Washington: Returning astronauts to the moon in 2024 could cost about $30 billion, or roughly the same price tag as the Apollo 11 spaceflight when factoring in inflation, NASA has said. "For the whole programme, to get a sustainable presence on the moon, we're looking at between $20 and $30 billion," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in a TV interview on Friday, though noting that that figure does not include money already spent on the rocket and space capsule the agency plans to use for the programme, Efe news reported. The total cost of the Apollo programme that the US launched in 1961 and concluded in 1972 was $25 billion.