investment in space exploration been worth the expense?
4* Looking to the future, should the federal government spend more, less or about the same on space exploration?
5* Should the current goals of the space program include sending someone to Mars?
6* How likely is it that continuing the space program would lead to technological discoveries that would help create jobs?
NOTE: Margin of Sampling Error, +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.
By Leonard David