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From 1990 onwards the budget for the Office of the Inspector General was included for the first time, which is responsible for the prevention of crime and promotion of efficiency throughout the agency. When adjusted to 2020 dollars, NASA spent more money in the early 90s than any other time since the Apollo missions.

NASA in the 90s

From the graph we can see that spaceflight was by far the largest area of investment by NASA. Similar to the 1970s, NASA's terminology changed regarding their budget allocation, however the areas with the largest share of the budget were related. In the 1990s NASA's primary focus was on the International Space Station (ISS) and the Space Shuttle Program. The ISS program, launched in 1993 and still in progress today, was initially a solo US project, but later became a joint mission with the respective space agencies of Canada, Europe, Japan and Russia. The first ISS components were launched in 1998, and the first long-term residents arrived in 2000.

ISS by numbers

The ISS is split into two parts; the Russian Orbital Segment, which is responsible for navigation and control of the entire station and is operated by Roscosmos (Russia's Space Agency); and the US Orbital Segment which houses the research facilities and is operated by the other space agencies. It orbits the earth 15.5 times per day (approximately 92 minutes per orbit) at an average altitude of 400km, and at a speed of 7.66 km per second. It has dimensions of 109 X 73 meters and will weigh approximately 408 metric tons when it is completed.