UFO'S of UAP'S, ASTRONOMIE, RUIMTEVAART, ARCHEOLOGIE, OUDHEIDKUNDE, SF-SNUFJES EN ANDERE ESOTERISCHE WETENSCHAPPEN

Life on Earth as well as extraterrestrial life has always been a matter of curiosity. Various space missions have been carried out so far to study and investigate the secrets of the universe. With the development of science and technology, study of outer space has now reached a different level. Of all these missions, lets get to know the ones where huge amounts of money was used to obtain the desired outcome of the space mission.

Here are the most expensive space projects in history.

10. Mars Curiosity Worth $ 2.5 Billion.

Artist illustration of Curiosity rover (Image:NASA)

Curiosity Mars rover arrived on Mars on August 6, 2012. It is a very popular space mission that was initially estimated to cost around $ 650 million, but turned out be a lot more than its double.

9. Cassini-Huygens Worth $ 3.26 Billion.

The Cassini Space Probe was one of the most successful interplanetary mission of NASA-ESA

(Image:NASA)

This space mission was exclusively created to explore the mighty ringed planet Saturn and its rings by NASA, the European space agency and the Italian space agency. It was launched on October 15, 1997. During 2005, it entered the atmosphere of Saturn.

8. Mir Orbital Station worth $ 4.2 Billion.

The Mir Orbital Station

“Mir” is a manned space mission by Russia that operated in the near Earth space from February 20, 1986. It spent 5511 days in the Earth’s orbit, of which 4594 days were inhabited , making 86,331 turns around the planet. The station was visited by 104 astronauts from 12 countries and more than 23,000 experiments were conducted on it.

7. GLONASS worth $ 4.7 Billion

The Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) is a Russian satellite system. It is one of the two global satellite navigation systems. The system is based on 24 satellites moving above the Earth’s surface.

6. Galileo Satellite Navigation System Worth $ 6.3 Billion

Galileo system is designed to solve geodetic and navigation problems. It is joint project of the satellite navigation system of the European Union and the European space agency.

5. James Webb Space Telescope Worth $ 8.8 Billion

The James Webb Space Telescope will be the successor of Hubble Telescope

This is an orbital observatory that is supposed to replace the Hubble Space Telescope. Current plans suggest that the telescope will be launched by the International cooperation of 17 countries led by NASA, using the Ariane-5 rocket in the spring of 2020. The telescope will operate for atleast 5 years.

4. GPS Worth $ 12 Billion

GPS Satellite

GPS is a satellite navigation system that is responsible for determining location. It provides distance, time and position determination in the world wide WGS 84 coordinate system. The system is currently available for civilian use with the help of a navigator or a device such as a smart phone with a GPS receiver. It provides location almost everywhere in the world except for the circumpolar regions.

3. The Apollo Program Worth $ 25.4 Billion

Image: NASA

The Apollo program was a NASA space agency manned space flight program. It was adopted in 1961 with the agenda of carrying out the first human landing on the Moon.

2. ISS Worth $ 160 Billion

The ISS (Image:NASA)

The International Space Station is a manned orbital station which is used a multipurpose space research system. It is joint international project involving 14 countries.

1. The Space Shuttle Program worth $ 209 Billion

Image: NASA

The Space Shuttle Program was developed since 1971. Its development is carried out by NASA and the Air Force. Five shuttles were built, two of them were killed in disaster and one prototype.

Following the launch of rockets, satellites and, eventually, people into outer space, it became commonplace to hear that humankind had entered the “Space Age.” While true, the innocence of our early space explorations seems to pale compared to what we are achieving today: remotely-operated probes are now reporting back to us with images of objects further from Earth than we once might have dreamed, and the further we push the boundaries of space with our explorations, the smaller our little world seems to feel.

Afbeeldingsresultaten voor Moon Base One: Is a Lunar Base in Earthâs Future?

Such innovation has fueled the aspirations of those like Elon Musk, who remains among a vocal contingent of technologists and futurists who aspire to reach the stars. For people like Musk, colonizing other worlds may not just be an eventuality for humankind, with our desire for the exploration of other worlds; our survival may even depend on it.

Others aren’t so convinced. One vocal opponent of this “other worlds, or else” mentality has been science popularizer Bill Nye, who argues that not only is the prospect of colonizing planets like Mars in the near future unrealistic, but it may be impossible.

“This whole idea of terraforming Mars, as respectful as I can be, are you guys high?” Nye told USA Today late last year. “People disagree with me on this, and the reason they disagree is because they’re wrong.”

However, while Mars seems a bit far off, perhaps there are nearer orbital bodies in space that might qualify. With news of China’s recent exploration of the Moon’s far side with its Chang’e-4 probe, some are now asking whether a moon base could be in our future.

Following the big announcement about the Chang’e-4 Lunar Lander, LA Times reports that “Chinese scientists have already declared China’s ambitions to establish a manned moon base and to send nuclear-powered rockets into space in future decades to colonize and exploit space.”

China’s intentions, according to a previous statement to the media, is now to “set the rules of the game in outer space,” establishing a new precedent for space exploration, and perhaps an all-new meaning behind the idea of the “space age.”

They’re wasting no time, either. Subsisting on a steady diet of carrots, potatoes, and yes, mealworms (for protein) along with other high-energy vegetables, a group of eight volunteers concluded a year-long experiment in bio-regenerative living at the astronautics facilities at Beihang University in May. The study, which also became a record-breaking experiment in sustained living in an enclosed system (recycling food, air, water… everything, essentially) was aimed at innovating long-term occupation in a lunar environment.

The Chinese aren’t the only ones making plans for moon bases and long-term lunar occupation. Last year, NASA announced its own plans for a moon base, which will serve not only as a base for future lunar studies but as a stopover for future space travelers on their way to Mars.

According to NASA.gov:

NASA is building a plan for Americans to orbit the Moon starting in 2023, and land astronauts on the surface no later than the late 2020s. This will be the first chance for the majority of people alive today to witness a Moon landing – a moment when, in awe and wonder, the world holds its breath. However, America will not stop there.

A key component of establishing the first permanent American presence and infrastructure on and around the Moon is the Gateway, a lunar orbiting platform to host astronauts farther from Earth than ever before.

On the Gateway, America and its partners will prepare to transit deep space, testing new technologies and systems as we build the infrastructure to support missions to the surface of the Moon and prepare for the epochal mission to Mars.

With both China and the U.S. expressing renewed aspirations for lunar bases, it seems we’re looking at more than just a new kind of 21st century “Space Age”: we’re in the midst of an all-new space race, too, and have been for a while, it seems (although the moon base idea isn’t really anything new, as these documents declassified in 2014 show).

“By the late 2020s,” NASA’s press release from Sept. 26, 2018 reports, “a lunar lander capable of transporting crews and cargo will begin trips to the surface of the Moon.”

“The sustainable, long-term lunar surface activities enabled by these efforts, in tandem with the Gateway, will expand and diversify over time, taking advantage of the Moon and near space for scientific exploration in the broadest sense.”

Broad indeed… and no longer just “to the moon and back.” Try, to the moon, and beyond!