An admittedly rather awful-quality CAD diagram of the “Dual Keel” space station configuration as studied by NASA sometime in the late 1980’s. This drawing is noteworthy for sowing what appears to be a very large parabolic antenna, probably a radio antenna or radar dish (seems far too large to be the reflector for a solar power system).
Scanned from a slide at the NASA HQ historical archive.
A piece of artwork (from an ebay auction some time back) depicting a Douglas concept for a space station attached to a S-IVb stage. Unclear if the launcher was a Saturn Ib or a Saturn V; if it was launched complete, it would have had to have been a Saturn V. Logistics transport is provided by Gemini capsules. This was likely part of a Douglas MORL study.
An early 1960’s Lockheed concept for a modular space station. It would rotate around the long axis to create “artificial gravity” in the outboard “bars.” Nuclear reactor at the “tail,” possibly de-spun docking system up front.
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.
Lockheed artists impression from the very early 1960’s, depicting a space station with a “wheel” for artificial gravity. From a slide at the NASA Headquarters history archive.
A good scan of a bad photocopy of an advertisement published in Aviation Week sometime in the mid 1960’s shows a few depictions of rotating space stations. That was something American aerospace companies did back then… try to recruit employees with the promise of exciting things to come in the space program. Shrug. In this case, the stations appear to be single-launch designs that would expand or unfold once in space.
Anyway, this is a bit of further information related to a piece of artwork previously posted HERE.
One pre-Shuttle idea for a space logistics vehicle was the “Big Gemini.” This would have used portions of the Gemini re-entry capsule as the nucleus around which a much large conical capsule would be built. The adapter section would be done away with and replaced with a conical section (with a geometry matching and extending the Gemini capsules) to house a variable number of passengers. A large number of “Big G” configurations were put forward; generally these were to be launched atop the Saturn Ib, but Saturn V and Titan IIIc options were also studied.
An illustration from Goodyear, circa 1960, showing the evolution of the “METEOR” launch vehicle and space station systems. Note that it goes back to at least 1949, and perhaps earlier. See also Space Doc 55.
This 1969-era NASA painting depicts a space station that does not seem to make much sense. For starters: it would seem to be a single-launch station, but how would it fold up for launch? If the two arms were to fold “down,” the large pressure vessels would try to pass through each other. And it has what appear to be Apollo capsules at the ends of the arms. If this is so, it would not only mean that separating one capsule would throw the space station far off balance, it also means that an incoming capsule would be incapable of docking unless the station stopped rotating.
A1969-vintage artists impression of a single-launch space station with “arms” that would unfold. The whole structure would rotate, providing “artificial gravity” for the crew via centrifugal force.
