1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:12,160 --> 00:00:14,680 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tex Stuff. I am your host, 3 00:00:14,880 --> 00:00:17,400 Speaker 1: joth In Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart 4 00:00:17,480 --> 00:00:20,360 Speaker 1: Radio and I love all things tech. Once again, if 5 00:00:20,400 --> 00:00:23,080 Speaker 1: I sound different from this episode than normal episodes, it's 6 00:00:23,079 --> 00:00:26,880 Speaker 1: because I'm in our studio in Atlanta, not at home. 7 00:00:27,560 --> 00:00:31,240 Speaker 1: But we are continuing our story about space stations, which 8 00:00:31,280 --> 00:00:34,159 Speaker 1: just gets longer within free episode I caught. I thought 9 00:00:34,200 --> 00:00:37,120 Speaker 1: originally this was gonna be maybe a two partter. Turns 10 00:00:37,159 --> 00:00:39,120 Speaker 1: out it's gonna be a four partner and this is 11 00:00:39,159 --> 00:00:41,560 Speaker 1: part three. So in our last episode in this series, 12 00:00:41,600 --> 00:00:44,920 Speaker 1: we looked at the history of Mirror, the first modular 13 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:48,080 Speaker 1: space station, and there are a couple of things that 14 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:50,440 Speaker 1: I really need to cover before I move on, stuff 15 00:00:50,440 --> 00:00:53,440 Speaker 1: I didn't talk about in the Mirror episode for one 16 00:00:53,440 --> 00:00:56,640 Speaker 1: reason or another. One of those is that Mirror really 17 00:00:56,840 --> 00:00:59,640 Speaker 1: was an amazing achievement, but it was also kind of 18 00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:03,480 Speaker 1: a show, at least according to some reports. Astronauts who 19 00:01:03,640 --> 00:01:06,920 Speaker 1: visited mir mentioned that parts of the space station were 20 00:01:06,959 --> 00:01:10,160 Speaker 1: littered with rubbish because the Russians hadn't really come up 21 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:13,760 Speaker 1: with a way to store that stuff effectively. I mentioned 22 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:18,280 Speaker 1: how the Quant one module sort of became a container 23 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:22,240 Speaker 1: for floating rubbish after the various instruments in that in 24 00:01:22,319 --> 00:01:24,680 Speaker 1: that UH module went to put and there was no 25 00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:27,320 Speaker 1: real need to use it anymore. But that's not to 26 00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:31,240 Speaker 1: say that garbage just continued to accumulate over the fifteen 27 00:01:31,319 --> 00:01:35,759 Speaker 1: years span that Mirror was in service. The crew would 28 00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:39,479 Speaker 1: actually unpack incoming cargo ships that would dock with Mer. 29 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:43,600 Speaker 1: Then they would shove garbage into the cargo ships that 30 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:46,800 Speaker 1: went back to re enter Earth's atmosphere and then break 31 00:01:46,840 --> 00:01:50,560 Speaker 1: apart on re entry, so that garbage was sent hurtling 32 00:01:50,600 --> 00:01:52,960 Speaker 1: back to Earth. But you know it's okay because most 33 00:01:52,960 --> 00:01:55,000 Speaker 1: of it just burnt up on the way back. At 34 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:58,120 Speaker 1: least I guess it's okay. And in the last episode, 35 00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:00,400 Speaker 1: I mentioned that a cargo ship once I did with 36 00:02:00,480 --> 00:02:05,760 Speaker 1: the Specter module on Mirror. As the cargo ship was 37 00:02:05,760 --> 00:02:09,760 Speaker 1: going through this experimental docking procedure with the Quant one 38 00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:14,840 Speaker 1: module nearby, that collision punctured Specter's hole, forcing the crew 39 00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:17,720 Speaker 1: to seal the Specter module off from the rest of 40 00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:20,320 Speaker 1: the station in order to prevent the full station from 41 00:02:20,400 --> 00:02:26,040 Speaker 1: depressurizing the Specter module's power. Generation capabilities were similarly cut off. 42 00:02:26,560 --> 00:02:29,760 Speaker 1: That had some solar arrays. But you know, sealing it 43 00:02:29,840 --> 00:02:33,079 Speaker 1: off meant that the astronauts, the cosmonauts, I should say, 44 00:02:33,320 --> 00:02:37,359 Speaker 1: had no more access to it. However, uh, there were 45 00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:42,079 Speaker 1: some some e v A s some spacewalks that the 46 00:02:42,120 --> 00:02:46,280 Speaker 1: cosmonauts conducted in order to restore at least some connectivity 47 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:50,400 Speaker 1: with Specter's power generation, though the module itself remained sealed off. 48 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:54,880 Speaker 1: Specter had been where American astronauts had lived up to 49 00:02:54,919 --> 00:02:58,040 Speaker 1: that point. Obviously, it could no longer serve that function. 50 00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:01,880 Speaker 1: It had been in service for just two years when 51 00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:05,280 Speaker 1: this collision brought it offline. There was speculation that the 52 00:03:05,320 --> 00:03:08,240 Speaker 1: whole reason that this happened may have been that that 53 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:13,239 Speaker 1: cargo ship that collided with Specter had actually been overpacked 54 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:17,520 Speaker 1: with garbage ahead of that experimental docking procedure, and that 55 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:20,560 Speaker 1: the problem was that because of all that extra garbage, 56 00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:25,359 Speaker 1: the ship had more mass than the control crew thought 57 00:03:25,440 --> 00:03:27,639 Speaker 1: it was gonna have, so they weren't able to bring 58 00:03:27,639 --> 00:03:30,280 Speaker 1: it to a stop the way they thought they would. 59 00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:34,760 Speaker 1: Because it's remember that it's you know, it's pretty hard 60 00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:37,920 Speaker 1: to judge how much to pack into a ship because 61 00:03:38,280 --> 00:03:41,160 Speaker 1: it's really hard to figure out how much stuff weighs 62 00:03:41,640 --> 00:03:44,360 Speaker 1: in microgravity because you can't, you know, put it on 63 00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:47,960 Speaker 1: a scale or anything. So you you could easily pack 64 00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:51,119 Speaker 1: too much mass in a cargo ship and not realize 65 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:53,640 Speaker 1: it when you're in microgravity because there's no easy way 66 00:03:53,640 --> 00:03:57,480 Speaker 1: to keep track of that with precision. And as we know, 67 00:03:58,120 --> 00:04:00,040 Speaker 1: you know, the more massive something is, the harder it 68 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:04,520 Speaker 1: is to change that object's momentum. A heavy object needs 69 00:04:04,520 --> 00:04:07,000 Speaker 1: more energy to get it to start moving than a 70 00:04:07,080 --> 00:04:10,200 Speaker 1: lighter object needs, and a heavier object also needs more 71 00:04:10,280 --> 00:04:12,720 Speaker 1: energy to bring it to a stop than a lighter 72 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:15,600 Speaker 1: object would. So that might have been why the cargo 73 00:04:15,640 --> 00:04:18,440 Speaker 1: ship failed to use enough thrust to avoid the collision 74 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:21,919 Speaker 1: during that docking procedure. That the ship itself was just 75 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:26,160 Speaker 1: loaded down with garbage. Jean Pierre Agnier and I know 76 00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:28,400 Speaker 1: I've butchered his name, so I'll just call him Jean 77 00:04:28,480 --> 00:04:32,000 Speaker 1: Pierre from now on, a French astronaut and pilot, spoke 78 00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:34,360 Speaker 1: with New scientists about what it was like to live 79 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:37,560 Speaker 1: and work aboard Mirror. He said that the station smelled 80 00:04:37,640 --> 00:04:42,000 Speaker 1: kind of like burnt coffee and that the fans on 81 00:04:42,120 --> 00:04:46,039 Speaker 1: board the ship the fans that you know, we're circulating 82 00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:49,720 Speaker 1: the air aboard the ship generated sixty seven decibel's worth 83 00:04:49,880 --> 00:04:53,240 Speaker 1: of noise on average, making it sound like a noisy 84 00:04:53,320 --> 00:04:56,880 Speaker 1: engine room all the time. He said it was actually 85 00:04:57,000 --> 00:04:59,599 Speaker 1: hard for him to get used to silence when he 86 