All of this is academic since the Shuttle progam is coming to an end
by around 2010 or 2011 depending on what the Obama adminstration
decides here. But more importantly, inflatable station modules, like
NASA's Transhab and the later Bigelow modules, provide all the
advantages of large volume and pre-outfitted on the ground, but can be
launched on relatively small, cheap rockets. So the whole ET station
thing is obsolete, and an orbital debris hazard waiting to happen.
-Mike