(Washington, D.C.) – U.S. Representative Dave Weldon, M.D. released the following statement regarding today’s release of the Gallup Organization’s poll for The Space Foundation regarding the Public’s Opinion Regarding America’s Space Exploration.
“The results of this poll show us that the continued exploration of space is an important and worthy mission for America to pursue and confirms my commitment toward the goal of a safe Shuttle return to flight and my continued investment and support of the Space Program.
“The poll proves that the majority of the public (both Republicans & Democrats) understand the importance of space exploration – 67% of adults show interest in the Space Program and 66% agree that it is important for our nation to have a space program that uses both manned exploration with astronauts and unmanned exploration using robotics, such as the recent Mars Rovers. We also see that a very large percent of the population, 70%, believe the benefits of human space flight are worth the potential risks to astronauts.
“NASA’s critics like to claim there is no real support for space exploration. This week marks the 35th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing and this poll shows support is just as strong as ever.”
