If you’ve ever wondered why the United States tried to land on the moon again, you’ll probably understand why given the huge amount of money they spent on the Apollo project.

The Apollo project was launched in 1961 with the goal of defeating the Soviets by landing on the moon.

As you can imagine, this was no easy mission, and it wasn’t until eight years later that NASA successfully landed a man on the moon. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin made history as the first astronauts on the Apollo 11 mission.

Michael Collins was also there, successfully piloted the spacecraft and brought his crew safely back to Earth.

Between then and 1972, five more space flights successfully landed on the moon, but since then the United States has not put a human on the lunar surface.

The main reason for this was financing.

The Apollo project included several major components, including building and maintaining the spacecraft, covering the costs of launching the vehicles, and things like ground facilities and employee wages.

Given this background, it is understandable that the project was not cheap and billions were spent during this period.

Buzz Aldrin on the moon in July 1969. (Heritage Space/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

According to new data from the Planetary Society, between fiscal years 1960 and 1973, the United States spent a staggering $25.8 billion on hardware, facilities, and overhead directly related to the Apollo project. That’s a far cry from the $7 billion the John F. Kennedy administration estimated for the total cost.

Converted to the 2020 inflation rate, this would cost companies like NASA around $257 million.

If you add Project Gemini and the robotic lunar program that made Apollo possible, the total, taking inflation into account, comes to a whopping $280 million.

The mission became increasingly expensive over the years. For example, in 1961, supporting and operating the mission reportedly cost $297,000, and by 1972, it had risen to $310,326,000, according to a 2022 study.

Neil Armstrong was officially the first person to walk on the moon. (Space Frontiers/Getty Images)

Even though the Apollo project has now been discontinued, space research continues.

An important part of the global effort to learn more about space is the International Space Station, which has been visited by 280 people from 23 countries.

According to Space.com, operating the station costs NASA about $3 billion a year.

While this is still expensive, it is significantly less than the fees NASA incurred to run the Apollo project.