00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:03,000 Speaker 1: left the station. He said there was no privacy aboard 87 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:06,039 Speaker 1: the station, that the crew were required to engage in 88 00:05:06,080 --> 00:05:09,159 Speaker 1: two exercise sessions a day to counteract the effects that 89 00:05:09,200 --> 00:05:12,479 Speaker 1: microgravity can have on the human body, and that on 90 00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:16,160 Speaker 1: average they would get two sessions of five minute daily 91 00:05:16,240 --> 00:05:19,400 Speaker 1: contacts with Earth and otherwise they were just stuck with 92 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:23,080 Speaker 1: each other. Jean Pierre said that he felt Mirror was 93 00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:28,800 Speaker 1: error resistant, that the station itself was resistant to serious errors, 94 00:05:29,160 --> 00:05:32,360 Speaker 1: and pointed out that while the station had experienced two 95 00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:37,440 Speaker 1: separate emergencies like real emergencies, and one was the onboard 96 00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:40,480 Speaker 1: fire and the other was the cargo ship collision, no 97 00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:43,640 Speaker 1: one was harmed in either of those, and so while 98 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:48,200 Speaker 1: these accidents happened, the ship or the space station itself 99 00:05:48,600 --> 00:05:53,599 Speaker 1: was resistant to catastrophe. He did criticize the procedures that 100 00:05:53,640 --> 00:05:56,160 Speaker 1: were followed by the Russian Space Agency, said they weren't 101 00:05:56,200 --> 00:05:59,839 Speaker 1: really sufficiently careful or detail oriented and that things could 102 00:05:59,839 --> 00:06:03,120 Speaker 1: have been much worse had the tech not been as 103 00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:07,600 Speaker 1: a you know, tough. Also, towards the end of Mirror's service, 104 00:06:07,640 --> 00:06:10,320 Speaker 1: the crew aboard the station conducted a study on the 105 00:06:10,360 --> 00:06:14,359 Speaker 1: microbes that were inhabiting the station. The climate control system 106 00:06:14,440 --> 00:06:17,840 Speaker 1: had been leaking slightly, and the crew found that behind 107 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:23,040 Speaker 1: an inspection panel they found orbs of water floating back there, 108 00:06:23,560 --> 00:06:26,960 Speaker 1: murky water. Each orb was about the size of a 109 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:30,720 Speaker 1: soccer ball. So these are pretty sizable, you know, groups 110 00:06:30,760 --> 00:06:34,600 Speaker 1: of water. And the microbes inside included fun guy mites 111 00:06:34,760 --> 00:06:37,960 Speaker 1: and bacteria. And along with that, the crew found that 112 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:41,200 Speaker 1: there were microbes that were feeding off the rubberized seals 113 00:06:41,240 --> 00:06:43,919 Speaker 1: around the windows. Now, when you have to be in 114 00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:47,440 Speaker 1: a pressurized station in outer space, that's a serious risk. 115 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:51,000 Speaker 1: And it's not just like these microbes hitched a ride 116 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:54,320 Speaker 1: aboard all the equipment. The station had come together in 117 00:06:54,440 --> 00:06:57,640 Speaker 1: clean rooms on Earth. So clean rooms are facilities that 118 00:06:57,720 --> 00:07:01,440 Speaker 1: use powerful air filtration systems to remove particulates and contaminants 119 00:07:01,520 --> 00:07:05,719 Speaker 1: from you know, the atmosphere and not have them interfere 120 00:07:05,760 --> 00:07:08,880 Speaker 1: when you're building the stuff. So all the grossy stuff 121 00:07:08,920 --> 00:07:11,520 Speaker 1: didn't come from the equipment. It came up courtesy of 122 00:07:11,600 --> 00:07:15,240 Speaker 1: the cosmonauts and astronauts who visited the Mere space station. 123 00:07:15,880 --> 00:07:19,800 Speaker 1: You know, because people are gross. All people are gross, 124 00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:26,600 Speaker 1: You are gross, I'm gross. Tari is gross grossness. Aside, 125 00:07:27,080 --> 00:07:30,520 Speaker 1: Mirror served many purposes. There were a lot of scientific 126 00:07:30,800 --> 00:07:35,520 Speaker 1: studies and experiments on Mirror, including mostly the effects of uh, 127 00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:37,680 Speaker 1: what it's like for human beings to be in space 128 00:07:37,720 --> 00:07:40,840 Speaker 1: for extended stays. That was really important. It also served 129 00:07:40,880 --> 00:07:44,400 Speaker 1: as a test bed for international cooperation with regard to 130 00:07:44,520 --> 00:07:48,480 Speaker 1: space science and exploration. You know, a lot of visiting 131 00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:52,800 Speaker 1: cosmonauts were from different countries who got to stay aboard Mirror, 132 00:07:52,920 --> 00:07:56,320 Speaker 1: and this was an important stepping stone. And now for 133 00:07:56,440 --> 00:07:59,760 Speaker 1: one last Mirror story. But it's a heck of a story. 134 00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:05,120 Speaker 1: So let's talk a bit more about cosmonaut Saragei Krikolev. 135 00:08:05,560 --> 00:08:09,400 Speaker 1: I mentioned him in the previous episode, but this is 136 00:08:09,640 --> 00:08:12,520 Speaker 1: a big part of his story. He had joined the 137 00:08:12,520 --> 00:08:15,240 Speaker 1: Soviet space program in the nineteen eighties. He was selected 138 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:18,120 Speaker 1: to be a cosmonaut in nineteen eighty five and he 139 00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:21,440 Speaker 1: completed his training the following year and he was assigned 140 00:08:21,440 --> 00:08:25,960 Speaker 1: originally to the Brand program that was the Soviet equivalent 141 00:08:26,040 --> 00:08:29,840 Speaker 1: of the Space station. Ultimately, the brand never flew beyond 142 00:08:29,880 --> 00:08:34,280 Speaker 1: an unmanned test flight, but later he was selected to 143 00:08:34,280 --> 00:08:36,760 Speaker 1: fly to Mirror, which he actually did a couple of times. 144 00:08:37,040 --> 00:08:39,280 Speaker 1: The first time he did it was in nineteen eighty eight. 145 00:08:39,320 --> 00:08:41,480 Speaker 1: He was up there for a hundred fifty two days, 146 00:08:42,160 --> 00:08:45,280 Speaker 1: but it was during his second visit that I really 147 00:08:45,280 --> 00:08:48,720 Speaker 1: want to you know, cover here. He returned to Mirror 148 00:08:48,840 --> 00:08:52,880 Speaker 1: on the mission in May of nineteen one with Anatoly 149 00:08:53,679 --> 00:08:58,520 Speaker 1: arts Sabarski and Britain's first astronaut, Helen Sharman. Now, the 150 00:08:58,559 --> 00:09:02,560 Speaker 1: way Mirror missions were is that you would have cruise 151 00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:07,640 Speaker 1: come up and intermingle with cruise from previous missions, so 152 00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:11,120 Speaker 1: there would be you know, some some carry over and 153 00:09:11,280 --> 00:09:14,080 Speaker 1: some of the folks who were previously a board Mire 154 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:18,200 Speaker 1: would then board the Saya's capsule that had just docked 155 00:09:18,200 --> 00:09:20,600 Speaker 1: with the station and then they would leave, they would 156 00:09:20,600 --> 00:09:23,600 Speaker 1: go back to Earth and others would stay aboard. And 157 00:09:23,679 --> 00:09:26,240 Speaker 1: you couldn't just leave Mere unattended, so there was always 158 00:09:26,480 --> 00:09:29,839 Speaker 1: you know, a crew aboard there. Soya's capsules had very 159 00:09:29,880 --> 00:09:32,640 Speaker 1: limited capacity, so there wasn't any real way to get 160 00:09:32,679 --> 00:09:36,080 Speaker 1: everyone back unless you were to abandoned ship and take 161 00:09:36,400 --> 00:09:39,920 Speaker 1: the one escape capsule that was docked with the station 162 00:09:40,320 --> 00:09:42,400 Speaker 1: and take that back to Earth, but that would leave 163 00:09:42,480 --> 00:09:46,719 Speaker 1: Miror unattended. So Kricolev found himself in a tricky situation 164 00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:51,240 Speaker 1: because he was up on Mirror when the Soviet Union 165 00:09:51,640 --> 00:09:56,080 Speaker 1: ceased to be. The space program responsible for taking cosmonauts 166 00:09:56,080 --> 00:10:00,920 Speaker 1: to and retrieving them from the space station no longer existed, 167 00:10:01,280 --> 00:10:04,800 Speaker 1: and there wasn't space in the capsules that were scheduled 168 00:10:04,840 --> 00:10:07,200 Speaker 1: to go up and come back for a Crica left 169 00:10:07,200 --> 00:10:09,360 Speaker 1: to go along with it. So he was left in 170 00:10:09,440 --> 00:10:12,959 Speaker 1: limbo on this space station, not knowing when or even 171 00:10:13,000 --> 00:10:15,720 Speaker 1: if he would ever be able to come back to Earth. 