Pathways to Exploration Rationales and Approaches for a U.S. Program of Human Space Exploration (2014) / Chapter Skim
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3 Public and Stakeholder Attitudes
3 Public and Stakeholder Attitudes
Pages 83-108
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From page 83... ...
This chapter discusses public opinion and stakeholder views on space exploration and human spaceflight, including rationales of and support for various programs. It first reviews public opinion data collected over the years by the nation's major polling organizations and then discusses findings of a survey conducted as part of the present study to assess the views of key stakeholder groups.
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From page 84... ...
It then discusses views of government funding for space exploration and support for specific human spaceflight missions, such as the Moon, the space shuttle, the space station, and Mars. It also discusses perceptions of the U.S.
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From page 85... ...
. The loss of the space shuttle Challenger in January 1986 may have resulted in a brief boost in public interest in space exploration.
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From page 86... ...
. 3.1.2 Support for Spending on Space Exploration Public opinion of NASA has been relatively positive and stable over the years.
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From page 87... ...
human spaceflight, Space Policy 19:163-175, 2003; S.A.
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From page 88... ...
-Ipsos survey asked "As you may have heard, the United States is considering expanding the space program by building a permanent space station on the Moon with a plan to eventually send astronauts to Mars. Considering all the potential costs and benefits, do you favor expanding the space program this way or do you oppose it?
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From page 89... ...
. TABLE 3.1 Support for Building "a space station large enough to house scientific and manufacturing experiments," 1988-1999 Year 1988 1992 1997 1999 Strongly agree 11% 10% 12% 9% Agree 61 48 51 55 Not sure 5 5 6 6 Disagree 22 31 26 27 Strongly disagree 1 6 5 3 SOURCE: National Science Foundation Surveys of Public Attitudes Toward and Understanding of Science and Technology.
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From page 90... ...
Shortly after the Columbia accident, a 2004 AP-Ipsos survey asked whether human spaceflight should be continued "in light of the space shuttle accident last February [2003] in which seven astronauts were killed," and 73 percent said that the United States should continue to send humans into space (AP/Ipsos 1/04)
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From page 91... ...
. A 2011 CNN question found that 54 percent of American adults thought that the United States should rely more on private companies to run human space missions in the future, compared with 38 percent who wanted to keep human spaceflight primarily a government function (CNN/ORC 7/11)
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From page 92... ...
. • In 2008, 23 percent strongly agreed that "the scientific, technical and other benefits of space exploration are worth the risks of human space flight" (68 percent overall agreement)
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From page 93... ...
3.1.8 Summary of Findings on Public Opinion The American public's overall views of NASA, space exploration, and human spaceflight programs are generally favorable, but public opinion data show that most members of the public do not have a strong interest in or feel well informed about this topic. Survey data collected over the years indicate that an average of about one-fourth of U.S.
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From page 94... ...
graduate or less 15 38 Some college 21 30 College graduate or more 32 26 Ideology Conservative 26 29 Moderate 19 36 Liberal 22 30 Working Full-time 23 31 Part-time 19 31 Not working 22 35 SOURCE: General Social Survey. TABLE 3.5 Development of Interest in Space Exploration, 1987-2011 Grade/Year Grade 10 Grade 11 Grade 12 2008 2011 Interest in space exploration Very interested 16% 20% 17% 18% 24% Moderately interested 48 51 53 52 48 Not interested 36 29 30 30 28 Informed about space exploration Very well informed 11 13 11 6 6 Moderately well informed 50 53 51 42 43 Not well informed 39 34 38 52 51 Attentiveness to space exploration Attentive 6 7 6 4 4 Interested 10 13 11 13 17 Residual 84 80 83 83 79 SOURCE: Longitudinal Study of American Youth.
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From page 95... ...
Among the general public overall, support for space-exploration funding tends to be low, especially in comparison with support for other possible spending priorities. Those trends -- generally positive views of space exploration and human spaceflight programs but low support for funding increases and low levels of public engagement -- have held true for a few decades.
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From page 96... ...
Section=Standard_ Definitions2&Template=/ CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=3156. This section discusses the findings of the stakeholder survey, including stakeholder views about the rationales for space exploration in general and human spaceflight specifically, and possible directions for NASA's human spaceflight program.
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From page 97... ...
Many of these respondents were not conducting space-related work themselves. About 40 percent of those who said that they were involved in space-related work said that they were very or somewhat involved in work related to human spaceflight.
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From page 98... ...
Reason for Space Exploration % Mentioned Reason for Human Spaceflight % Mentioned Knowledge and scientific understanding 78 Humans can accomplish more than robots 32 Technological advances 35 Basic human drive to explore new frontiers 30 Basic human drive to explore new frontiers 32 Knowledge and scientific understanding 28 Human economic activity beyond Earth 11 Future settlements in space 18 Future settlements in space 8 Technological advances 14 U.S. prestige 7 Public support 9 Careers in science, technology, mathematics, 5 U.S.
