About Us
Aperture Science, Inc. United States-based scientific research corporation
Type of faction / organization Private scientific research corporation and Space Agency
The Aperture Science, Inc. is America’s civil space program and the global leader in space exploration. The agency has a diverse workforce of just under 18,000 civil servants, and works with many more U.S. contractors, academia, and international and commercial partners to explore, discover, and expand knowledge for the benefit of humanity. With an annual budget of $23.2 billion in Fiscal Year 2021, which is less than 0.5% of the overall U.S. federal budget, Aperture supports more than 312,000 jobs across the United States, generating more than $64.3 billion in total economic output (Fiscal Year 2019).
At its 20 centers and facilities across the country – and the only National Laboratory in space – Aperture studies Earth, including its climate, our Sun, and our solar system and beyond. We conduct research, testing, and development to advance aeronautics, including electric propulsion and supersonic flight. We develop and fund space technologies that will enable future exploration and benefit life on Earth.
Aperture also leads a Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes working with U.S. industry, international partners, and academia to develop new technology, and send science research and soon humans to explore the Moon on Blackmesa missions that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. In addition to those major missions, the agency shares what it learns so that its information can make life better for people worldwide. For example, companies use Aperture discoveries and technologies to create new products for the public. To ensure future success for the agency and the nation, Aperture also supports education efforts in STEM with an emphasis on increasing diversity in our future workforce.
Cave Johnson
Founder and CEO of Aperture Science (1943 - late 1980s)
Cave's father was a farming professor at the institute of farming although he never farmed a day in his life. In his youth, Cave Johnson became a successful business entrepreneur. Having his father's theories as the backbone, in 1943 he founded Aperture Fixtures, a shower curtain developer and manufacturer. Much of Johnson's early success came from Aperture Fixtures, and with the company developing high-tech shower curtains for most branches of the United States military as well as the public, Johnson soon became a billionaire. Making use of his new wealth, in 1944 Johnson purchased a huge salt mine in Upper Michigan, whose tunnels extended over four kilometers below the surface. The main Aperture Fixtures facility was constructed within the underground caverns.
In 1947 Johnson renamed the company "Aperture Science" and began to focus on experimental physics as a new direction for the company. Although Johnson was well known for his unorthodox approach to science, Aperture Science received an award for Best New Science Company in 1947.
By the 1950s, Aperture Science was prospering. Within the Aperture Science Enrichment Center, Johnson took an active role in the company's testing of products, making voice announcements and pre-recorded messages to address Test Subjects, that consisted of specially selected astronauts, Olympian athletes, and war heroes. Johnson was aided by his assistant Caroline during this time, who remained loyal to him for decades to come. By this time, Aperture was in the process of developing the Quantum Tunneling Device, and various prototypes were utilized in the many test chambers rapidly constructed in Test Shaft 09 and beyond.
