SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, has garnered a dedicated following with hundreds of fans flocking to beaches to witness Starship launches. However, beyond the realm of space enthusiasts, the general American public seems less enthused about ambitious space endeavors.
According to a 2023 Pew Research study, only 12% of US adults believe that NASA's top priority should be returning astronauts to the moon. Despite this, 47% of respondents feel that space companies are making significant contributions to space exploration, with 69% emphasizing the importance of the United States maintaining its leadership in space.
Notably, NASA has deemed the mission to return humans to the moon as crucial, allocating up to $4 billion to SpaceX to aid in this endeavor. Interestingly, historical data reveals that even during NASA's Apollo program in the 1960s, there was not widespread public support for lunar missions.
Researchers have highlighted that throughout the 1960s, a majority of Americans questioned the value of the Apollo program and expressed concerns about the government's spending on space exploration. Despite this lack of public consensus, the Apollo program achieved six successful crewed moon landings, laying the foundation for NASA's current status as a global space leader.
