Americans express pride in U.S. space program
Washington, D.C., April 6, 2026 – As Artemis II astronauts complete a historic flyby of the moon, majorities of Americans express pride in the U.S. space program and feel that landing astronauts on the moon is important for the U.S.
The new survey, conducted April 3-5, finds 76% of Americans agree that the U.S. space program makes them feel proud. Additionally, 69% say they get excited about space exploration. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration enjoys high ratings from the public: 80% express a favorable view of the U.S. space agency.
Looking to the future of the moon in the context of global competition, 59% of Americans say it is strategically important for the U.S. to establish a long-term presence on the moon; 37% take the opposite view and say it is not that important to U.S. interests.
A separate question asking about priorities for NASA finds that majorities of Americans think it is important for the U.S. to land astronauts on the moon (69%) as well as on Mars (59%). However, Americans rank these landings lower than other goals. Large majorities say it is important for NASA to monitor Earth’s climate, weather, and natural disasters (90%), develop new technologies (90%), and explore the solar system using tools like telescopes and robots (83%).
About the Study
This poll was conducted April 3-5, 2026, by Ipsos using the probability-based KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,021 general population adults aged 18 or older.
The study was conducted in English. The data were weighted to adjust for gender by age, race and ethnicity, census region, metropolitan status, education, household income, 2024 vote choice and political party identification. Political party identification benchmarks are from the 2025 NPORS annual survey, with a midyear adjustment estimated across aggregated KnowledgePanel surveys accounting for changes in panelists’ party identification over time. The demographic benchmarks came from the 2025 March supplement of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS).
- Gender (Male, Female) by Age (18–29, 30–44, 45-59 and 60+)
- Race/Hispanic Ethnicity (White Non-Hispanic, Black Non-Hispanic, Other, Non-Hispanic, Hispanic, 2+ Races, Non-Hispanic)
- Education (Less than High School, High School, Some College, Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree or higher)
- Census Region (Northeast, Midwest, South, West)
- Metropolitan status (Metro, non-Metro)
- Household Income (Under $25,000, $25,000-$49,999, $50,000-$74,999, $75,000-$99,999, $100,000-$149,999, $150,000+)
- 2024 Vote Choice (Trump, Harris, Another candidate, Did not vote)
- Political Party ID (Democrat, Lean Democrat, Republican, Lean Republican, Independent/Something else)
The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults. The margin of sampling error takes into account the design effect, which was 1.31. The margin of sampling error is higher and varies for results based on sub-samples. In our reporting of the findings, percentage points are rounded off to the nearest whole number. As a result, percentages in a given table column may total slightly higher or lower than 100%. In questions that permit multiple responses, columns may total substantially more than 100%, depending on the number of different responses offered by each respondent.
For more information on this news release, please contact:
Alec Tyson
Senior Vice President, US
Public Affairs
[email protected]
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