Americans' Mixed Views on NASA's Moon Return and Space Tourism

A poll conducted by the Pew Research Center reveals that most Americans believe NASA's top priority should be monitoring for asteroids that could potentially hit Earth, followed by monitoring climate change. Only a small percentage of respondents think returning astronauts to the moon or landing on Mars should be NASA's top priority. The survey also found that private space companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic are seen as doing a good job in building safe and reliable spacecraft, but received lower marks when it comes to limiting space debris. Additionally, a majority of Americans believe there will be a major problem with space debris in the next 50 years and nearly half think the United States will engage in space conflicts with other nations.