134

p The US direct military expenditures are not confined to those of the Defence Department but include the bulk of outlays for the Atomic Energy Commission which is engaged, among other things, in the development and manufacture of nuclear weapons.  [134•1 

p The development and manufacture of new types of nuclear weapons are brought in line with the available stockpiles and Defence Department recommendations on federal approval. The USA has been spending huge sums for the production and improvement of nuclear weapons—about 55,000 million dollars from mid-1940 to mid-1973. An estimated 70 per cent of AEC expenditure goes into military work. The President’s message to Congress on the budget for 1972/73 envisaged a total of 2,374 million dollars for the AEC, which is 80 million more than in the previous year.  [134•2  Expenditure on the purchase of uranium concentrates and the production of special fissionable materials has been on the downgrade. Following the signing of the treaty banning nuclear tests in 135 the three media the United States continued intensive work on the improvement of existing and the development of new nuclear weapons. As a result, the AEC needs more money to improve nuclear weapons, carry out underground tests and maintain its preparedness, jointly with the Pentagon, to resume nuclear tests in the atmosphere in case of need. The AEC spends most of its funds on research. For example, in 1972-73, its share was over sixty per cent.  [135•1 

p In the first half of the sixties, US expenditure on space exploration grew at a brisk pace. This was motivated by the spectacular space achievements of the Soviet Union.

p Space exploration in the United States is conducted by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Atomic Energy Commission, the National Science Foundation and other agencies.

p The National Aeronautics and Space Administration set up in 1958 is in charge of policy and research co-ordination in space exploration. NASA is under the control of the National Aeronautics and Space Council which directs and coordinates the work of all departments and institutions involved in aeronautic and space programmes. The Council Chairman is the US Vice-President and its members are the Secretary of Defence, the Secretary of State, the NASA Director and the AEC Chairman.

p Space exploration demands great expenses. It costs some 20 million dollars to launch a Saturn space rocket. Taking part in the space programme are about 20,000 companies (prime contractors and subcontractors) with a total of 420,000 employees, and 150 institutions of higher learning.  [135•2 

p As Table 19 indicates, NASA accounts for the bulk of the overall expenditure on space exploration. It spends most of its funds on space research and manned space flight programmes.

p NASA spent 2,923 million dollars on the Apollo project in 1966/67, 2,556 million in 1967/68, 914 million dollars in 1969/70, and approximately 612 million dollars in 1971/72. The overall cost of the project was estimated at 25,000-26,000
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136 Federal Space Prog
ramme Expenditures (million
dollars) Fiscal 1959 I960 1961 (962 1963 NASA** ......... 59 341 33 2 329 518 41 694 710 64 1,226 1,029 130 2 2,517 1,368 181 13 Department of Defence .... AEG ...... Other . ... Total .......... 435 888 1,468 2,387 4,079

p * Estimate.

p ** Minus expenditure for aircraft and related equipment.

Sources: Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1967, p. 548; 1971, p. 520.

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million dollars. The repeated landings of US astronauts on the Moon have demonstrated its success (the last Apollo moonflight took place in December 1972).

p An important direction of NASA activity now is the development of the Skylab orbital laboratory, a reusable space shuttle transportation system, aeronautic research, notably, under the VTOL (vertical take off and landing) transport aircraft project, and a number of other projects relating to the exploration and practical uses of outer space.

The overall US expenditure on space research, however, shows a decrease owing largely to a cut in the NASA budget resulting from the completion of the Apollo project.