Most adults think the U.S. should fight to maintain leadership in the global space race and expect people will routinely leave orbit as tourists by 2073, a poll has found.
Among those responding to a survey that the Pew Research Center released Thursday, 55% said they expect space tourism to become normal in the next 50 years, owing to the efforts of private companies such as Elon Musk’s SpaceX to satisfy curiosity about leaving the planet.
At the same time, just 35% said they’d be interested in orbiting the Earth in a shuttle, down 7% from the last time Pew asked the question in 2018. Interest was highest among respondents ages 18-29 and lowest among those over 65.
An additional 69% of respondents this year said it’s essential for the U.S. to maintain its place as a world leader in space, the nonprofit pollster found.
“Support for a U.S. leadership role in space is widely held across groups, including by majorities of Republicans and Democrats alike,” Pew researchers Brian Kennedy and Alec Tyson wrote in a summary of the findings.
The nonprofit pollster found that 65% of those surveyed believe it’s essential for NASA to remain involved in space exploration compared with 32% who believe private companies are sufficient to explore the cosmos.
Other key findings included:
• 44% of adults think the U.S. will probably or definitely fight other nations in space during the next 50 years.
• 40% think intelligent life will probably or definitely be discovered on another planet by 2073.
• One-third of adults believe colonies that support long-term life on other planets will spring up over the same period.
Most respondents said monitoring potentially dangerous asteroids should be a priority for NASA, while half named watching the Earth’s climate system as crucial. More Republicans than Democrats surveyed mentioned watching asteroids as a concern, while more Democrats worried about climate monitoring.
Pew conducted the nationally representative survey of 10,329 adult members of its American Trends Panel from May 30 to June 4. The margin of error was plus or minus 1.5 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
• Sean Salai can be reached at ssalai@washingtontimes.com.