A recent poll conducted by CBS News provides an encouraging look into public support for the Artemis program to return astronauts to the moon and eventually send humans to Mars.

Sixty-seven percent of respondents favor a return to the moon and just 33 percent oppose one. On Mars, sixty-five percent favor sending astronauts to the red planet with 35 percent in opposition.

Support for sending astronauts back to the moon tracks favorably among all age groups, with 71 percent of 18 to 29-year-olds in favor.

The current favorable view of the Artemis program contrasts with what people thought of the Apollo program to land men on the moon while it was ongoing. As space historian Roger Launius pointed out, most Americans, with the exception of one poll taken in July 1969, took a dim view of going to the moon.

“Consistently throughout the decade, 45-60 percent of Americans believed that the government was spending too much on space, indicative of a lack of commitment to the spaceflight agenda,” Launius wrote.

Incidentally, the CBS News poll shows that now Americans believe that the Apollo program was worth the effort, 77 to 23 percent. The findings were consistent with those taken on the 50th and 40th anniversaries of the........

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