Actually, I didn't get a chance to talk about the Moon base assignment until we'd gone over our time. I did talk to them about historical reasons, immediate knowledge goals, action-reaction, how rocket engines work, how satellites stay in orbit, Challenger, asteroids, black holes, the Voyager missions and the International Space Station. Our chapter has made available several score resource materials for the Scouts to work with during this next week, with the Moonbase being due on the 30th when we launch the rockets.

I did not "gave them a lot of info on the Moon and then proudly claimed they showed little interest in Mars?" That is a gross mischaracterization. I didn't bring up Mars, and neither did they. Same as at the Hoby presentation, same as at the Discovery Fest, same as at any number of other events I've done. My sample size is getting close to the 1000+ person mark that statisticians use for sample sizes, but I will admit that I'm actually talking to people, not reading them a list of carefully semantically phrased questions with only a few choices for response. Having participated in more than a few polls I tend to take them with a big fat grain of salt, especially when they're close.

Also, Mark declaimed: "Given that most polls show the choice between the Moon and Mars is close in the publics mind..."

Can you refer me to those polls, or cite them? Most that I've seen from Gallup (2004) and other organizations show the Moon with a clear lead, especially amongst teens, and well beyond the margin of error.