The FINANCIAL -- Americans continue to believe life exists in outer space, but they are
less sure whether a human will walk on Mars within a quarter of a
century.
This is the research of Rasmussen reports. The study finds that 58% of American Adults think it’s at least somewhat likely life exists on other planets. Thirty-four percent (34%) do not believe it’s likely. That includes 33% who say it’s Very Likely life exists outside of Earth and eight percent (8%) who believe it’s Not At All Likely.
Forty-nine percent (49%) say it’s likely that a human will walk on Mars in the next 25 years, down slightly from December 2006. Forty-two percent (42%) think it’s unlikely a human will make it to Mars. That includes 20% who say it’s Very Likely and eight percent (8%) who believe it’s Not At All Likely.
The survey of 1,000 Adults was conducted on July 9-10, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.
Americans ages 30 to 64 are more likely to believe life exists on other planets than those who are younger and older.
By a 23-point margin, men are more inclined than women to believe another life form exists in outer space. But both men and women are evenly divided over whether a human will walk on Mars in the next 25 years.
More government workers believe it’s likely life exists outside of Earth and a human will walk on Mars compared to entrepreneurs and private company employees.
With the last planned U.S. space shuttle currently circling the globe, all Americans are slightly more supportive of the NASA program than they were a year-and-a-half ago.
In early January 2010, only 27% of Americans believed the current goals of the space program should include sending someone to Mars. Fifty percent (50%) opposed such a mission, with 24% undecided.
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