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Marcus Lindroos
The US won the race to the Moon because, unlike the Soviet Union, it committed vast resources to a well thought-out "game plan" right from the start. NASA also stuck to that plan despite occasional technical and political problems. The foundation for Apollo's success was laid in 1962-67 when some 500,000 people from 20,000 companies built the spacecraft, Saturn carrier rocket and launch facilities. After this, the program was rapidly dismantled in just five years while the Apollo/Saturn system became operational, achieving President Kennedy's goal in July 1969 when Neil Armstrong became the first man on the Moon.
The elements that comprised the American manned lunar program cost approximately 100 billion dollars in 1994 terms. They were:
Project Mercury: which lasted from August 1959 to May 1963. The
program was conceived in 1957. Six manned flights.
TOTAL COST: approx. $1.5 billion (all costs figures at 1994 rates).
Gemini Project: started in 1962. Two unmanned, ten manned flights
between April 1964 and November 1966, plus seven Gemini-Agena Target
Vehicle launchings (five successful).
TOTAL ESTIMATED COST: approx. $1.9 billion. TRUE COST: $5.4 billion.
Ranger: (lunar impact/imaging missions).
Nine probes (including three
fully successful missions) launched between 1961 and 1965.
TOTAL COST: approx. $1 billion.
Surveyor: (lunar soft landing). Contract
awarded to Hughes in 1961.
ESTIMATED TOTAL DEVELOPMENT COST: $300 million/1st mission in 1963.
TOTAL COST: $2.8 billion, seven missions in 1966-68 (five successful).
Lunar Orbiter: Program started in 1963.
Five successful missions in
1966-67.
TOTAL COST: approx.$800 million.
Atlas and Titan (two converted ICBMs) were used in the Mercury and Gemini programs. The US Air Force's Agena upper stage was modified to serve as a docking target for Gemini, and also provided the 'final push' out of low Earth orbit for the Ranger and Lunar Orbiter probes.
The major non-Apollo/Saturn related project was the Centaur
cryogenic upper stage, started in 1959 for use in the Surveyor and Mariner
programs. Eight Atlas-Centaur (AC) test flights between May 1962 and April
1966, including six total/partial failures.
EXPECTED COST: less than $1 billion, 1st operational flight in 1961.
TOTAL COST: $4 billion.
Saturn series: Project started in 1960, initially comprising four
different launchers (Saturn C1-C4). A fifth heavy-lift variant called
'Saturn C5' (later renamed Saturn V) was chosen for Apollo in late 1961.
Ten Saturn I launchings (including four single-stage ballistic tests, three
Pegasus satellites) in 1961-65. Nine Saturn-IB missions in 1966-75
(including three Skylab, one Apollo-Soyuz). Thirteen Saturn V launchings in
1967-1973 (including one Skylab).
TOTAL COST (Saturn IB,V): $35 billion. PEAK FUNDING:$6.7 billion in 1966.
Work began on the Apollo CSM in November 1961, when NASA selected
North American as main contractor. Two 'boilerplates' were launched in
1964. Two Block-I CSM prototypes were launched on ballistic test flights in
1966; two more unmanned Block-Is flew on Saturn Vs in 1967/68. Fifteen
manned Block-II (lunar orbit) spacecraft were launched in 1968-75,
including three Skylab and one Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.
TOTAL COST: $17.5 billion.
PEAK FUNDING: $2.6 billion in 1966.
COST PER SPACECRAFT: $220 million.
The Apollo LM was conceived in June 1962 when NASA decided to use
the lunar orbit rendezvous technique rather than land the CSM on the Moon.
Grumman won the contract in September 1962. The first unmanned tests took
place in Earth orbit in 1968 (Apollo 5, 6). Nine manned LMs were launched
in
1969-72.
ESTIMATED COST: $2-3 billion.
TOTAL COST: $11 billion.
PEAK FUNDING: $2 billion in 1967.
COST PER SPACECRAFT: $170 million.
Although not part of the lunar program, the Skylab space station was nevertheless based on surplus Apollo hardware. The Skylab 1 laboratory cost about $7 billion, while the total cost of the three Apollo/Saturn IB flights to the station probably cost approx. $2 billion. Although NASA constructed two Skylabs, it could afford to launch only one of them. Launching the second would have cost only $1.1 billion, plus $1.3 billion for two 2-month Apollo missions in 1974-76.
Total Costs:
TOTAL COST PER APOLLO MISSION:
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Year ($M) (94$M)
Apollo 7 1968 $145 $575
Apollo 8 1968 $310 $1 230
Apollo 9 1969 $340 $1 303
Apollo 10 1969 $350 $1 341
Apollo 11 1969 $355 $1 360
Apollo 12 1970 $375 $1 389
Apollo 13 1970 $375 $1 389
Apollo 14 1971 $400 $1 421
Apollo 15 1971 $445 $1 581
Apollo 16 1972 $445 $1 519
Apollo 17 1972 $450 $1 536
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$3,990 $14,644
NASA'S ANNUAL BUDGET and APOLLO:
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Fiscal Apollo Total %
Year (94$B) (94$B)
1962 $0.78 $5.89 13.31%
1963 $2.91 $10.52 27.66%
1964 $10.33 $20.62 50.08%
1965 $11.47 $28.20 40.67%
1966 $12.57 $28.20 44.58%
1967 $11.95 $27.15 44.04%
1968 $10.14 $24.41 41.55%
1969 $7.76 $21.04 36.87%
1970 $6.24 $17.26 36.19%
1971 $3.25 $15.36 21.14%
1972 $2.05 $11.99 17.10%
1973 $0.25 $11.99 2.05%
-----------------------------------
Total $79.7 $222.6 35.80%
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