--- 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: 2026-02-23T23:55:43.488Z 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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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. by [Julia Webster](https://time.com/author/julia-webster/) ## Julia Webster Jul 8, 2019 12:54 PM UTC  19 February 2019, Cologne: The moon shines over Cologne. 19 February 2019, Cologne: The moon shines over Cologne. Federico Gambarini—picture alliance via Getty Image 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. 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