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Poll shows drop in support for shuttle program

The percentage of Americans who think the space shuttle program is worth continuing has dropped in a CBS News poll to its lowest level in two decades.
/ Source: The Associated Press

The percentage of Americans who think the space shuttle program is worth continuing has dropped in a CBS News poll to its lowest level in two decades.

About six in 10 people, 59 percent, said the space shuttle program is worth continuing, down from eight in 10 who said that in 1986 and 75 percent in early 2003.

Young adults were more likely than older adults to think the program is worth continuing. Those with college degrees were more likely than those with a high school education or less to think so.

Just over half, 55 percent, said NASA is doing an excellent or good job, while four in 10 said the space agency is doing a fair or poor job. In 1999, 70 percent said the agency was doing an excellent or good job.

The poll of 1,222 adults was conducted from July 29 to Aug. 2 — before Wednesday’s repair job was performed on the shuttle. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.