{"id":7818,"date":"2024-08-23T16:25:25","date_gmt":"2024-08-23T16:25:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kohajone.press\/?p=7818"},"modified":"2024-08-23T16:25:27","modified_gmt":"2024-08-23T16:25:27","slug":"insane-cost-it-took-to-put-man-on-the-moon-shows-why-us-hasnt-done-it-again-since","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kohajone.press\/?p=7818","title":{"rendered":"Insane cost it took to put man on the Moon shows why US hasn\u2019t done it again since"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Apollo Program set the US back a staggering amount of money<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019ve ever wondered why the US have attempted to land on the Moon again, then the amount of cash they spent on Project Apollo will probably make you understand.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Project Apollo was created in 1961 all in a bid to beat the Soviets by landing on the\u00a0Moon\u00a0first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I\u2019m sure you can imagine, the mission was no easy feat and it wasn\u2019t until eight years later that\u00a0NASA\u00a0successfully landed man on the Moon with\u00a0Neil Armstrong\u00a0and Buzz Aldrin making history as the first astronauts to do so as part of Apollo 11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael Collins\u00a0was also up there with them and successfully piloted the spacecraft and got his crew safely back to\u00a0Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were a further five spaceflights between then and 1972 that successfully landed on the Moon, but\u00a0the US\u00a0hasn\u2019t put a human on the lunar surface since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As to why, the main reason all came down to funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Project Apollo had several important components to it, including building and up-keeping spaceships, covering the cost of launching the vehicles and things like ground facilities and people\u2019s wages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With this in mind, it\u2019s understandable that the project wasn\u2019t a cheap mission to run and billions were spent over this time frame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Buzz<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Buzz Aldrin pictured on the moon in July 1969. (Heritage Space\/Heritage Images\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to new data\u00a0from\u00a0The Planetary Society, the US spent a staggering $25.8 billion on hardware, facilities, and overheads directly associated with Project Apollo between fiscal years 1960 and 1973 \u2013 a far cry from the $7 billion resident John F. Kennedy\u2019s government estimated it would cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This converted to inflation rates in 2020 would set the likes of NASA back around $257 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you add Project Gemini and the robotic lunar program, both of which enabled Apollo, this total would come to an eye-watering $280 million when taking inflation into consideration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mission became increasingly more expensive as the years went on. For example in 1961 mission support and operations were reported to have cost $297,000 at time and by 1972 this had increased to $310,326,000,\u00a0as per\u00a0a 2022 study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Neil<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Neil Armstrong was officially the first man to walk on the moon. (Space Frontiers\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Project Apollo has now ceased to exist,\u00a0space\u00a0exploration continues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One key part of the globe\u2019s ongoing efforts to find out more about space is the International Space Station which has been visited by 280 individuals from 23 countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Space.com, the station costs about $3 billion per year for NASA to operate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While still expensive, it\u2019s substantially less than the fees NASA racked up while running Project Apollo.<\/p>\n

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