--- title: Most Americans Say Returning to the Moon Shouldn't Be Priority description: Most Americans don't think returning to the moon should be a top priority for the country's space program, a recent poll found. canonical: https://time.com/5621849/moon-return-poll/ author: Julia Webster article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-07-08T12:54:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-13T08:53:37.514Z article:section: Science og:title: Most Americans Say Returning to the Moon Shouldn't Be a Priority og:description: They favor outer space research and asteroid tracking og:url: https://time.com/5621849/moon-return-poll/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt170cbc453420fc87/6989ffa809208f17f241535a/gettyimages-1128138042.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Moon over Cologne og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Most Americans Say Returning to the Moon Shouldn't Be a Priority twitter:description: They favor outer space research and asteroid tracking twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt170cbc453420fc87/6989ffa809208f17f241535a/gettyimages-1128138042.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Most Americans Say Returning to the Moon Shouldn't Be a Space Program Priority > Sponsored content. 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Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-futureproof-2026q3/newsletters?i=983dc188-fe2f-4b01-af17-96bef4607fdf&cr=time-nl-futureproof-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Vice President Mike Pence Wants to Land Astronauts on the Moon Within Five Years [Watch (HLS stream): Vice President Mike Pence Wants to Land Astronauts on the Moon Within Five Years](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/nXrCKPwb.m3u8) (1:11)  _Published 2019-03-27. Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday called for landing astronauts on the moon within five years, an accelerated pace that would aim to put Americans on the lunar south pole._ by [Julia Webster](https://time.com/author/julia-webster/) ## Julia Webster Jul 8, 2019 12:54 PM UTC Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday called for landing astronauts on the moon within five years, an accelerated pace that would aim to put Americans on the lunar south pole. by [Julia Webster](https://time.com/author/julia-webster/) ## Julia Webster Jul 8, 2019 12:54 PM UTC Most Americans don’t think [returning to the moon](https://time.com/5618252/nasa-orion-abort-test/) should be a top priority for the country’s space program, a recent poll found, despite the Trump administration’s goal to do exactly that within five years. Only 23% of Americans consider the return voyage a priority, according to an Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research [poll](http://www.apnorc.org/projects/Pages/Space-Exploration-Attitudes-toward-the-U-S--Space-Program.aspx). The results come after U.S. Vice President Mike Pence announced in March a plan to return to the moon within five years. “In this century, we’re going back to the moon with new ambitions,” Pence said at the time, pointing to the possibility of valuable resources around the lunar south pole that could be converted into rocket fuel for longer missions. But the poll, conducted in May ahead of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing this month, showed that 37% of Americans said reaching Mars is a more important goal, while 43% do not think either action should be a priority. Most Americans agreed the the space program’s top priorities should be monitoring potentially dangerous objects like asteroids and comets, as well as conducting scientific research to expand knowledge of the Earth, solar system and the universe more broadly. Establishing permanent human settlements on other planets or developing an American military presence in space are at the bottom of the list, with around 20% of Americans saying either are very important. Most respondents also agreed that the federal government should be primarily responsible for extraterrestrial efforts, with academia, private companies and other countries playing a lesser role. The poll was conducted with 1,137 adults via online and telephone interviews. ## Transcript Fifty years ago one small step for man became one giant leap for mankind. But now's come the time for us to make the next giant leap and return American astronauts to the moon, establish a permanent base there and develop the technologies to take American astronauts to Mars and beyond. Just as The United States was the first nation to reach the moon in the 20th Century, so too we'll be the first nation to return astronauts to the moon in the 21st Century. And I'm here on the president's behalf to tell the men and women of Marshall Space Flight Center and the American people. That at the direction of the President of the United States, it is the stated policy of this administration and the United States of America to return American astronauts to the moon within the next five years. NASA must transform itself into a leaner, more accountable and more agile organization. If NASA is not currently capable of landing American astronauts on the moon in 5 years. We need to change the organization. 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