"Anti-President Trump" sentiment in the U.S. could become a barrier to American investment in space exploration, according to astronaut Al Worden.

The U.S. president has openly shared his aspirations for NASA to reach Mars and return to the moon. But speaking to CNBC's Hadley Gamble at the Dubai Air Show on Monday, Worden — who served as the command module pilot in NASA's Apollo 15 mission to the moon — expressed doubts as to whether the president would be successful in his push for increased investments in the space agency.

"Every four years we have a turnover in the country. Right now, we're on an upswing — President (Donald) Trump has said let's go back to the moon," he told CNBC.

"The problem we have is that it's different from when JFK was president. When JFK was president, he had the support of the country, Congress and everybody, and he could get it done. Trump, or (Vice President Mike) Pence or whoever, says 'let's go back to the moon by 2024', (but) Congress has got to supply the money, and they're probably not going to do that because they are so anti-President Trump."

"Unfortunately, I think there's a large segment of the population in the U.S. that's more interested in Trump than they are in what's good for the country," Worden added.