172 00:10:16,040 --> 00:10:19,600 Speaker 1: And he got the nickname the last Soviet Citizen because 173 00:10:19,640 --> 00:10:22,240 Speaker 1: when he went up the Soviet Union was still a thing. 174 00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:26,040 Speaker 1: He was a flight engineer. He was stuck keeping Mirror 175 00:10:26,040 --> 00:10:30,000 Speaker 1: and working order, and he did ask that one crew 176 00:10:30,040 --> 00:10:32,240 Speaker 1: that was going to visit him, but they weren't going 177 00:10:32,280 --> 00:10:34,079 Speaker 1: to be able to take him back because again the 178 00:10:34,160 --> 00:10:36,959 Speaker 1: says capsule didn't have the capacity for it. He asked 179 00:10:36,960 --> 00:10:39,440 Speaker 1: them if they could maybe bring him some honey which 180 00:10:39,440 --> 00:10:41,640 Speaker 1: could help lift his spirits. They weren't able to get 181 00:10:41,679 --> 00:10:44,280 Speaker 1: hold of any honey, so instead they brought him lemons 182 00:10:44,280 --> 00:10:48,679 Speaker 1: and horseradish, which I think is insult to injury personally. Now, 183 00:10:48,760 --> 00:10:53,720 Speaker 1: fortunately rescue did come and after more than three hundred 184 00:10:53,840 --> 00:10:57,120 Speaker 1: thirty days in space, which was twice the length of 185 00:10:57,200 --> 00:11:00,600 Speaker 1: his planned stay, he was able to return and to Earth. 186 00:11:01,080 --> 00:11:03,839 Speaker 1: His landing spot was originally part of the U S. 187 00:11:04,040 --> 00:11:07,400 Speaker 1: S R, and his space suit even still had USSR 188 00:11:07,559 --> 00:11:11,319 Speaker 1: stitched on it, but now that same landing spot was 189 00:11:11,400 --> 00:11:16,040 Speaker 1: part of Kazakhstan. Uh. In fact, his hometown had changed names. 190 00:11:16,240 --> 00:11:19,040 Speaker 1: When he went up it was called Leningrad. When he 191 00:11:19,040 --> 00:11:22,160 Speaker 1: came back down it had a new name St. Petersburg, 192 00:11:22,679 --> 00:11:27,640 Speaker 1: and because of massive inflation issues with Russian currency, his 193 00:11:27,720 --> 00:11:31,040 Speaker 1: salary for being a cosmonaut was now about half of 194 00:11:31,120 --> 00:11:35,520 Speaker 1: what a bus driver would have made. Yawsa he would 195 00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:38,600 Speaker 1: later serve as the guest cosmonaut on the Space Shuttle 196 00:11:38,640 --> 00:11:42,400 Speaker 1: program that was part of the Shuttle mirror missions. I 197 00:11:42,440 --> 00:11:45,199 Speaker 1: mentioned that in the last episode, and he wasn't even 198 00:11:45,240 --> 00:11:48,200 Speaker 1: done with space after that, Like, even after all that, 199 00:11:48,559 --> 00:11:50,360 Speaker 1: he was still going to go up into space again, 200 00:11:50,440 --> 00:11:53,720 Speaker 1: because he was the first Russian cosmonaut to be a 201 00:11:53,760 --> 00:11:57,240 Speaker 1: crew member aboard the International Space Station, which we're going 202 00:11:57,280 --> 00:11:59,560 Speaker 1: to talk about more in the next episode, but his 203 00:11:59,720 --> 00:12:02,559 Speaker 1: is a really cool story. Okay, So let's switch over 204 00:12:02,600 --> 00:12:05,160 Speaker 1: and briefly talk about the space Shuttle program in the 205 00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:08,600 Speaker 1: United States because that program would in turn shape the 206 00:12:08,640 --> 00:12:12,960 Speaker 1: development of future space stations and have massive effects on 207 00:12:13,040 --> 00:12:16,280 Speaker 1: the progress of space station development as well. After the 208 00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:19,800 Speaker 1: Apollo missions, with the exception of the Apollo Soyo's mission, 209 00:12:19,800 --> 00:12:23,360 Speaker 1: in which an Apollo capsule and a Soyo's capsule docked 210 00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:27,200 Speaker 1: in orbit in n well, NASA was looking at what 211 00:12:27,360 --> 00:12:29,880 Speaker 1: the future of space flight would be all about. There 212 00:12:29,960 --> 00:12:32,280 Speaker 1: was this desire to develop a spacecraft that could go 213 00:12:32,400 --> 00:12:35,000 Speaker 1: up into orbit, returned to Earth in a way that 214 00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:38,600 Speaker 1: would allow pilots to guide the spacecraft to a landing strip, 215 00:12:39,120 --> 00:12:42,400 Speaker 1: then land safely, and then be you know, repaired and 216 00:12:42,440 --> 00:12:45,200 Speaker 1: prepared for a subsequent launch so you could reuse it. 217 00:12:45,840 --> 00:12:49,440 Speaker 1: A reusable spacecraft would cut way back on expenses because 218 00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:52,720 Speaker 1: NASA wouldn't have to commission a brand new spacecraft for 219 00:12:52,800 --> 00:12:57,320 Speaker 1: every single mission, although the launch system was a different story. 220 00:12:57,440 --> 00:13:01,400 Speaker 1: But anyway, this program got started in eighteen seventy two. 221 00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:04,360 Speaker 1: But developing a new spacecraft takes a lot of time. 222 00:13:04,720 --> 00:13:07,280 Speaker 1: You have to design things, you have to propose things, 223 00:13:07,280 --> 00:13:09,840 Speaker 1: you have to settle on which proposal is best. You 224 00:13:09,840 --> 00:13:12,840 Speaker 1: have to you know, award contracts. It's a whole thing. 225 00:13:13,480 --> 00:13:16,559 Speaker 1: And as we're covering the in this series, NASA regularly 226 00:13:17,040 --> 00:13:20,959 Speaker 1: changes as well due to lots of different reasons from Congress, 227 00:13:21,400 --> 00:13:24,280 Speaker 1: you know, shifting budgets year over year, two changes in 228 00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:28,680 Speaker 1: presidential administrations that affect the leadership in NASA. So the 229 00:13:28,720 --> 00:13:31,079 Speaker 1: hope was to have the Shuttle program up and running 230 00:13:31,080 --> 00:13:34,080 Speaker 1: in time to dock with sky Lab and boost the 231 00:13:34,200 --> 00:13:38,600 Speaker 1: orbiting laboratory to a higher orbit and extend its useful lifespan. 232 00:13:39,160 --> 00:13:42,040 Speaker 1: But the space Shuttle program delays meant that that just 233 00:13:42,160 --> 00:13:45,200 Speaker 1: wasn't gonna happen. That's why NASA had no choice but 234 00:13:45,280 --> 00:13:47,959 Speaker 1: to allow sky Labs orbit to decay to the point 235 00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:50,680 Speaker 1: where it re entered our atmosphere and then broke apart 236 00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:55,160 Speaker 1: into pieces, some of which hit Australia. By ninety seven, 237 00:13:55,760 --> 00:13:59,680 Speaker 1: NASA was testing a glider called Enterprise to verify that 238 00:13:59,720 --> 00:14:03,240 Speaker 1: the basic designs for the space plane would work, but 239 00:14:03,400 --> 00:14:05,880 Speaker 1: it wouldn't be until nineteen eighty one that the agency 240 00:14:05,920 --> 00:14:09,520 Speaker 1: would have a space Shuttle capable of going into orbit 241 00:14:09,880 --> 00:14:13,440 Speaker 1: and returning, and that space Shuttle was Columbia, and it 242 00:14:13,520 --> 00:14:16,880 Speaker 1: launched for the first time in April of nineteen one. 243 00:14:17,640 --> 00:14:20,800 Speaker 1: Sky Lab, by the way, had already come crashing down 244 00:14:20,880 --> 00:14:23,680 Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy nine. Now, the reason I even bring 245 00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:25,560 Speaker 1: up the space Shuttle is that this would become the 246 00:14:25,600 --> 00:14:28,680 Speaker 1: primary means of bringing astronauts up to the space station 247 00:14:29,080 --> 00:14:31,960 Speaker 1: and back down again. The Russians would continue to rely 248 00:14:32,040 --> 00:14:35,120 Speaker 1: on the Soyuz capsule to take cosmonauts up to Mirror, 249 00:14:35,640 --> 00:14:38,960 Speaker 1: but the Space Shuttle would be the main vehicle used 250 00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:42,120 Speaker 1: to you know, shuttle crews and experiments to and from 251 00:14:42,320 --> 00:14:44,880 Speaker 1: space stations. And that meant that the design of the 252 00:14:44,880 --> 00:14:48,800 Speaker 1: Shuttle itself would inform the design of future space stations. 253 00:14:48,880 --> 00:14:51,880 Speaker 1: You want your station to be compatible with your method 254 00:14:51,920 --> 00:14:56,120 Speaker 1: of transportation. Makes sense anyway. In nineteen seventy nine, plans 255 00:14:56,160 --> 00:14:59,760 Speaker 1: had begun in NASA for a new space station like me. 256 00:15:00,360 --> 00:15:03,240 Speaker 1: This one was planned to be modular, with pieces brought 257 00:15:03,280 --> 00:15:06,920 Speaker 1: up on separate Space Shuttle missions and then constructed in orbit. 