The Pew poll is actually good news for NASA’s moon and Mars missions

Recently Pew Research released a survey measuring public attitudes about NASA, space exploration and the burgeoning commercial space sector. The results are illuminating, not the least of which are the numbers for public support for sending astronauts to the moon and then sending them to Mars. 

The results are good news for Artemis, though one would not know it from how it was reported by some in the media.

The headline in the Washington Post proclaims: “Poll: Returning to the moon a low priority to Americans.” Forbes says: “Just 12 [percent] of Americans want exploring the moon to be NASA’s top priority.” Techcrunch adds, “Few Americans think NASA’s top priority should be sending humans to the moon or Mars.”

The message from the headlines cited suggests that Americans are cool to human space exploration beyond low Earth orbit based on low numbers for the “top priority” category — 12 percent for sending astronauts back to the moon and 11 percent for sending humans to Mars. 

However, a close examination of the numbers tells a different story.

The line for support for returning astronauts to the moon also contains a category, “important but lower priority” and returns with a result of 45 percent. The results for sending astronauts to Mars under that category are also 45 percent result. Combined with the results for the “top priority” category, 57 percent of Americans favor returning astronauts to the moon and 56 percent favor sending them to Mars.

The combined total for some of the other questions suggests strong support for certain objectives of Artemis. “Search for resources, materials that could be used on Earth” gets a combined total of 75 percent. “Search for life and planets that could support life” gets 60 percent. “Conduct research on how space travel affects human health” yields 74 percent. Finally, 69 percent of Americans believe the United States should be a leader in space exploration, something that Artemis also furthers.

The combined results for the moon and Mars in the Pew poll closely track those from a recent YouGov poll. That poll showed that 64 percent of Americans favor returning to the moon and 57 percent favor sending astronauts to Mars.

Some of the articles, such as the one in Forbes, mention the “important but lower priority” category. But none of them combine it with the “top priority” category to achieve a more accurate measure of support for sending astronauts to the moon and Mars.

The best explanation for some of the headlines could be a need for clicks. A headline that suggests the alleged unpopularity of going back to the moon and on to Mars likely attracts more readers than something that presents a more nuanced view of the Pew poll’s results. It may also spark more discussion on social media.

Another part of the problem is the Pew poll questions are oddly worded. A better way to determine the support for various NASA programs would be to divide the answers into “strongly support” “somewhat support,” “neutral,” “somewhat oppose” and “strongly oppose.” Using the word “priority” suggests that NASA is incapable of doing more than one thing at a time. 

Also, there should be some mention of the question of why we want to send astronauts to the moon and Mars. “Do you favor a return to the moon for science, resources and soft political power?” “Do you favor going to Mars to establish a human settlement on that planet?” A separate question should cover the burgeoning space race with China.

The news media needs to do better. Reporters should become more adroit at deep diving into surveys like the Pew poll to get a more nuanced read on what the public is really thinking.

Artemis’ stakeholders, including NASA, commercial companies such as SpaceX, the scientific community and supporters in Congress need to be more proactive in promoting the benefits of going back to the moon and on to Mars. If they sell the idea that sending human explorers beyond low Earth orbit is a good and necessary thing, possibly the “top priority” category in the next Pew Poll will have a higher percentage.

Mark R. Whittington, who writes frequently about space policy, has published a political study of space exploration entitled “Why is It So Hard to Go Back to the Moon?” as well as “The Moon, Mars and Beyond,” and, most recently, “Why is America Going Back to the Moon?” He blogs at Curmudgeons Corner. He is published in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, The Hill, USA Today, the LA Times and the Washington Post, among other venues.