I.S.S. PHASE TWO CONFIGURATION
Notes:
The “Phase Two” International Space Station, as it looked in early 1994. This 3-man interim version of ISS, featuring the US laboratory module plus docking node mated to the Russian FGB and Service modules originally designed for Mir-2, was originally scheduled from January 1998. NASA and the Clinton Administration claimed the Space Station would be assembled two years earlier and cost $2 billion less if Russian modules were incorporated in the design. The total estimated cost in 1994-98 was $10.5 billion, or some $1.5-3 billion cheaper than the non-Russian alternatives. However, the plan has now slipped by at least three years mainly due to delays to the Russian-financed Service Module.
The “phase two” International Space Station configuration, a few years later. Note that the Russian Science & Power Platform (top) has been replaced with one of the four American solar arrays. The RSPP was originally going to be launched on six Russian Proton rockets fairly early during the assembly phase, but the platform will now be postponed and launched on an American Shuttle instead. The Science & Power Platform will only power the Russian laboratory modules, however, so unlike the Service Module it is not crucial to the success of the whole ISS project.