258 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:10,120 Speaker 1: And as a stepping stone toward that, NASA formed a 259 00:15:10,160 --> 00:15:14,040 Speaker 1: strategic partnership with the European Space Agency. One of the 260 00:15:14,040 --> 00:15:17,080 Speaker 1: early examples of this in the Space Shuttle era were 261 00:15:17,120 --> 00:15:20,800 Speaker 1: these things called space labs. The e s A, the 262 00:15:20,800 --> 00:15:25,040 Speaker 1: European Space Agency, created these laboratories which would be loaded 263 00:15:25,080 --> 00:15:28,360 Speaker 1: into the payload cargo bay of the Space Shuttle, and 264 00:15:28,400 --> 00:15:32,360 Speaker 1: they would serve as lab space for specific experiments. There 265 00:15:32,360 --> 00:15:35,440 Speaker 1: were lots of different space lab missions. In fact, there 266 00:15:35,440 --> 00:15:39,040 Speaker 1: were more than twenty of them throughout the Space Shuttle program. Now, 267 00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:43,000 Speaker 1: the space labs were not space stations themselves. They remained 268 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:47,360 Speaker 1: connected to the shuttle, but their development would lead to 269 00:15:47,560 --> 00:15:50,760 Speaker 1: advancements in the E s A, and they would serve 270 00:15:50,800 --> 00:15:54,320 Speaker 1: as the foundation for space station modules down the line 271 00:15:54,360 --> 00:15:56,880 Speaker 1: in the future. There were also plans to have the 272 00:15:56,920 --> 00:16:00,440 Speaker 1: Space Shuttle visit Saliott stations in partnership with the then 273 00:16:00,600 --> 00:16:04,440 Speaker 1: Soviet Union. This gets into politics a bit so. Beginning 274 00:16:04,480 --> 00:16:07,440 Speaker 1: in the late sixties, the U s s R. And 275 00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:11,960 Speaker 1: USA started to work toward more cooperation and everything from 276 00:16:11,960 --> 00:16:15,920 Speaker 1: space exploration to pumping the brakes on the arms race 277 00:16:16,240 --> 00:16:21,000 Speaker 1: around the world. It wasn't always a super happy, fun friendship, 278 00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:25,280 Speaker 1: but it wasn't as adversarial a relationship as the two 279 00:16:25,320 --> 00:16:29,560 Speaker 1: had experienced in the nineteen fifties and early sixties. This period, 280 00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:34,360 Speaker 1: called the Detante, lasted from nineteen sixty nine to nineteen 281 00:16:34,400 --> 00:16:37,200 Speaker 1: seventy nine, but it ended right around the time the 282 00:16:37,240 --> 00:16:40,920 Speaker 1: Space Shuttle program was making real progress. We'll pick up 283 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:44,080 Speaker 1: with more about how the political situation affected the space 284 00:16:44,320 --> 00:16:56,320 Speaker 1: exploration industry after we take this quick break. The reasons 285 00:16:56,440 --> 00:17:00,320 Speaker 1: for the breakdown and dissolution of the Detant are pitty 286 00:17:00,440 --> 00:17:03,680 Speaker 1: complicated and obviously well beyond the parameters of this show. 287 00:17:03,800 --> 00:17:07,080 Speaker 1: But things were already tense before the Soviet Union invaded 288 00:17:07,119 --> 00:17:11,480 Speaker 1: Afghanistan in nineteen seventy nine. What followed would be increased 289 00:17:11,560 --> 00:17:15,240 Speaker 1: tension between the two nations, with a resurgence in arms 290 00:17:15,280 --> 00:17:20,679 Speaker 1: development and deployment to follow. So, yeah, that was my childhood. 291 00:17:21,080 --> 00:17:24,000 Speaker 1: That was a childhood in which there was this omnipresent, 292 00:17:24,200 --> 00:17:29,199 Speaker 1: vague thread of nuclear annihilation simpler times, man. Now what 293 00:17:29,320 --> 00:17:32,360 Speaker 1: this means for our podcast is just that any plans 294 00:17:32,359 --> 00:17:33,960 Speaker 1: to have the Space She will be part of the 295 00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:36,879 Speaker 1: Saliot program. We're put on ice and by then the 296 00:17:37,000 --> 00:17:41,000 Speaker 1: USSR was focusing on Mirror as well. Things would change 297 00:17:41,080 --> 00:17:44,359 Speaker 1: later after Gorbachev worked to re establish a more friendly 298 00:17:44,400 --> 00:17:49,480 Speaker 1: relationship with Europe and the United States. So in nineteen two, 299 00:17:49,640 --> 00:17:52,920 Speaker 1: NASA formed a special group, the Space Station Task force. 300 00:17:53,600 --> 00:17:56,439 Speaker 1: This group started to put together a plan for a 301 00:17:56,480 --> 00:18:00,840 Speaker 1: space station. Further, the plan was to involve the international community, 302 00:18:00,880 --> 00:18:04,040 Speaker 1: opening up the whole process, from development to construction to 303 00:18:04,119 --> 00:18:08,359 Speaker 1: operation to other nations. In nineteen three, NASA hosted a 304 00:18:08,400 --> 00:18:14,000 Speaker 1: workshop focusing on space stations. The following year, US President 305 00:18:14,080 --> 00:18:17,280 Speaker 1: Ronald Reagan specifically called for the development of a space 306 00:18:17,280 --> 00:18:21,160 Speaker 1: station during his State of the Union address. NASA subsequently 307 00:18:21,200 --> 00:18:25,000 Speaker 1: created the Space Station Program Office to go from the 308 00:18:25,080 --> 00:18:28,639 Speaker 1: kind of brainstorming phase and the buy in phase to 309 00:18:28,760 --> 00:18:33,040 Speaker 1: a more formal planning phase. NASA also issued an RFP 310 00:18:33,320 --> 00:18:36,800 Speaker 1: that's a request for proposal, and this RFP went out 311 00:18:36,840 --> 00:18:40,680 Speaker 1: to various companies in the aerospace industry to submit proposals 312 00:18:40,720 --> 00:18:44,600 Speaker 1: as to the design of space station components like modules 313 00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:47,520 Speaker 1: and such. The plan for what the space station would 314 00:18:47,560 --> 00:18:50,480 Speaker 1: look like and thus how designers would arrange all the 315 00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:54,640 Speaker 1: components changed a few times. One of the early designs 316 00:18:54,640 --> 00:18:58,760 Speaker 1: got the nickname the Power Tower, which makes me think 317 00:18:58,760 --> 00:19:02,040 Speaker 1: of like a pro wrestling team. But the power Tower 318 00:19:02,119 --> 00:19:05,639 Speaker 1: space station design was a pretty darn long one. The 319 00:19:05,720 --> 00:19:10,000 Speaker 1: main structure would have measured one twos once fully assembled, 320 00:19:10,040 --> 00:19:14,240 Speaker 1: that's around four feet. That is a long space station. Now, 321 00:19:14,280 --> 00:19:17,200 Speaker 1: not all of that length was habitable. It wasn't all 322 00:19:17,280 --> 00:19:22,040 Speaker 1: like modules where astronauts could you know, float around. The 323 00:19:22,119 --> 00:19:27,600 Speaker 1: design actually included a truss or scaffolding from which components 324 00:19:27,600 --> 00:19:31,960 Speaker 1: like radio telescopes and solar arrays could hang. In fact, 325 00:19:32,320 --> 00:19:35,480 Speaker 1: extending out to either side from the center mass of 326 00:19:35,520 --> 00:19:39,480 Speaker 1: this power tower would be forty one worth of solar 327 00:19:39,600 --> 00:19:42,440 Speaker 1: arrays on either side. That's about a hundred thirty four 328 00:19:42,480 --> 00:19:45,320 Speaker 1: and a half feet of solar rays sticking out to 329 00:19:45,400 --> 00:19:49,320 Speaker 1: either side of this thing. The structure would have articulated 330 00:19:49,359 --> 00:19:52,960 Speaker 1: attachment points for various payloads, allowing NASA and the E 331 00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:56,600 Speaker 1: s A and other partners to create scientific experiments that 332 00:19:56,640 --> 00:19:59,400 Speaker 1: could do all sorts of different kinds of research, from 333 00:19:59,600 --> 00:20:04,679 Speaker 1: Earth's studies to astronomical observations. It would be a massive undertaking, 334 00:20:05,119 --> 00:20:08,320 Speaker 1: or I should say it would have been a massive undertaking. 335 00:20:08,680 --> 00:20:13,760 Speaker 1: Assembly would have required twelve separate shuttle flights, as estimated 336 00:20:13,760 --> 00:20:16,800 Speaker 1: by NASA in order to get all the components into 337 00:20:16,920 --> 00:20:20,600 Speaker 1: orbit and then connected to one another. NASA's projected schedule 338 00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:23,760 Speaker 1: for doing that would span nineteen nine two to nine. 339 00:20:24,760 --> 00:20:26,600 Speaker 1: Not keep in mind, this is a plan that's being 340 00:20:26,600 --> 00:20:31,639 Speaker 1: proposed in Night and parts of the station, according to 341 00:20:31,680 --> 00:20:35,920 Speaker 1: this plan, would be ready for astronauts actually inhabited by three, 342 00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:40,480 Speaker 1: So while the station would not be complete till starting 343 00:20:40,480 --> 00:20:44,439 Speaker 1: in ninety three, there would be enough there for astronauts 344 00:20:44,520 --> 00:20:48,320 Speaker 1: to go there and work and live aboard the space station. However, 345 00:20:48,760 --> 00:20:51,639 Speaker 1: there were some external issues that would mean that this would, 346 00:20:52,119 --> 00:20:55,879 Speaker 1: you know, be the space station that never was, and 347 00:20:55,920 --> 00:20:59,720 Speaker 1: the reason for that was primarily related to budget. Even 348 00:20:59,760 --> 00:21:03,159 Speaker 1: go into a decade before the station would have been 349 00:21:03,160 --> 00:21:07,080 Speaker 1: completed if things had gone as planned, Reductions in NASA's 350 00:21:07,080 --> 00:21:10,080 Speaker 1: budget meant there just was no viable way for the 351 00:21:10,119 --> 00:21:12,560 Speaker 1: agency to stay on target with a plan to go 352 