Aug 092013
One of the original selling points of the Space Station was that it would be useful as an assembly station and launch point for manned missions to the Moon and Mars. One such concept was the one illustrated below, a “dual keel” station concept from 1989 with a partially enclosed “hangar” below and an aeroshell-equipped Mars vehicle above.
This space station design features a wealth of electrical power, both from rectangular photovoltaic arrays and segmented-mirror solar dynamic generators.
Cool, remember cutting a copy of this out of a library copy of AW&ST back in high school. 🙂 Sadly ISS had now suck so much of NASA’s budget that it can’t do anything interplanetary.