Elon Musk has sought to position his private aerospace company, SpaceX, as the future of space exploration, even as the feasibility of its initiatives remains to be seen. Although the level of support for public space programs has been well established by previous research, we know less about how people perceive private space travel initiatives, particularly those—like the SpaceX Mars colonization proposal—that involve civilian participation. Today's young people are the first generation who may find themselves or their children deciding whether to leave Earth for another planet. In this study, we compare the case Musk is making for the SpaceX colonization plan to young adults' perceptions of that plan, using data gathered from 81 college students who participated in interviews and focus groups on this topic. We argue that the rhetoric of private space initiatives has the potential to create new visions of our spacefaring future, but also new points of resistance for the civilians needed to support these initiatives. Our analysis revealed doubts regarding feasibility, concerns related to cost, and an individualized sense of risk that outweighed more generalized benefits. We conclude with implications for those seeking public support for private space initiatives, as well as plans for tracking public sentiment regarding private space travel as it changes over time.

埃隆·马斯克（Elon Musk）试图将自己的私人航空航天公司SpaceX定位为太空探索的未来，尽管其计划的可行性尚待观察。尽管以前的研究已经很好地确定了对公共空间计划的支持水平，但是我们对人们如何看待私人太空旅行计划知之甚少，特别是那些涉及平民参与的计划，例如SpaceX Mars殖民提案。今天的年轻人是第一代人，他们可能会发现自己或子女决定是否离开地球前往另一个星球。在这项研究中，我们使用来自81位参与访谈和主题小组讨论的大学生收集的数据，将马斯克为SpaceX殖民计划所做的案例与年轻人对该计划的看法进行了比较。我们认为，私人空间计划的言辞有可能为我们的航天未来创造新的愿景，但也可能为支持这些计划的平民带来新的抵制点。我们的分析显示出对可行性的怀疑，对成本的担忧以及对个人的风险意识超过了更普遍的收益。我们的结论对那些寻求公众支持私人空​​间计划的人以及随着私人空间旅行随时间变化而追踪公众情绪的计划产生了影响。并且个人化的风险意识胜过更普遍的收益。我们的结论对那些寻求公众支持私人空​​间计划的人以及随着私人空间旅行随时间变化而追踪公众情绪的计划产生了影响。并且个人化的风险意识胜过更普遍的收益。我们的结论对那些寻求公众支持私人空​​间计划的人以及随着私人空间旅行随时间变化而追踪公众情绪的计划产生了影响。