00:21:12,640 --> 00:21:17,040 Speaker 1: this direction. But in addition to budgets, there were criticisms 353 00:21:17,080 --> 00:21:21,240 Speaker 1: about the design. Oliver Harwood, who had been a space 354 00:21:21,240 --> 00:21:24,920 Speaker 1: station engineer, said that he felt the various contractors had 355 00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:28,840 Speaker 1: all submitted pretty similar designs for the station, and that 356 00:21:28,920 --> 00:21:32,320 Speaker 1: these designs showed that the contractors weren't actually looking to 357 00:21:32,359 --> 00:21:36,600 Speaker 1: find the best way to solve engineering problems. Instead, they 358 00:21:36,600 --> 00:21:38,760 Speaker 1: were trying to make sure that their design looked a 359 00:21:38,800 --> 00:21:43,480 Speaker 1: lot like NASA's original proposed design, just in an effort 360 00:21:43,480 --> 00:21:46,000 Speaker 1: to win a contract. So, in other words, he's he 361 00:21:46,040 --> 00:21:48,959 Speaker 1: was saying that these companies were saying, this is not 362 00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:51,440 Speaker 1: necessarily the best way, but it might be the best 363 00:21:51,520 --> 00:21:54,840 Speaker 1: way to get paid. And that's not necessarily great if 364 00:21:54,880 --> 00:21:57,720 Speaker 1: you're looking to build something that's supposed supposed to support 365 00:21:57,760 --> 00:21:59,879 Speaker 1: people in space and you know, be a platform on 366 00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:02,800 Speaker 1: which you do a lot of science. Another criticism was 367 00:22:02,840 --> 00:22:06,040 Speaker 1: that the sections of the inhabited power tower depended upon 368 00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:10,080 Speaker 1: a construction approach in which modules were stacked one on 369 00:22:10,200 --> 00:22:14,560 Speaker 1: top of another in a linear fashion, but some engineers 370 00:22:14,600 --> 00:22:18,040 Speaker 1: worried that this could lead to dangerous situations. So imagine 371 00:22:18,080 --> 00:22:20,879 Speaker 1: you've got a space station made out of you know, 372 00:22:20,920 --> 00:22:23,640 Speaker 1: like seven modules, and they're all arranged in a line 373 00:22:23,880 --> 00:22:26,840 Speaker 1: end to end. So you have module one on one end, 374 00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:30,840 Speaker 1: you've got modules seven on the opposite end, and you 375 00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:33,960 Speaker 1: know two through six are in between. Now, let's say 376 00:22:34,119 --> 00:22:39,280 Speaker 1: there's a point where maybe module modules four and six 377 00:22:39,359 --> 00:22:42,440 Speaker 1: catch on fire, and someone happens to be in module five. 378 00:22:42,520 --> 00:22:46,199 Speaker 1: So you seal off modules four and six so that 379 00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:49,080 Speaker 1: the fire doesn't spread. But now you've got an astronaut 380 00:22:49,119 --> 00:22:51,440 Speaker 1: stuck in module five. They have no way of getting 381 00:22:51,440 --> 00:22:55,200 Speaker 1: out because one end of the station seven is on 382 00:22:55,240 --> 00:22:59,399 Speaker 1: the other side. Of the sealed off five and or 383 00:22:59,440 --> 00:23:02,200 Speaker 1: six rather and the other end of the station is 384 00:23:02,240 --> 00:23:04,600 Speaker 1: on the other side of sealed off module four, so 385 00:23:04,640 --> 00:23:07,040 Speaker 1: you'd have this dead end situation. It could be castrophic 386 00:23:07,560 --> 00:23:10,200 Speaker 1: at any rate. By the time we were actually into 387 00:23:11,240 --> 00:23:13,880 Speaker 1: the power tower, design was abandoned, and in the fall 388 00:23:13,960 --> 00:23:16,959 Speaker 1: of eighty five, NASA studied a different design called a 389 00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:21,199 Speaker 1: dual keel station. That's keel as k e e L. 390 00:23:21,280 --> 00:23:24,439 Speaker 1: It's you know, a boat term. The design had a 391 00:23:24,480 --> 00:23:28,840 Speaker 1: massive trust, sort of like a long rectangle of scaffolding 392 00:23:29,280 --> 00:23:32,480 Speaker 1: and a length of scaffold going across the middle halfway 393 00:23:32,520 --> 00:23:35,840 Speaker 1: down the length of the rectangle. NASA plan to mount 394 00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:39,879 Speaker 1: modules on this trust connected to one another, and also 395 00:23:39,920 --> 00:23:43,520 Speaker 1: have solar arrays attached to either side, extending outward from 396 00:23:43,560 --> 00:23:47,640 Speaker 1: the edges of this rectangle, and modules amounted along the interior. 397 00:23:47,960 --> 00:23:50,440 Speaker 1: It's kind of hard to describe, so if you want 398 00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:53,119 Speaker 1: to get an image of this, you can search dual 399 00:23:53,400 --> 00:23:56,399 Speaker 1: Keel spaceship and there are a lot of illustrations and 400 00:23:56,480 --> 00:23:59,080 Speaker 1: models of it. And it's kind of a moot point 401 00:23:59,560 --> 00:24:02,560 Speaker 1: because NASA would later abandon this design too, But the 402 00:24:02,600 --> 00:24:06,280 Speaker 1: idea was that the design would provide stability in micro 403 00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:09,800 Speaker 1: gravity for the entire station, that it would keep things 404 00:24:10,200 --> 00:24:11,960 Speaker 1: stable so you didn't have to worry about too much 405 00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:16,159 Speaker 1: mechanical stress being placed on any point of the space station, 406 00:24:16,359 --> 00:24:19,600 Speaker 1: which could then lead to failure. The size and complexity 407 00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:22,000 Speaker 1: of the design also meant the NASA increased the crew 408 00:24:22,040 --> 00:24:26,480 Speaker 1: complement to eight astronauts. The earlier designs had focused on 409 00:24:26,520 --> 00:24:29,520 Speaker 1: a crew of six, but there was this concern that 410 00:24:29,560 --> 00:24:32,439 Speaker 1: six astronauts wouldn't be enough to both get the station 411 00:24:32,520 --> 00:24:36,359 Speaker 1: up and running and keep it running while also doing 412 00:24:36,400 --> 00:24:39,879 Speaker 1: experiments like the station would be so complicated that astronauts 413 00:24:39,880 --> 00:24:43,040 Speaker 1: would be spending all of their time assembling things, empowering 414 00:24:43,040 --> 00:24:46,040 Speaker 1: them on and maintaining them, and never getting around to science. 415 00:24:46,560 --> 00:24:49,720 Speaker 1: NASA estimated that it could get all the parts of 416 00:24:49,760 --> 00:24:53,640 Speaker 1: this space station up into orbit in eleven Shuttle missions, 417 00:24:53,680 --> 00:24:57,240 Speaker 1: so even one fewer than the power Tower version, and 418 00:24:57,320 --> 00:25:02,080 Speaker 1: that the added cost of the change in in the 419 00:25:02,160 --> 00:25:06,240 Speaker 1: design would be quote unquote just four hundred million dollars. 420 00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:09,440 Speaker 1: And uh I say that because the Power Tower space 421 00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:13,720 Speaker 1: station cost and estimated around eight point one billion dollars 422 00:25:13,880 --> 00:25:15,359 Speaker 1: when it was all said and done, like that was 423 00:25:15,400 --> 00:25:18,520 Speaker 1: how much it was estimated to cost had we gone forward. 424 00:25:18,920 --> 00:25:22,159 Speaker 1: So in that sense, four million is just kind of 425 00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:24,800 Speaker 1: a drop in the bucket if you're talking about eight 426 00:25:24,840 --> 00:25:28,000 Speaker 1: point one billion dollars. But there were critics who were 427 00:25:28,040 --> 00:25:31,040 Speaker 1: worried that NASA was being super conservative with those estimates, 428 00:25:31,040 --> 00:25:33,160 Speaker 1: that it was actually gonna cost way more than that, 429 00:25:33,640 --> 00:25:36,000 Speaker 1: and the tendency for projects to go over budget was 430 00:25:36,040 --> 00:25:39,080 Speaker 1: well established. Now again I want to stress that this 431 00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:42,560 Speaker 1: tendency for NASA projects to go over budget, I don't 432 00:25:42,560 --> 00:25:46,800 Speaker 1: think that's necessarily an inherent flaw in NASA, or that 433 00:25:46,840 --> 00:25:49,919 Speaker 1: people are being dishonest or something. Rather, I think this 434 00:25:50,080 --> 00:25:54,520 Speaker 1: is something we should expect because NASA's tied to politics, 435 00:25:54,680 --> 00:25:57,840 Speaker 1: So changes in the political landscape, like changes in how 436 00:25:57,920 --> 00:26:02,040 Speaker 1: much Congress budgets towards ASSA, not to mention who happens 437 00:26:02,040 --> 00:26:05,960 Speaker 1: to be leading NASA after presidential administration's change, all of 438 00:26:05,960 --> 00:26:09,040 Speaker 1: that can have a massive effect on the agency itself, 439 00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:13,600 Speaker 1: and it's beyond the project leader's control. Now, in the 440 00:26:13,680 --> 00:26:17,040 Speaker 1: design process, engineers found it necessary to deviate from the 441 00:26:17,080 --> 00:26:20,679 Speaker 1: initial you