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SPACE
STATIONS
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For at least a century, people have imagined a home in space. Both the United States and the Soviet Union saw space stations as a further use of the technical capabilities developed in the Space Race. A base in Earth orbit can serve many purposes:
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SPACE STATIONS FOR THE SOVIET UNION AND RUSSIAIn the 1960s during the race to the Moon, the Soviets began to build hardware that in the 1970s became the world's first space station, Salyut. Since then the Soviets--and then the Russians--methodically improved the habitability and reliability of space systems through a succession of space stations. They have maintained an almost continuous presence in Earth orbit. |
SPACE STATION PLANS FOR THE UNITED STATES |
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The
purpose, design, and cost of a space station have been debated in
American political, scientific, and business circles for decades.
NASA did not receive approval to develop one until the mid-1980s,
when a modest consensus formed on a concept for an international space
station, called Freedom.
Under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush, concepts for space station Freedom evolved through several redesigns, but none received both White House and Congressional approval. At President Bill Clinton's direction in 1993, the concept was scaled back, made less costly, and transformed into the International Space Station. |
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