16. The Apollo Space Program
Place: USA
Year Completed: 1972; Total Cost: $25.4 Billion
It would be an understatement to say that NASA’s Apollo Space Program was a success when it performed its final mission in 1972, having completed 35 missions, eleven years, and $25.4 billion in funding. President Kennedy informed the American people on May 25, 1961, that he thought it was feasible to send an American to the moon by the end of the decade. The crew of Apollo 11 made it happen eight years later. The date of the first human landing on the moon, July 20, 1969, will live on in history.
Apollo Space Program on Pinterest and @behance
Eighty percent of the program’s total cost was incurred in the development and designs of the Saturn launch vehicles, the Apollo spacecraft, the spacesuits, and mission operations. In 1968, the cost of an Apollo spaceship was approximately $77 million, while each spacesuit cost the program $100,000. That works out to a $288 billion USD astronomical amount now.
zi ang