know, design in order to meet all the 442 00:26:20,720 --> 00:26:23,160 Speaker 1: parameters of the mission. And this is where they ran 443 00:26:23,160 --> 00:26:27,360 Speaker 1: into some serious problems. Now, maybe you've heard a phrase 444 00:26:27,520 --> 00:26:30,760 Speaker 1: similar to this. You can have it done fast, you 445 00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:32,879 Speaker 1: can have it done right, and you can have it 446 00:26:32,920 --> 00:26:35,639 Speaker 1: done under budget, but you can only pick two of 447 00:26:35,680 --> 00:26:38,800 Speaker 1: those three things. Well, NASA was trying very hard to 448 00:26:38,840 --> 00:26:43,439 Speaker 1: do everything, and there are actually more requirements than just three, 449 00:26:43,720 --> 00:26:45,439 Speaker 1: and it was proving to just be too big of 450 00:26:45,440 --> 00:26:49,160 Speaker 1: a challenge. Complicating matters was the tragedy of the Space 451 00:26:49,160 --> 00:26:53,679 Speaker 1: Shuttle Challenger disaster that happened in and the loss of 452 00:26:53,720 --> 00:26:57,119 Speaker 1: all hands aboard was a huge blow to both the 453 00:26:57,240 --> 00:27:01,360 Speaker 1: nation and the space program in particular, and NASA grounded 454 00:27:01,359 --> 00:27:03,320 Speaker 1: the Shuttle program for more than two and a half 455 00:27:03,400 --> 00:27:07,920 Speaker 1: years while investigating the causes of that explosion. Obviously, that's 456 00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:11,119 Speaker 1: going to have an impact on plans for a space station. 457 00:27:11,680 --> 00:27:14,280 Speaker 1: Towards the end of the project, NASA estimated it might 458 00:27:14,320 --> 00:27:17,800 Speaker 1: take more than thirty missions, not eleven, in order to 459 00:27:17,840 --> 00:27:21,080 Speaker 1: complete the station, with it being suitable for occupation after 460 00:27:21,160 --> 00:27:25,959 Speaker 1: twenty one missions. Meanwhile, astronauts with experience in space, you know, 461 00:27:26,119 --> 00:27:28,400 Speaker 1: they critiqued the design of the station. They called out 462 00:27:28,440 --> 00:27:31,320 Speaker 1: flaws that would make it, you know, more difficult for 463 00:27:31,359 --> 00:27:34,720 Speaker 1: astronauts to do their jobs in space, and budget cuts 464 00:27:34,720 --> 00:27:37,760 Speaker 1: meant that NASA would have to look to eliminate certain 465 00:27:37,800 --> 00:27:41,679 Speaker 1: modules and reduce the capacity and thus usefulness of the 466 00:27:41,720 --> 00:27:45,000 Speaker 1: station in an effort to meet new budget constraints. In 467 00:27:46,640 --> 00:27:50,200 Speaker 1: NASA submitted a cost assessment for building the dual keel design, 468 00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:52,560 Speaker 1: and the new cost was figured to be at least 469 00:27:52,960 --> 00:27:59,320 Speaker 1: fourteen point five billion dollars. Congress flipped out, and several 470 00:27:59,320 --> 00:28:02,560 Speaker 1: politicians at expressed doubt that the station would ever actually 471 00:28:02,600 --> 00:28:04,960 Speaker 1: go into orbit. Because of all the various delays and 472 00:28:05,080 --> 00:28:08,600 Speaker 1: changes in design. The whole possibility of a modular space 473 00:28:08,640 --> 00:28:10,840 Speaker 1: station with the US taking a lead role was in 474 00:28:10,920 --> 00:28:16,040 Speaker 1: jeopardy now. Eventually, NASA and several representatives from the government 475 00:28:16,320 --> 00:28:19,639 Speaker 1: were able to hash out a compromise. NASA would abandon 476 00:28:19,840 --> 00:28:23,840 Speaker 1: the dual keel design, not entirely. Some elements of the 477 00:28:23,840 --> 00:28:27,080 Speaker 1: project would actually find their way into a new proposal, 478 00:28:27,160 --> 00:28:30,240 Speaker 1: but the majority of it would be put on indefinite 479 00:28:30,320 --> 00:28:34,400 Speaker 1: hold until it was effectively just gone, and NASA would 480 00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:37,320 Speaker 1: instead design, build, and deploy what was being called a 481 00:28:37,320 --> 00:28:40,280 Speaker 1: Phase one space station, something to serve as kind of 482 00:28:40,280 --> 00:28:44,320 Speaker 1: an interim step toward establishing a permanent space station in orbit. 483 00:28:44,880 --> 00:28:47,520 Speaker 1: After all, that was the goal to create a space 484 00:28:47,520 --> 00:28:50,520 Speaker 1: station that could stay in orbit indefinitely, serving as a 485 00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:54,440 Speaker 1: scientific platform and a stepping stone toward future space exploration 486 00:28:54,520 --> 00:28:58,520 Speaker 1: missions to places like Mars. The new design, NASA estimated, 487 00:28:58,680 --> 00:29:01,560 Speaker 1: would need either to in or eleven missions to get 488 00:29:01,600 --> 00:29:04,560 Speaker 1: everything into orbit. It would omit lots of stuff from 489 00:29:04,600 --> 00:29:08,160 Speaker 1: the previous designs, including half of the power generators, so 490 00:29:08,400 --> 00:29:11,960 Speaker 1: its capacity would also be limited. The Reagan administration gave 491 00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:15,280 Speaker 1: the new design the name of space Station Freedom, so 492 00:29:15,440 --> 00:29:18,120 Speaker 1: at least this version got as far as getting a name, 493 00:29:18,520 --> 00:29:20,640 Speaker 1: which is more than I can say about Power Tower 494 00:29:20,720 --> 00:29:25,520 Speaker 1: and Dual Keel. However, like those unnamed stations, Freedom would 495 00:29:25,560 --> 00:29:29,720 Speaker 1: also never become a real station. Parts of Freedom would 496 00:29:29,720 --> 00:29:33,320 Speaker 1: evolve to become components for the International Space Station. But 497 00:29:33,560 --> 00:29:36,160 Speaker 1: that's further down the line. Let's talk a little bit 498 00:29:36,160 --> 00:29:40,479 Speaker 1: more about what Freedom was supposed to be. So this 499 00:29:40,600 --> 00:29:43,040 Speaker 1: was still going on in the late nineteen eighties when 500 00:29:43,120 --> 00:29:46,560 Speaker 1: these conversations were going The Soviet Union was still a 501 00:29:46,600 --> 00:29:49,480 Speaker 1: thing at that point, so Mirror was still a thing. 502 00:29:50,280 --> 00:29:52,880 Speaker 1: It had been nearly a decade since sky Lab had 503 00:29:52,920 --> 00:29:55,320 Speaker 1: come crashing back down to Earth, and more than a 504 00:29:55,400 --> 00:29:58,280 Speaker 1: decade since the United States had astronauts aboard a U 505 00:29:58,400 --> 00:30:01,920 Speaker 1: S space station. Now AASA continued to receive criticism for 506 00:30:01,960 --> 00:30:06,200 Speaker 1: the proposed station design. To meet the lower budget requirements 507 00:30:06,280 --> 00:30:10,080 Speaker 1: that Congress set, NASA had simplified freedom so that it 508 00:30:10,200 --> 00:30:14,320 Speaker 1: would have just two connecting points for additional modules. The 509 00:30:14,400 --> 00:30:19,000 Speaker 1: dual keel design had had five of those. This prompted 510 00:30:19,080 --> 00:30:22,040 Speaker 1: some critics to suggest that the station wouldn't actually support 511 00:30:22,160 --> 00:30:25,920 Speaker 1: enough scientific work to be a good return on investment. 512 00:30:26,400 --> 00:30:29,680 Speaker 1: There were calls to abandon the modular approach entirely and 513 00:30:29,680 --> 00:30:33,200 Speaker 1: then send up something more like the monolithic stations of 514 00:30:33,240 --> 00:30:37,920 Speaker 1: the Saliot and sky Lab eras. Meanwhile, the European Space 515 00:30:37,960 --> 00:30:41,760 Speaker 1: Agency was at loggerheads with NASA because the two agencies 516 00:30:42,040 --> 00:30:45,760 Speaker 1: couldn't come to an agreement regarding module design and purpose, 517 00:30:46,120 --> 00:30:48,600 Speaker 1: and the e s A was growing frustrated that NASA 518 00:30:48,680 --> 00:30:52,120 Speaker 1: was blocking some of their proposals and thus bringing the 519 00:30:52,160 --> 00:30:56,000 Speaker 1: international project into jeopardy. Then on the home front, here 520 00:30:56,000 --> 00:30:58,240 Speaker 1: in the US, there was another adversary. There was the 521 00:30:58,320 --> 00:31:01,680 Speaker 1: Department of Defense. The d D wanted to have full 522 00:31:01,760 --> 00:31:05,480 Speaker 1: military access to the station for the purposes of military research. 523 00:31:06,080 --> 00:31:08,920 Speaker 1: Now that would already be a complication if the station 524 00:31:08,960 --> 00:31:13,000 Speaker 1: were purely an American project, because scientists would be forced 525 00:31:13,000 --> 00:31:16,840 Speaker 1: to surrender space to researchers conducting experiments for the military. 