Moon Landings to $1.9 Trillion: How Space Travel Changed the Economy
In 1960, President John F. Kennedy envisioned a bold future for America—a mission to the Moon. Between 1960 and 1973, the United States invested $25.8 billion in this audacious endeavor. Adjusted for inflation, that’s $257 billion today. But what did America get for those dollars? The answer might surprise you: the birth of the software industry.
The Creation of an Industry
Faced with the challenge of reducing weight for lunar missions, MIT developed a revolutionary computer system for NASA. It replaced room-sized, card-fed machines with suitcase-sized computers powered by electronic software and controlled via a keyboard. (See an explanation of the Apollo Computer here). All of this was based on Alan Turing’s creation of a Computer with an Electronic Memory (See Turing’s Computer with an electronic memory here). This groundbreaking technology made real-time calculations in a device the size of a suitcase possible—something previously unimaginable.
Moon Landings to $1.9 Trillion: How We got the Benefits
Fast forward to today, and the software industry, sparked by this lunar innovation, directly and indirectly employs 15.8 million Americans. In 2020 alone, it contributed $1.9 trillion to the U.S. economy and drove 27% of all business research and development investments.
That’s a return on investment of 1 to 7.4—a sevenfold payback in one year alone! And the benefits keep growing. Imagine what could happen if we reinvested in space exploration. With the Artemis Program poised to return humanity to the Moon, the potential for new innovations—and their economic impacts—is limitless.
Let’s Take Action Together!
The Moon’s legacy lives in our technology. The legacy of Apollo still fuels our modern lives. It’s time to spread the word about what space exploration does for us. And the next time you use a computer, you can thank Exploring the Moon. See more articles like this at our Blog – Spacecraft Guide. Share this article to show why we must keep reaching for the stars.