Six months after shuttle Columbia broke apart during re-entry, support
to increase NASA's budget is as high as it has been since the Challenger
disaster in 1986, the poll found. People also said that some deadly
accidents were "an acceptable price to pay" for space travel.

I don't know if I'd call those accidents "acceptable" (especially in the case
of Challenger), however, at least the public seems to recognize that NASA is in
a risky buisness.

But the poll results and interviews with space historians reveal a
troublesome undercurrent: The public's affection for space exploration
isn't very deep. Those polled placed a low priority on spaceflight,
compared to federal spending on defense and health care.

As honestly, it probably should be...though I hate seeing the money wasted on
this war in Iraq in the name of "national security"...some of that money would
probably be better spent invested in NASA.

The level is the lowest since 1989, just months after shuttle
flights resumed following the Challenger explosion.

......

1989 was "months" after Challenger?

NASA's budget was cut during the 1990s, with even steeper cuts to the
shuttle program. Most people polled were unaware of those cuts. Only 29
percent of people thought NASA's budget had shrunk during the past 10
years compared to the overall federal budget. Nearly twice as many
people, 56 percent, thought the budget had remained the same or
increased.


Typical...I recall Michael Collins mentioning in his book that people seem
rather unaware of just how much (or) little of their taxes get spent on NASA.
Because of the extravagance of the program though its easy to try and pick and
and say "oh, we can shave a little off their budget".

I'm sure the usual talk about how ISS was eating up funds probably creates the
image to the public that NASA is getting more money.

-A.L.