 Skylab was the first test of our ability to endure weightlessness, and astronauts found that they could effectively work, exercise, eat, and sleep in their temporary home. More recently, the space shuttle has allowed us to fly into orbit, conduct our business, and return. In addition to providing a laboratory for carrying out experiments in microgravity, the shuttle has also benefited us commercially and scientifically through the deployment and capture of satellites. The shuttle was designed with a larger goal in mind to transport astronauts and materials to a proposed base, a permanent manned space station. In November of 1985, shuttle astronauts Jerry Ross and Sherwood Spring tested an assembly concept for construction of erectable structures in space, more commonly known as access. Holes were linked together to make a framework similar to the one that will be used to build the space station in the early 1990s. At the McDonnell Douglas Underwater Test Facility, astronauts can practice outer space construction in a neutral buoyancy tank. Here they assemble poles into 5 meter cubes, which will serve as building blocks for the framework of the station. Sophisticated robot systems will assist in the building of the station and capture of satellites. According to space station chief scientist Dr. David Black. Now one of the crucial capabilities and it's being provided by Canada is a major remote manipulator that will run around on a truss-like structure on tracks and be able to move all throughout the space station. And the reason that's important is that we plan on using that robust, fairly healthy arm to assemble the space station itself. The OMV or the Orbiting Maneuvering Vehicle is in effect a little space tug and its purpose is to go out, attach itself to satellites which we want to bring back to the space station for repair, pull them back into the vicinity of the space station and then they can be put in the hangar or the garage where the astronauts can then work on them. The new space station is designed to avoid the tremendous drag of solar arrays by incorporating solar dynamics. Large mirrors will reflect the sun's energy onto a fluid which becomes superheated and runs a turbine. Roughly the size of a football field, the space station will house modules from the United States, Japan and Europe. The modules provide space for housing, microgravity and life science research. Making a place to live that meets crew needs in an airless, weightless environment is of primary importance in the space station design. Again, Dr. Black. We are trying to make the habitability part of the structure comfortable as much space as we possibly get so that the astronauts don't feel crowded. There'll be windows in the facility so they can look out and it turns out that's very important psychologically. NASA's Space Station, a springboard for science, technology and space exploration in the 1990s.