Americans want rich guys like Elon Musk to pay for space travel not taxpayers

The huge advancements made by commercial space companies, which now fly cargo to the International Space Station and should soon send astronauts there, appear to be winning the trust of the country, according to a new poll.

Even though space flight has long been the sole province of governments, nearly 6in 10saythat private companies should be able to build and fly their own rockets, according to the poll, conducted by Monmouth University.

Meanwhile, 42 percent say they support the U.S. spending billions on programs destined for the moon, Mars and asteroids. But a large share of the public 50 percent oppose spending that much money on space, which was similar to American sentiment in 1967, two years before Neil Armstrong walked on the moon.Still, most respondents in the poll said the U.S. space program has provided long-lasting benefits to society and 51 percent said increased spending would be a good investment.

Half a century after NASAs heyday, America is still fascinated by the prospects of space exploration but balk at the price tag. However, they opposed the space programs cost in the 1960s as well, said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute in West Long Branch, N.J.

The poll comes as there has been something of a renaissance in the American space program, much of it driven by daring companies, led by rich men with big dreams.

Along with Boeing, Elon Musks SpaceX won a contract to fly astronauts to the International Space Station, ending a years-long reliance on Russia. Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic has been pushing the envelope of private space travel and tourism. And Jeffrey Bezoss Blue Origin recently announced it would be teaming up with the United Launch Alliance to build a rocket engine to launch national security satellites. (Bezos also owns The Washington Post.)

And John Elbon, the head of Boeing's space division, predicted that in 100 years sales of space ships would equal the $70 billion business of its commercial aircraft division today.

Late last year, NASA announced a new era of American spaceflight after its Orion space capsule flew farther than any ship designed for human space travel had gone in 40 years.

But there have been setbacks both in the government and the private sector.

In October, an unmanned Orbital Sciences rocket blew up on a mission to resupply the space station. Then a few days later a Virgin Galactic spacecraft intended to carry tourists crashed in the Mojave Desert, killing one of the pilots.

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Americans want rich guys like Elon Musk to pay for space travel not taxpayers