Slide 45 of 99
Notes:
Boeing's winning proposal for the $750-milllion crew module Phase C/D contract. Despite all the problems, the Space Station plan was approved (with reservations) by a National Research Council panel in September 1987, finally clearing the way for NASA to award Phase C/D development contracts in December. The combined value of all four Phase C/D Work Packages was over $5 billion.
This photograph shows the interior of one of the four connecting node airlocks.
Outside view of the Boeing Space Station “Freedom” crew modules and nodes. The connecting node modules were expanded in late 1986 and filled with equipment to reduce the need for mounting exterior components. This would hopefully reduce the number of required EVA "spacewalks" for assembly and maintenance.
Life science module proposal from 1987. Life scientists complained that the other major Station user (materials science) received too many research opportunities while deploring the lack of a variable-gravity centrifuge, animal holding facility and a dedicated life sciences lab. By 1986-87 it was becoming increasingly obvious that there would be no major market for commercial space manufacturing on the Space Station. When President Reagan approved the project in 1984, some analysts forecasted the space manufacturing business would be worth up to $20 billion per year in 2000. The projections turned out to be overly optimistic, in part because the 1986 Challenger accident greatly increased the commercial cost of Space Shuttle missions while reducing the number of flight opportunities.