[SURVEY] Americans More Interested in Space Defense Than Mars Missions; Are Asteroids Really That Scary?

The majority of Americans are more interested in space defense technologies than in Mars missions.

This was revealed by the new survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, an American think tank based in Washington, D.C.

Americans More Interested in Space Defense Than Mars Missions

(Photo : NASA/AFP via Getty Images)
This image mosaic of asteroid 253 Mathilde releaseed by NASA 30 June is constructed from four images acquired by the NEAR spacecraft on 27 June. The images were taken from a distance of 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers) with sunlight coming from the upper right.

According to Futurism, most U.S. residents want NASA to prioritize space defense innovations to prevent asteroids and other space threats from hitting Earth.

Pew's latest survey involved over 10,000 American adults. It was conducted from May 30 until June 4.

Around 60% of them said that the international space agency should focus on monitoring space objects, especially asteroids, that could hit the planet.

Meanwhile, 30% of them said that space defense against asteroids is indeed important but should not be a priority.

The remaining adult U.S. residents (9%) said monitoring asteroids and other space objects is unimportant.

Americans Not Interested in Mars Missions

(Photo : Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Las Vegas Astronomical Society vice president of special events Keith Caceres uses computer software connected to his telescope to locate asteroid 2014 JO25 outside the Planetarium at the College of Southern Nevada on April 19, 2017 in North Las Vegas, Nevada. The near mile-long asteroid is traveling at 75,000 mph as it passes the Earth's orbit at almost 1.1 million miles from Earth.

Pew's official survey report showed that only 11% of Americans agree that sending human astronauts to explore Mars must be prioritized by NASA.

The majority of them (45%) said that Mars missions are important but should not be prioritized by the international space union.

The remaining 43% said that Mars explorations are not important and should not be prioritized by NASA.

But, will NASA officials follow the recommendations of Americans on Pew's survey and focus on space defense?

As of writing, the space organization is putting billions of dollars into its Mars missions, especially the sample return activities.

Statistics even revealed that the budget for Mars sample return missions doubled from $4.4 billion to around $9 billion.

Meanwhile, the yearly budget for the planet's space defense activities has decreased significantly over the past years.

The American Institute of Physics said that NASA is only allotting $138 million in its planetary defense, which is lower than the recent $166 million annual budget.

Based on these budget patterns, NASA will still most likely focus on exploring Mars instead of enhancing Earth's planetary defenses. But rest assured that the international space agency is making efforts to keep an eye on asteroids and other space objects that could potentially crash into Earth.