News Archive

Tuesday, February 5, 2002 Poll Results (MSNBC) - A public survey conducted for NASA shows overwhelming support for Mars missions. Of the more than 54,000 people who responded to the online survey run by the Planetary Society, more than 90 percent ranked Mars exploration among the top five missions priorities. Missions to the moon and Jupiter’s moon Europa were the next most popular, were both ranked in the top five by more than 60 percent of respondents. The next closest contender for favorite destination was Pluto, along with its neighboring objects, at 37 percent. Survey participants were also asked to rank 10 possibilities regarding the purpose of solar system exploration. Understanding the origins of the solar system ranked high overall, but was the top choice for only 9 percent of participants. Searching for any potential danger to Earth from space and determine the suitability of other planets for human colonization tied for the most No. 1 votes, with 25 percent each, but were ranked low by many respondents. (More info: MSNBC.com) @ 19:02 EST