.

"All in all, would you say the U.S. space shuttle program has been a worthwhile and important program for this country, or would the money have been better spent in some other way?" N=513 (Form A), MoE ± 4.5

.

8/6-10/10

.

"As you may know, the final space shuttle mission is scheduled for this November. Until the U.S. develops a replacement for the shuttle, all manned U.S. space flights will take place in spacecraft that are owned by other countries. Overall, how do you feel about the end of the U.S. space shuttle program: pleased, satisfied but not pleased, dissatisfied but not upset, or upset?" N=496 (Form B), MoE ± 4.5

.

8/6-10/10

.

"Forty years ago, the United States spent a great deal of time, effort, and money to land men on the moon. Looking back now, do you think that effort was worth it, or not?" 8/99: "Thirty years ago . . . ."

.

7/9-12/09

8/99

.

"Since the moon landing forty years ago, do you think the U.S. space program has accomplished more than you expected, less than you expected, or about what you expected it to accomplish by now?"

.

7/9-12/09

.

"Would you favor or oppose the United States sending astronauts to explore Mars?"

.

7/9-12/09

1/12-15/04

8/1-3/99

7/13-14/97

6/20-22/94

.

"How would you rate the job being done by NASA, the U.S. space agency? Would you say it is doing an excellent, good, only fair, or poor job?"

.

.

"Now I'd like to ask you about government spending on NASA. In answering, please bear in mind that sooner or later all government spending has to be taken out of the taxes that you and other Americans pay. Do you think spending on the U.S. space program should be increased, kept at the present level, reduced, or ended altogether?"

.

.

"It is now forty years since the United States first landed men on the moon. Do you think the space program has brought enough benefits to this country to justify its costs, or don't you think so?"

.

7/10-12/09

.

"Which comes closer to your view? The money the U.S. has spent on the space shuttle program would have been better spent in some other way. OR, The space shuttle program has been worth the money the U.S. has spent on it." Options rotated

.

.

"Do you feel the U.S. should or should not continue the manned space shuttle program?"

.

.

"There has been much discussion about attempting to land an astronaut on the planet Mars. How would you feel about such an attempt? Would you favor or oppose the United States setting aside money for such a project?"

.

.

"As you may know, the space shuttle Columbia broke apart and was lost in an accident in February 2003. How much confidence do you have that NASA, the U.S. space agency, will be able to prevent accidents like this from happening in the future: a great deal of confidence, a fair amount, not very much, or none at all?"

.

.

"Would you favor or oppose a new U.S. space program that would send astronauts to the moon?" Form A (N=510, MoE ± 5)

.

.

"Would you favor or oppose the U.S. government spending billions of dollars to send astronauts to the moon?" Form B (N=494, MoE ± 5)

.

.

"Do you think the space program is a good investment for this country or don't you think so?"

.

.

"In light of the space shuttle accident in February, in which seven astronauts were killed, do you think the United States should or should not continue to send humans into space?"

.

.

"Do you think the United States should, or should not, pursue a program to send humans to Mars?"

.

.

"Do you feel that civilian astronauts, such as journalists, politicians and school teachers, should or should not participate in any future space shuttle flights?"

.

.

"As you may know, the space shuttle program is more than 20 years old and experienced two accidents that killed the crew members of both shuttles. Do you think the space shuttle should be grounded, or do you think the space shuttle should continue to fly?"

.

.

"Some people feel the U.S. space program should concentrate on unmanned missions like Voyager 2, which send back information from space. Others say the U.S. should concentrate on maintaining a manned space program like the space shuttle. Which comes closer to your view?"

.

.

.

"How much confidence do you have that NASA, the U.S. space agency, will be able to prevent accidents like this from happening in the future: a great deal of confidence, a fair amount, not very much, or none at all?"

.

"Looking beyond the tragedy, how would you rate the job being done by NASA? Would you say it is doing an excellent, good, only fair, or poor job?"

.

"Should the amount of money being spent on the U.S. space program be increased, kept at current levels, decreased or ended altogether?"

.

"Some people say the United States should concentrate on unmanned missions like the Voyager probe. Others say it is important to maintain a manned space program, as well. Which comes closer to your view?"

.

"Which comes closer to your view? Yesterday's tragedy was regrettable, but you thought something like this would happen again sooner or later. OR, Yesterday's tragedy was regrettable and you didn't think something like this would ever happen again in your lifetime." Options rotated

%

.

.

%

.

CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll. Dec. 9-12, 1999. N=513 adults nationwide. MoE ± 5.

.

"Do you think the federal government should or should not continue to fund efforts by NASA to send unmanned missions to explore the planet Mars?"

CBS News/New York Times Poll. Oct. 26-27, 1998. N=764 adults nationwide.

.

"Are we spending too much, too little, or about the right amount on space exploration programs?"

.

"If you had a chance in your lifetime to travel to outer space, would you do so, or not?"

.

"When you were growing up did you ever want to be an astronaut?"

NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll conducted by the polling organizations of Peter Hart (D) and Robert Teeter (R). Oct. 24-27, 1998. N=500 registered voters nationwide.

.

"It is now nearly 30 years since the United States first landed men on the moon. Do you think that the space program has brought enough benefits to this country to justify its costs, or don't you think so?"