By the numbers:

Americans not interested in space tourism

Thursday, June 7, 2018 - 22:27 StudyHall.Rocks

Most Americans don't want to sign up for space tourism.

So, you want to go to Paris this summer, or maybe Canada or, for the less ambitious, the beach. But space? Most Americans aren’t interested.

Even if space tourism was affordable, it is an acquired taste. Nearly 6 in 10 Americans--58 percent--say they would not be interested. On the flip side, 42 percent definitely or probably would be interested in orbiting the Earth in a spacecraft in the future, according to the Pew Research Center.

    Younger people are more likely to sign up. A majority, 63 percent, of those born between 1981 and 1996 would be interested in space tourism, the Pew survey found. But among older generations, there aren’t as many volunteers. Only 39 percent of those born between 1965 and 1980, and 27 percent of Baby Boomers are interested in space tourism.
    And finally, there’s a gender divide here. More than half (51 percent) of men want to orbit Earth in a spacecraft, but only a third (33 percent) of women.
     By the way, Dennis Tito, an American businessman and millionaire, became the first space tourist in 2001, paying for his spot on a Russian space station at a cost of $20 million (see Tito's story on the Encyclopedia Britannica website).

NOT INTO TWITTER: Another Pew study found that America’s teens just aren’t that into Twitter anymore. They’re not showing the love for Facebook, either.
    The two most well-known social media websites are dwindling in popularity among teenagers, according to a recent study by the Pew Research Center. Approximately half of those surveyed use Facebook, and a third are on Twitter. But almost all of those interviewed -- 85 percent -- said they use YouTube, while 72 percent are on Instagram and 69 percent are on SnapChat.
    Social media use is evolving, and teens are at the front edge of the trend. Almost all, 95 percent, either own a cellphone or have access to one.
     But teens are divided about how social media impacts their lives. Roughly 31 percent say it is mostly positive and 24 percent say it is mostly negative. The remaining 45 percent say it is neither positive nor negative.

Study: Teens, parents addicted to cellphones

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