According to a recent poll published by You Gov America, around seven in 10 Americans are in favor of NASA. It includes both very favorable and somewhat favorable. Among others, 13% view NASA as unfavorable, and 16% voted that they don’t know. It is still a notable number that almost 70% of the members who voted are for NASA and the activities.
The poll is specifically indicating “was the nearly $10 billion observatory a good investment?”. Among the online poll, around 1,000 Americans took part. Their opinion on the overall investments of NASA was taken. Around 60% are in favor of the organization with regard to the James Webb Space Telescope.
Seven in 10 Americans have a very or somewhat favorable view of NASA; just 13% view NASA unfavorably and 16% say they don't know.
Similar shares of Democrats (79%) and Republicans (72%) view NASA favorably.https://t.co/gcL65FIjLE pic.twitter.com/vu8pQS24eV
— YouGov America (@YouGovAmerica) July 19, 2022
Furthermore, YouGov notes this poll was conducted between July 14th and July 18th, after NASA released the first dazzling JWST images of sparkling galaxies and nebulas on July 12th. Those images appear to have been enough to outshine some of JWST’s past drama. The telescope may be in space and operating now, but it’s been a long and harrowing journey getting to that point. Prior to its launch, JWST’s development was marked by significant delays and budget overruns. Originally, NASA and mission planners hoped to launch the telescope sometime between 2007 and 2011 for a relatively low cost of $1 to $3.5 billion. But the telescope went through a dizzying array of schedule slips and mishaps. By the time JWST finally launched on Christmas Day 2021, its total lifetime cost stood at $9.7 billion.
Images of space
It is known that the nearly $10 billion price tag for JWST is the lifetime cost for NASA. So that includes the bulk of its development since the early 2000s, as well as the first five years of its operations, according to the Planetary Society. And the Planetary Society also notes that JWST’s total costs account for 0.0095 percent of all US spending between 2003 and 2026.
NEW: Following the release of the first images from the James Webb Space Telescope, 3 in 5 Americans say the telescope has been a good investment. One-quarter (26%) are unsure, and 13% say it has been a bad investment.https://t.co/gcL65FIjLE pic.twitter.com/AwJxbSkZVF
— YouGov America (@YouGovAmerica) July 19, 2022
Evidently, most of the people polled probably weren’t thinking about the price tag when they were looking at the intricacies of the Carina Nebula that JWST captured in incredible detail. When shown the already-iconic picture, people waxed poetic. “Astonishment in the face of incredible beauty,” one person who replied to the YouGov poll said. “I was quite overwhelmed by it,” another wrote. “It’s magnificent to be able to see so much detail in such a tiny section of the universe.”
On the other hand, it should be noted that only a small percentage of the population took this poll. It may not be fully conclusive research, but up to some extent, there is the possibility that most Americans actually have a positive opinion.
