In 2005, the International Academy of Astronautics, concluded a study (under the auspices of its Commission VI, Space and Society) on the impact of space activities upon society. That study solicited the opinions and views of senior individuals within the space community as well as the voices of leading politicians, scientists, managers and artists. It was felt by the members of Commission VT, however, that this only gave one side of the coin and that a complementary study was required which sought the hopes and aspirations of those outside the space field - the person in the street - what was their take on space? Accordingly, Commission VT instituted a new survey named Space Expectations. This paper will review the thought processes and decisions leading up to the commencement of the survey to ascertain the expectations of the public, in particularly young people, regarding space activities. It will document the reasoning behind the questions which the public were to be asked and the efforts involved to enable the questionnaire to have the widest possible distribution, for which it was deemed necessary to translate the questionnaire into the six UNESCO languages. One vital aspect of the whole study was to create a Web site to enable the public to easily, conveniently and quickly answer the questions. The issues and challenges faced by constructing a multilingual Web site will be described and a first analysis of the results of the opinions will be presented at the IAC in Glasgow.
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