526 00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:20,640 Speaker 1: But since Freedom was supposed to have international cooperation, this 527 00:31:20,720 --> 00:31:25,280 Speaker 1: was even more complicated. After all, Europe wasn't likely to 528 00:31:25,360 --> 00:31:29,320 Speaker 1: grant full access to any es A modules to US 529 00:31:29,480 --> 00:31:33,600 Speaker 1: military researchers, and that got Congress involved, with members of 530 00:31:33,600 --> 00:31:36,520 Speaker 1: the d O D and Congress people getting into some 531 00:31:36,600 --> 00:31:40,520 Speaker 1: pretty heated battles over the whole thing. Station Freedom was 532 00:31:40,560 --> 00:31:43,480 Speaker 1: starting to take on a pretty ugly context, and there's 533 00:31:43,520 --> 00:31:46,240 Speaker 1: probably something allegorical to be said about that, but I'm 534 00:31:46,240 --> 00:31:49,000 Speaker 1: going to leave that to the poets out there. Despite 535 00:31:49,040 --> 00:31:52,560 Speaker 1: all these issues, Freedom did get initial approval to move 536 00:31:52,600 --> 00:31:57,520 Speaker 1: forward before it would ultimately dissolve and morphintic contributions towards 537 00:31:57,560 --> 00:32:01,160 Speaker 1: the International Space Station. More on that after this quick 538 00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:12,000 Speaker 1: break so to find a lot of drama and disagreements, 539 00:32:12,120 --> 00:32:16,440 Speaker 1: NASA got approval from the National Research Council in ven 540 00:32:17,040 --> 00:32:21,400 Speaker 1: to go forward with the construction of space Station Freedom. However, 541 00:32:21,640 --> 00:32:24,760 Speaker 1: that approval did not come with a lot of enthusiasm, 542 00:32:24,760 --> 00:32:27,560 Speaker 1: but it did give NASA the ability to start securing 543 00:32:27,640 --> 00:32:31,400 Speaker 1: development contracts with various vendors, thus moving from this sort 544 00:32:31,400 --> 00:32:35,840 Speaker 1: of theoretical planning stage to something a bit more concrete, 545 00:32:35,840 --> 00:32:40,400 Speaker 1: with companies actually manufacturing hardware. Critics continued to complain about 546 00:32:40,560 --> 00:32:43,720 Speaker 1: the station plan in general, with some saying that it 547 00:32:43,800 --> 00:32:46,920 Speaker 1: was putting way too much emphasis on material science experiments. 548 00:32:47,680 --> 00:32:49,760 Speaker 1: A big part of the original station plan was to 549 00:32:49,800 --> 00:32:54,240 Speaker 1: pursue the possibility of bringing commercial manufacturing to space, but 550 00:32:54,320 --> 00:32:56,479 Speaker 1: then folks figured that that didn't make a whole lot 551 00:32:56,520 --> 00:32:59,000 Speaker 1: of sense unless you were just building stuff meant to 552 00:32:59,760 --> 00:33:02,160 Speaker 1: we're in space, like to fly off to the Moon 553 00:33:02,240 --> 00:33:05,080 Speaker 1: or Mars or something, because otherwise, the cost of getting 554 00:33:05,360 --> 00:33:09,000 Speaker 1: raw materials to space and then bringing finished products back 555 00:33:09,040 --> 00:33:11,800 Speaker 1: to Earth is just I mean, it's astronomical to use 556 00:33:11,840 --> 00:33:15,320 Speaker 1: a pun. The plan was that the US would take 557 00:33:15,320 --> 00:33:19,400 Speaker 1: the lead on this station. It would have majority ownership, 558 00:33:19,480 --> 00:33:23,960 Speaker 1: like vast majority ownership of the station. Canada would have 559 00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:27,280 Speaker 1: like three percent ownership of the station, and then the E, 560 00:33:27,520 --> 00:33:30,520 Speaker 1: s A, and Japan would each have fifty one percent 561 00:33:30,600 --> 00:33:35,240 Speaker 1: ownership of their individual modules that connected to the station. 562 00:33:36,040 --> 00:33:39,240 Speaker 1: The crew would consist of eight astronauts, six of whom 563 00:33:39,280 --> 00:33:43,320 Speaker 1: were to be American and the other two being International astronauts. 564 00:33:43,800 --> 00:33:47,480 Speaker 1: Each crew was expected to serve a ninety day tour 565 00:33:47,640 --> 00:33:50,400 Speaker 1: of duty. But then NASA leader said, you know what, 566 00:33:50,400 --> 00:33:52,640 Speaker 1: we changed our minds. Let's make it a hundred twenty 567 00:33:52,760 --> 00:33:55,920 Speaker 1: days for a tour of duty instead. UH. That was 568 00:33:56,000 --> 00:33:58,000 Speaker 1: because they were trying to figure out a way to 569 00:33:58,040 --> 00:34:00,840 Speaker 1: reduce the number of space Shuttle missions they would need 570 00:34:00,920 --> 00:34:04,560 Speaker 1: to send in order to you know, keep up that 571 00:34:04,640 --> 00:34:08,840 Speaker 1: particular schedule. Uh. And there were a lot of people 572 00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:11,960 Speaker 1: on Earth calling for NASA to explore alternatives to the 573 00:34:12,000 --> 00:34:15,360 Speaker 1: space shuttle program, including the use of heavy lift rockets 574 00:34:15,400 --> 00:34:19,040 Speaker 1: to bring stuff up to a proposed station. This was 575 00:34:19,120 --> 00:34:22,200 Speaker 1: largely because of that Challenger disaster. There were people saying, 576 00:34:22,400 --> 00:34:26,760 Speaker 1: we need to have a different alternative to just space shuttles. 577 00:34:27,480 --> 00:34:31,000 Speaker 1: On the political front, NASA saw it's budget slashed a 578 00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:34,320 Speaker 1: few times, including massive cuts to the Space station budget. 579 00:34:34,600 --> 00:34:37,160 Speaker 1: And as you can imagine, when you're trying to complete 580 00:34:37,200 --> 00:34:39,799 Speaker 1: a very challenging project, it does not get easier to 581 00:34:39,840 --> 00:34:44,080 Speaker 1: do when support for your project goes away. NASA had 582 00:34:44,120 --> 00:34:48,759 Speaker 1: originally hoped to begin launching components by but at this 583 00:34:48,800 --> 00:34:53,840 Speaker 1: stage that had slipped to with them, you know, estimating 584 00:34:53,880 --> 00:34:57,360 Speaker 1: that astronauts could potentially begin to occupy the space station 585 00:34:57,440 --> 00:35:02,359 Speaker 1: starting in UH. Even that decision was met with criticism, 586 00:35:02,480 --> 00:35:05,920 Speaker 1: namely from NASA's partners, because Japan and Europe were both 587 00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:09,280 Speaker 1: upset that NASA did not first consult with them before 588 00:35:09,320 --> 00:35:14,000 Speaker 1: announcing this pushed back launch date. The international participation meant 589 00:35:14,080 --> 00:35:17,360 Speaker 1: that all these agencies are dependent upon one another to 590 00:35:17,440 --> 00:35:20,279 Speaker 1: at least some extent, and so a delay with one 591 00:35:20,600 --> 00:35:25,120 Speaker 1: obviously affects the others. And I suppose they weren't really mad, 592 00:35:25,200 --> 00:35:31,040 Speaker 1: they're just very disappointed by space station Freedom whimpered to 593 00:35:31,160 --> 00:35:34,560 Speaker 1: a halt. The project had pretty much failed in every metric, 594 00:35:34,960 --> 00:35:37,840 Speaker 1: and audit showed that the station design was more massive 595 00:35:37,880 --> 00:35:42,319 Speaker 1: than originally planned. It was heavier in fact, and that 596 00:35:42,360 --> 00:35:45,480 Speaker 1: would put more strain on making sure that NASA could 597 00:35:45,600 --> 00:35:47,960 Speaker 1: keep the thing in orbit and not have it decay 598 00:35:48,000 --> 00:35:50,440 Speaker 1: and re enter the atmosphere. It would mean, you know, 599 00:35:50,680 --> 00:35:53,200 Speaker 1: more mass means again that you have to keep on 600 00:35:53,280 --> 00:35:57,000 Speaker 1: pushing to keep that momentum going or else you know, 601 00:35:57,440 --> 00:36:01,440 Speaker 1: it'll slow down gradually and come crashing to Earth. The 602 00:36:01,520 --> 00:36:07,000 Speaker 1: design was also extremely complex for Freedom. Some critics felt 603 00:36:07,040 --> 00:36:09,439 Speaker 1: that in fact, it was overly complicated, and that meant 604 00:36:09,480 --> 00:36:12,600 Speaker 1: that it was both driving up the cost and also 605 00:36:12,719 --> 00:36:15,240 Speaker 1: it would make it harder to actually build and operate 606 00:36:15,239 --> 00:36:18,719 Speaker 1: the ding dang thing. On top of that, the you know, 607 00:36:19,239 --> 00:36:22,360 Speaker 1: in order to meet the budget needs, NASA was starting 608 00:36:22,360 --> 00:36:25,800 Speaker 1: to make some pretty massive cuts on the design, including 609 00:36:25,840 --> 00:36:30,680 Speaker 1: cuts to the power generation. Now, that prompted scientists to say, 610 00:36:30,960 --> 00:36:33,080 Speaker 1: you might not even be able to generate enough power 611 00:36:33,840 --> 00:36:38,480 Speaker 1: to run all the different experiments, and that would be 612 00:36:38,520 --> 00:36:40,400 Speaker 1: an issue too, Like, if you can't actually run the 613 00:36:40,400 --> 00:36:42,359 Speaker 1: experiments you need to run, then why are we even 614 00:36:42,360 --> 00:36:47,240 Speaker 1: building the thing. The findings of the you know reports 615 00:36:47,239 --> 00:36:51,319 Speaker 1: showed that there would be a thirty four percent shortfall 616 00:36:51,760 --> 00:36:55,319 Speaker 1: in power supply, and so you know, you have a 617 00:36:55,320 --> 00:36:57,080 Speaker 1: third of the power you need is just not there. 