If life exists elsewhere in the solar system, scientists suspect it would most likely be on Europa, an ice covered moon orbiting Jupiter. However, NASA recently scrapped an unmanned science mission to Europa and reassigned most of the employees involved in the project to another project which focuses on landing an astronaut on Mars. Polls show that Americans are far more fascinated by space travel than they are by discovering life elsewhere in the universe. Critics argue that NASA's decision-making process places a greater emphasis on public interest than it does on the importance of scientific research.