WASHINGTON (CNS) – How people value space exploration may just depend on someone’s particular faith.

An analysis of the results of several national surveys by a University of Dayton political science professor found that Catholics are more supportive of the U.S. maintaining a leading role in probing the depths of space and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence than people of other faiths.

Political scientist Joshua Ambrosius told Catholic News Service that evangelical Protestants, on the other hand, are significantly less likely than people of other faiths to see the value of the nation’s space endeavors. They also tended to have less knowledge about space, he said.

Why evangelicals are less supportive of space exploration is uncertain, but having grown up in an evangelical family, Ambrosius said he can understand.

“In my family, there wasn’t a lot of discussion about science and its relevance. I had influences that would question the findings and contributions of modern science, particularly the view of evolutionary origins (of humans).”