618 00:36:57,280 --> 00:36:59,880 Speaker 1: That's not great. Essentially, the conclusion was that the state 619 00:37:00,239 --> 00:37:02,880 Speaker 1: was going to be too expensive and not actually do 620 00:37:03,040 --> 00:37:06,120 Speaker 1: what scientists needed it to do. So the whole thing 621 00:37:06,200 --> 00:37:09,440 Speaker 1: kind of fizzled out. Now, NASA still wanted to build 622 00:37:09,440 --> 00:37:12,520 Speaker 1: a space station, and folks in the government still wanted 623 00:37:12,560 --> 00:37:14,839 Speaker 1: that too, at least some of them did, but the 624 00:37:14,880 --> 00:37:17,799 Speaker 1: agency was told it would be getting less money than 625 00:37:18,320 --> 00:37:21,560 Speaker 1: and it would also require another redesign. They weren't going 626 00:37:21,640 --> 00:37:24,839 Speaker 1: to be able to go with station freedom. Now, if 627 00:37:24,880 --> 00:37:27,160 Speaker 1: this episode has nailed any point home, I think it's 628 00:37:27,200 --> 00:37:30,960 Speaker 1: that this whole process is laborious to the extreme. But 629 00:37:31,040 --> 00:37:33,960 Speaker 1: the engineers went back to the drawing board and NASA 630 00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:38,120 Speaker 1: created a new design. In the news station, we use 631 00:37:38,280 --> 00:37:42,600 Speaker 1: prefabricated trust segments that would not require assembly in space, 632 00:37:42,960 --> 00:37:44,960 Speaker 1: and that would reduce the number of e v A 633 00:37:45,080 --> 00:37:48,400 Speaker 1: s or extra vehicular activities or spacewalks that would be 634 00:37:48,480 --> 00:37:51,680 Speaker 1: necessary to bring the station together, which had been a 635 00:37:51,719 --> 00:37:55,440 Speaker 1: criticism of the previous designs. They would have required thousands 636 00:37:55,440 --> 00:37:58,640 Speaker 1: of hours of spacewalks, and the goal was to aim 637 00:37:58,680 --> 00:38:02,719 Speaker 1: for more like a few hun hours of spacewalks per year. Uh, 638 00:38:02,880 --> 00:38:05,400 Speaker 1: the station would be smaller, and it would have fewer 639 00:38:05,440 --> 00:38:09,240 Speaker 1: modules and fewer power generators to boot. Crew quarters would 640 00:38:09,560 --> 00:38:13,879 Speaker 1: get smaller. Crew capacity would go from eight astronauts to four. 641 00:38:14,880 --> 00:38:19,040 Speaker 1: The life support system was simplified. It also meant that 642 00:38:19,120 --> 00:38:21,920 Speaker 1: NASA would have to fly more resupply missions to the 643 00:38:21,960 --> 00:38:25,560 Speaker 1: station to bring up more water and oxygen because the 644 00:38:25,600 --> 00:38:28,719 Speaker 1: simplified version of life support would not be able to 645 00:38:29,080 --> 00:38:35,440 Speaker 1: reclaim and recycle oxygen and water as effectively, So that 646 00:38:35,480 --> 00:38:39,279 Speaker 1: would be an additional burden, right, You would have to 647 00:38:39,360 --> 00:38:43,400 Speaker 1: keep bringing more supplies up, and that's expensive. Scientists worried 648 00:38:43,440 --> 00:38:45,480 Speaker 1: that a crew of four would be too small to 649 00:38:45,480 --> 00:38:48,680 Speaker 1: do anything really useful aboard the station, and that any 650 00:38:48,719 --> 00:38:51,520 Speaker 1: experiments would be so limited as to be a terrible 651 00:38:51,560 --> 00:38:55,080 Speaker 1: return on investment. So politicians began to question the viability 652 00:38:55,120 --> 00:38:58,160 Speaker 1: of this project. Now I feel a lot of sympathy 653 00:38:58,200 --> 00:39:02,080 Speaker 1: for NASA, because here there's an agency trying desperately to 654 00:39:02,120 --> 00:39:05,160 Speaker 1: put together a working plan for a space station, but 655 00:39:05,280 --> 00:39:08,360 Speaker 1: with all the different pressures and components in place, the 656 00:39:08,480 --> 00:39:12,799 Speaker 1: task was next to impossible. At one point, in House 657 00:39:12,840 --> 00:39:18,280 Speaker 1: Appropriations Subcommittee actually voted determinate all funding for the space station, 658 00:39:18,760 --> 00:39:22,920 Speaker 1: which at that point had received the derisive nickname space 659 00:39:22,960 --> 00:39:26,440 Speaker 1: Station Fred because it was a fraction of the size 660 00:39:26,440 --> 00:39:31,239 Speaker 1: and capability of the proposed space station Freedom Freedom got 661 00:39:31,320 --> 00:39:35,800 Speaker 1: shortened to Fred. Now. Despite the vote to terminate support, 662 00:39:36,440 --> 00:39:39,960 Speaker 1: Congress as a whole decided to continue providing funding for 663 00:39:40,000 --> 00:39:44,040 Speaker 1: the station, particularly after NASA made some deep cuts elsewhere 664 00:39:44,120 --> 00:39:47,719 Speaker 1: in its various programs. The following year, Congress held a 665 00:39:47,800 --> 00:39:51,160 Speaker 1: vote to cancel the project, but that vote was defeated 666 00:39:51,520 --> 00:39:53,600 Speaker 1: and it kept the station alive for the time being. 667 00:39:54,040 --> 00:39:56,760 Speaker 1: And this whole time there were companies working on building 668 00:39:56,800 --> 00:39:59,520 Speaker 1: that actual hardware that would make up the modules on 669 00:39:59,560 --> 00:40:03,120 Speaker 1: the space station. So NASA had kept tweaking designs, but 670 00:40:03,280 --> 00:40:06,440 Speaker 1: doing so while trying to maintain compatibility with older plans 671 00:40:06,840 --> 00:40:09,560 Speaker 1: so that the pieces that were already in motion would 672 00:40:09,600 --> 00:40:12,359 Speaker 1: still be usable. By the time, you know, they were 673 00:40:12,360 --> 00:40:17,160 Speaker 1: ready to launch the space station, some of the hardware 674 00:40:17,239 --> 00:40:19,080 Speaker 1: was actually nearing the point where NASA was going to 675 00:40:19,120 --> 00:40:22,080 Speaker 1: need to do some flight testing. So like stuff was 676 00:40:22,120 --> 00:40:26,480 Speaker 1: coming together, It's just that the overall space station project 677 00:40:26,560 --> 00:40:31,640 Speaker 1: itself was at risk. Then the USSR fell apart, and 678 00:40:31,680 --> 00:40:34,520 Speaker 1: the Cold War effectively came to an end. At least 679 00:40:34,920 --> 00:40:37,520 Speaker 1: that Cold War came to an end. I would argue, 680 00:40:37,960 --> 00:40:41,000 Speaker 1: we have other Cold Wars going on right now, including 681 00:40:41,000 --> 00:40:45,279 Speaker 1: one with Russia. Now there were there was no longer 682 00:40:45,320 --> 00:40:47,160 Speaker 1: an adversary in the form of the U S s 683 00:40:47,280 --> 00:40:51,120 Speaker 1: R that was gone. This also meant that Congress started 684 00:40:51,120 --> 00:40:54,480 Speaker 1: to look at reducing budgets for things like military budgets 685 00:40:54,520 --> 00:40:58,239 Speaker 1: as well as the space budget. And this reinforces the 686 00:40:58,280 --> 00:41:01,879 Speaker 1: fact that the space program was in part fueled by 687 00:41:01,880 --> 00:41:05,680 Speaker 1: the rivalry that the United States had with the Soviet Union, 688 00:41:06,000 --> 00:41:08,840 Speaker 1: and without that rivalry, a lot of politicians just didn't 689 00:41:08,840 --> 00:41:12,040 Speaker 1: see the expense of a space station as being justifiable, 690 00:41:12,920 --> 00:41:16,160 Speaker 1: the Clinton administration gave NASA a new order to come 691 00:41:16,239 --> 00:41:19,560 Speaker 1: up with three different proposals for a space station that 692 00:41:19,600 --> 00:41:23,200 Speaker 1: would honor the international commitments that NASA had made with 693 00:41:23,280 --> 00:41:27,919 Speaker 1: partners like the European Space Agency, and they had three 694 00:41:27,960 --> 00:41:30,560 Speaker 1: different budget caps. There was a budget cap of five 695 00:41:30,560 --> 00:41:34,879 Speaker 1: billion dollars, seven billion dollars, or nine billion dollars. So 696 00:41:35,160 --> 00:41:39,560 Speaker 1: in other words, hey, NASA, propose space stations. These are 697 00:41:39,600 --> 00:41:42,319 Speaker 1: the three categories. They can't go over nine billion, and 698 00:41:42,360 --> 00:41:44,960 Speaker 1: then we'll decide which one we're gonna go with. Considering 699 00:41:45,000 --> 00:41:48,960 Speaker 1: that even Station Fred was projected to cost nearly seventeen 700 00:41:49,000 --> 00:41:53,480 Speaker 1: billion dollars, this was a huge request. However, you could 701 00:41:53,520 --> 00:41:55,960 Speaker 1: say that NASA had already done some of this work, right, 702 00:41:56,040 --> 00:42:00,000 Speaker 1: Some of those contracts that had made had already started 703 00:42:00,120 --> 00:42:04,560 Speaker 1: to produce components for a space station, so at least 704 00:42:04,560 --> 00:42:07,120 Speaker 1: some of it had already been paid for. Now, as 705 00:42:07,120 --> 00:42:09,839 Speaker 1: it would turn out, the collapse of the USSR would 706 00:42:09,840 --> 00:42:12,600 Speaker 1: mean that Russia, once considered a great enemy to the 707 00:42:12,680 --> 00:42:17,280 Speaker 1: United States, could join in this international project. This finally 708 00:42:17,400 --> 00:42:20,759 Speaker 1: sets the stage for the International Space Station, and that 709 00:42:20,880 --> 00:42:23,200 Speaker 1: is what we will talk about in the next episode 710 00:42:23,320 --> 00:42:27,200 Speaker 1: in this series, but for now let us say goodbye. 711 00:42:27,760 --> 00:42:30,400 Speaker 1: If you have suggestions for topics I should cover in 712 00:42:30,480 --> 00:42:32,880 Speaker 1: future episodes of tech Stuff, please reach out to me. 713 00:42:33,000 --> 00:42:35,440 Speaker 1: I greatly appreciate it. The best way to do that 714 00:42:35,520 --> 00:42:38,040 Speaker 1: is on Twitter. The handle for the show is text 715 00:42:38,080 --> 00:42:43,120 Speaker 1: Stuff hs W and I'll talk to you again, really Sion. 716 00:42:48,360 --> 00:42:51,359 Speaker 1: Text Stuff is an I Heart Radio production. For more 717 00:42:51,440 --> 00:42:54,840 Speaker 1: podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the i Heart Radio app, 718 00:42:54,960 --> 00:42:58,120 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. 719 00:43:00,200 --> 00:43:00,480 Speaker 1: One