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From page 99... ...
% Mentioned % Mentioned Reason for Space Exploration First Reason for Human Spaceflight First Knowledge and scientific understanding 60 Humans can accomplish more than robots 23 Basic human drive to explore new frontiers 21 Basic human drive to explore new frontiers 21 Technological advances 9 Knowledge and scientific understanding 19 Future settlements in space 2 Future settlements in space 10 U.S. prestige 2 None/No compelling reason for human space 6 exploration Other 2 Public support 6 Human economic activity beyond Earth 2 Other 4 Careers in science, technology, mathematics, 1 Technological advances 4 and engineering Search for signs of life 1 U.S.
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From page 100... ...
. In the case of human spaceflight, views of the "most important" rationale were again divided: 22 percent of the respondents said "satisfying a basic human drive to explore new frontiers," 18 percent said "inspiring young people to pursue careers in science, technology, math and engineering," and 16 percent said "expanding knowledge and scientific understanding." To probe the rationales from an additional perspective, the panel asked respondents to describe in an openended format what they thought would be lost if NASA's human spaceflight program were terminated (Table 3.12)
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From page 101... ...
prestige 4 Creating opportunities for international cooperation 1 Paving the way for commercial space travel 4 Enhancing U.S. prestige 0 Extending human economic activity beyond Earth 3 Paving the way for commercial space travel 0 Maintaining our national security 3 TABLE 3.12 What Would Be Lost If NASA's Human Spaceflight Program Were Terminated (Open-Ended, All Mentions)
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From page 102... ...
. Continuing with LEO flights to the ISS until 2020 and extending the TABLE 3.13 Goals for NASA's Human Spaceflight Program over the Next 20 Years Strongly Favor, Strongly Favor or Somewhat Favor, % % Continue with LEO flights to the ISS until 2020 45 79 Extend the ISS to 2028 37 67 Conduct orbital missions to Mars to teleoperate robots on the surface 31 66 Land humans on Mars 25 48 Establish outposts on the Moon 22 49 Return to the Moon and explore more of it with short visits 22 56 Send humans to a near-Earth asteroid in its native orbit 19 50 Establish a human presence (base)
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From page 103... ...
28 12 6 53 29 22 on Mars TABLE 3.15 Goals for NASA's Human Spaceflight Program over the Next 20 Years: Options Strongly Favored among Main Stakeholder Groups Strongly Favor, % Scientists/ Scientists/ engineers in engineers in Space advocates space-related non-space- and science fields related fields Industry Defense popularizers (n = 373)
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From page 104... ...
(n = 99) Continue with LEO flights to the 76 78 83 82 86 ISS until 2020 Extend the ISS to 2028 62 66 80 73 81 Send humans to a near-Earth 52 48 50 42 58 asteroid in its native orbit Return to the Moon and explore 56 52 64 54 72 more of it with short visits Establish outposts on the Moon 51 40 60 45 73 Conduct orbital missions to Mars 65 64 80 63 76 to teleoperate robots on the surface Land humans on Mars 50 38 63 52 74 Establish a human presence (base)
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From page 105... ...
However, those involved in space-related work but not human spaceflight and those who were not involved in space-related work were more likely to rate improving orbital technologies, such as weather and communication satellites, very important. Expanding space collaboration with other countries was the item that received comparable levels of support in all three of those groups.
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From page 106... ...
None of the rationales traditionally given for human spaceflight garnered agreement from a majority of the respondents. When asked what the most important rationale was from among the rationales traditionally given for human spaceflight, "satisfying a basic human drive to explore new frontiers" was the reason selected by the TABLE 3.19 Who Should Take the Lead on Each of These Activities over the Next 20 Years NASA, % Private Sector, % Neither, % Space exploration for scientific research 95 2 1 Extending human economic activity beyond Earth 16 68 14 Space travel by private citizens 1 85 12 Establishing an off-planet human presence 48 20 30
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From page 107... ...
When asked to describe the reasons for human spaceflight in the form of an open-ended question, about onethird of the respondents provided reasons that can be summarized as "humans can accomplish more than robots in space." Somewhat fewer than one-third argued that the reason was to satisfy a basic human drive to explore new frontiers. "Expanding knowledge and scientific understanding" was mentioned by about one-fourth as a reason for human spaceflight.
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From page 108... ...
A majority said that NASA should conduct human space-exploration missions beyond LEO mainly or exclusively as part of an international collaboration that includes both current partners and new and emerging space powers. Key predictors of support for human spaceflight are age and whether a person is involved in work related to human spaceflight.
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