Public Opinion of the American Space Program

Revised: Sept. 2007

"With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it nothing can succeed." - A. Lincoln

NASA depends on the will of the people, as expressed through their senators and representatives and the president, for its funding and direction. NASA has to take the pulse of the American people and obtain its good will. This has not been easy.

NASA had to play "catch-up" through much of its first five years, as the Soviets launched one space spectacular after another. It has had to recover America's trust after several fatal accidents and other misfortunes, such as the losses of the Mars Climate Orbiter in 1998 and the Mars Polar Lander in 1999. However, NASA does not work alone. Several space advocacy organizations work at the grassroots level to get people interested in space exploration and to write to Washington to ask for better finding for NASA. This pathfinder covers how the American people's opinion of NASA is shaped. For additional perspectives on this subject, please see the library's pathfinders on scientific literacy and communicating science. Note: The grassroots space advocacy organizations listed in the Internet resources section in this pathfinder are intended to be a guide to researchers and not to be seen as an endorsement by NASA.

All items are available at the Headquarters Library, except as noted. NASA Headquarters employees and contractors: call (358-0172) or email Library@hq.nasa.gov for information on borrowing or in-library use of any of these items. Members of the public, contact your Local Library for the availability of these items. NASA Headquarters employees can request additional materials or research on this topic. The Library welcomes your comments or suggestions about this webpage.

Contents:	Books and Multimedia	Articles and Reports	Internet Resources

Books and Multimedia

Benjamin, Marina. Rocket Dreams: How the Space Age Shaped Our Vision of a World Beyond. New York, NY: Free Press, 2003.: TL796.5 .U5 B46 2003 BOOKSTACKS

Byrnes, Mark E. Politics and Space: Image Making by NASA. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1994.: TL521.312 .B95 1994 BOOKSTACKS

Center for Cultural Studies and Analysis. American Perception of Space Exploration: A Cultural Analysis for NASA. Philadelphia, PA: Center for Cultural Studies & Analysis, 2004.: TL789.8 .U6 C46 2004 BOOKSTACKS

Dickson, Paul. Sputnik: The Shock of the Century. New York, NY: Walker Pub., 2001.: TL796.5 .S65 D53 2001 BOOKSTACKS

Hopkins, Robert. Strategic Communications Framework: Implementation Plan. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 2007.: HD59.2 .S77 2007 BOOKSTACKS

Launius, Roger D. and Howard E. McCurdy (eds.). Spaceflight and the Myth of Presidential Leadership. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1997.: TL789.8 .U5 S65 1997 BOOKSTACKS

Mangus, Susan Landrum. Conestoga Wagons to the Moon: The Frontier, the American Space Program, and National Identity. Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Ohio State University, 1999.: TL789.8 .U5 M36 1999 BOOKSTACKS

McCurdy, Howard E. Space and the American Imagination. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1997.: TL789.8 .U5 M338 1997 BOOKSTACKS

National Science Board. Science and Engineering Indicators. Washington, DC: National Science Board: For sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. G.P.O., 2006.: Q172.5 .S34 S34 2006 CDROM

Space Foundation. Space Awareness Initiative. America's Spacepoll: An Annual Research and Analysis Project. Colorado Springs, CO: Space Foundation, 2000.: TL789.8.U5 A44 2000 BOOKSTACKS

Articles and Reports

Downey, James R., Anthony M. Forestier, and David E. Miller. Flying Reactors: The Political Feasibility of Nuclear Power in Space. Air University School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, Maxwell AFB, AL, April 2004.: (ADA425874: (April 2004) DTIC)

Fries, Sylvia Doughty. "Opinion polls and the US civil space program", NASA-TM-109700, in Meeting of the American Institute for Aeronautics and Astronautics, Washington, DC, 29 April 1992.: (19940028560: (25 Aug. 2005) NTRS)

Jones, Robert A. "They came in peace for all mankind: popular culture as a reflection of public attitudes to space", Space Policy, vol. XX, no. 1 (Feb. 2004), p. 45-48.

Kraemer, Sylvia K. Opinion polls and the US civil space program, NASA-TM-109788, Special Studies Division, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, D.C., 1 Jan. 1992.: (19940005238: (25 Aug. 2005) NTRS)

Launius, R.D. "Perceptions of Apollo: Myth, nostalgia, memory, or all of the above?", Space Policy, vol. XI, no. 2 (May 2005), p. 129-140.

__________. "Public opinion polls and perceptions of US human spaceflight", Space Policy, vol. XIX, no. 3 (Aug. 2003), p. 163-176.

Lofstedt, Ragnar E. "Public perceptions of the Mars sample return program", Space Policy, vol. XIX, no. 4 (Nov. 2003), p. 283-292.

Smith, H.A. "Public Attitudes towards Space Science", Space Science Reviews, vol. CV, nos. 1-2 (2003), p. 493-505.

Internet Resources

Citizens for Space Exploration. 9 Jan. 2007 [11 Sept. 2007].: http://www.citizensforspaceexploration.org/

Dittmar Associates. 2007 [11 Sept. 2007].: http://www.dittmar-associates.com/; Note: Dittmar Associates recently made several surveys on how the public perceives NASA. Their surveys are available through their website, and not through other databases.

The Gallup Organization. 2007 [11 Sept. 2007].: http://www.gallup.com/

The Howard W. Odum Institute for Research in Social Science. Data Archive Services. 2006 [10 Sept. 2007].: http://www.irss.unc.edu/odum/jsp/content_node.jsp?nodeid=7; Note: The institute's databases cover many surveys, including their own surveys, Harvard-MIT surveys, and Roper surveys.

The Mars Society. 2007 [11 Sept. 2007].: http://marssociety.org/portal

National Space Society. 2007 [11 Sept. 2007].: http://www.nss.org/

The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. Survey Reports. 2007 [10 Sept. 2007].: http://people-press.org/reports/

The Planetary Society. 2007 [11 Sept. 2007].: http://planetary.org/

ProSpace. 2007 [11 Sept. 2007].: http://www.prospace.org/

Space Foundation. Sept. 2007 [12 Sept. 2007].: http://sf.spacefoundation.org/index.php

University of Connecticut. Roper Center. 2007 [10 Sept. 2007].: http://roperweb.ropercenter.uconn.edu/

Vick, Ericka. Office of Communications Planning. 10 Aug. 2007 [10 Sept. 2007].: http://communications.nasa.gov/OCP


	Sept. 2007