Slide 2 of 99
Notes:
The Space Operations Center was proposed by NASA's Johnson Spaceflight Center in 1979.
Like most other space station studies from the mid/late 1970s its primary mission was the
assembly and servicing of large spacecraft in Earth orbit -- not science.
NASA/JSC signed a contract with Boeing in 1980 to further develop the design. This illustration is from 1981. Like most NASA space station plans, SOC would be assembled in orbit from modules launched on the Space Shuttle. The Shuttle depicted here delivers a resupply module for the SOC crew; the tour of duty would have been 90 days.
Closeup of the SOC pressurized crew modules. The box like structure (top) contains a space tug
for missions to geostationary orbit. NASA originally estimated the total cost to be $2.7
billion, but the estimated cost had increased to $4.7 billion by 1981. SOC would have been
operational by 1990.
Boeing's Space Operations Center habitation module.
