cheryl
Administrator
Staff member
Space travel for billionaires is the surprise topic with bipartisan American support – but not from Gen Z - The Conversation
With Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson both flying to space in craft made by their own private companies, July 2021 was perhaps the highest-profile month for space in years. But these events have been met with a mix of opinion.
I am an associate professor of public relations and study how opinions on topics like politics, entertainment and even space launches vary between different groups of people. I worked with colleagues at The Harris Poll to find out what U.S. residents think of these launches and the broader topic of private spaceflight.
The poll found that most U.S. residents are interested in and have a positive attitude toward the private space industry. One outlier was younger people, who are less hopeful about the benefits of galactic journeys. Overall though – and rather interestingly – these positive feelings are widely held across political and demographic lines. It’s rare to see such agreement on any issue these days, so the results suggest space may be a unifying topic in future years.
With Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson both flying to space in craft made by their own private companies, July 2021 was perhaps the highest-profile month for space in years. But these events have been met with a mix of opinion.
I am an associate professor of public relations and study how opinions on topics like politics, entertainment and even space launches vary between different groups of people. I worked with colleagues at The Harris Poll to find out what U.S. residents think of these launches and the broader topic of private spaceflight.
The poll found that most U.S. residents are interested in and have a positive attitude toward the private space industry. One outlier was younger people, who are less hopeful about the benefits of galactic journeys. Overall though – and rather interestingly – these positive feelings are widely held across political and demographic lines. It’s rare to see such agreement on any issue these days, so the results suggest space may be a unifying topic in future years.