On Fri, 7 Mar 2008 01:43:09 -0600, "Revision"
wrote:

It looks to me and some others that the ISS was a project devised to give
the Shuttle something to do. In hindsight, the ISS is a rather grandiose
project. Perhaps the number of launches budgeted for ISS was determined at
a time when STS launch rates were expected to be higher.

And when the orbit was to be 28.5 degrees, giving Shuttle something
like 40% more lift to the Station than it can haul to 51.6, requiring
fewer flights (modules launched fully loaded, more or less.)

I think, again in
hindsight, that ISS might have been done about as well with 5-6 modules and
a few solar panels.

That was the plan. US Lab, US Hab, Kibo, Columbus, and 2 or 3 Nodes.
Plus the Truss with two extra sections handling propulsion (P2 and
S2).

President Clinton killed that.

Brian