Editing Apollo program (section)

==Costs==
Apollo cost $25.4&nbsp;billion or approximately $257&nbsp;billion (2023) using improved cost analysis.<ref>{{Cite journal| doi = 10.1016/j.spacepol.2022.101476| issn = 0265-9646| volume = 60| pages = 101476| last = Dreier| first = Casey| title = An Improved Cost Analysis of the Apollo Program| journal = Space Policy| date = 2022-05-01| doi-access = free| bibcode = 2022SpPol..6001476D}}</ref>

Of this amount, $20.2&nbsp;billion (${{format price|{{Inflation|US-GDP|20200000000|1966}}}} adjusted) was spent on the design, development, and production of the [[Saturn (rocket family)|Saturn family]] of launch vehicles, the [[Apollo (spacecraft)|Apollo spacecraft]], [[Apollo a7l|spacesuits]], [[Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package|scientific experiments]], and mission operations. The cost of constructing and operating Apollo-related ground facilities, such as the NASA human spaceflight centers and the [[Spacecraft Tracking and Data Acquisition Network|global tracking and data acquisition network]], added an additional $5.2&nbsp;billion (${{format price|{{Inflation|US-GDP|5200000000|1966}}}} adjusted).

The amount grows to $28&nbsp;billion ($280&nbsp;billion adjusted) if the costs for related projects such as Project Gemini and the robotic [[Ranger Program|Ranger]], [[Surveyor program|Surveyor]], and [[Lunar Orbiter program|Lunar Orbiter]] programs are included.<ref name="www_planetary_org" />

NASA's official cost breakdown, as reported to Congress in the Spring of 1973, is as follows:
{| class="wikitable"
! Project Apollo !! Cost (original, billion $)
|-
| Apollo spacecraft || align=right|8.5
|-
| Saturn launch vehicles || align=right|9.1
|-
| Launch vehicle engine development || align=right|0.9
|-
| Operations || align=right|1.7
|-
| '''Total R&D''' || align=right|'''20.2'''
|-
| Tracking and data acquisition || align=right|0.9
|-
| Ground facilities || align=right|1.8
|-
| Operation of installations || align=right|2.5
|-
| '''Total''' || align=right|'''25.4'''
|}

Accurate estimates of human spaceflight costs were difficult in the early 1960s, as the capability was new and management experience was lacking. Preliminary cost analysis by NASA estimated $7&nbsp;billion – $12&nbsp;billion for a crewed lunar landing effort. NASA Administrator James Webb increased this estimate to $20&nbsp;billion before reporting it to Vice President Johnson in April 1961.<ref name=Butts>{{cite web |last1=Butts |first1=Glenn |last2=Linton |first2=Kent |title=The Joint Confidence Level Paradox: A History of Denial |work=2009 NASA Cost Symposium |publisher=Cost Analysis Division |date=April 28, 2009 |pages=25–26 |url=http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/nexgen/Nexgen_Downloads/Butts_NASA's_Joint_Cost-Schedule_Paradox_-_A_History_of_Denial.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111026132859/http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/nexgen/Nexgen_Downloads/Butts_NASA%27s_Joint_Cost-Schedule_Paradox_-_A_History_of_Denial.pdf |archive-date=October 26, 2011 |df=mdy-all |access-date=December 15, 2021 }}</ref>

Project Apollo was a massive undertaking, representing the largest research and development project in peacetime. At its peak, it employed over 400,000 employees and contractors around the country and accounted for more than half of NASA's total spending in the 1960s.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Skolnikoff |first1=Eugene B. |last2=Hoagland |first2=John H. |title=The World-wide Spread of Space Technology |series=69-5 |date=1968 |publisher=[[Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science#MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics & Space Research|MIT Center for Space Research]] |location=Cambridge, MA |oclc=14154430 |ref=Skolnikoff & Hoagland}}</ref> After the first Moon landing, public and political interest waned, including that of President Nixon, who wanted to rein in federal spending.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Callahan |first1=Jason |title=How Richard Nixon Changed NASA |url=http://www.planetary.org/blogs/guest-blogs/jason-callahan/20141003-how-richard-nixon-changed-nasa.html |website= planetary.org |publisher=The Planetary Society |access-date=20 June 2019 |language=en}}</ref> NASA's budget could not sustain Apollo missions which cost, on average, $445&nbsp;million (${{format price|{{Inflation|US-GDP|440000000|1970}}}} adjusted)<ref name="ApolloCost">{{Cite book|url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/003212095|title=1974 NASA authorization hearings, Ninety-third Congress, first session, on H.R. 4567 (superseded by H.R. 7528).|date=1973|publisher=U.S. Govt. Print. Off.|location=Washington}}</ref> each while simultaneously [[Space Shuttle design process|developing the Space Shuttle]]. The final fiscal year of Apollo funding was 1973.