Mini-Pressurised Logistics Module. Cutaway drawing of the
Italian Mini-Pressurized Logistics Module. Credit: NASA via
Marcus Lindroos American manned space station module. Study
1992. As NASA's Space Station budget received further cutbacks,
the agency was forced to consider more and more hardware paid
for by foreign space agencies although Congress and private
industry were opposed to it. In 1992, Italy's Alenia Spazio
announced they would build a small Mini-Pressurized Logistics
Module (MPLM) for the Space Shuttle, enabling it to carry 4500
kg of cargo to the Space Station. The MPLM might also be
transformed into a small life sciences laboratory. Boeing had
previously wanted to build the MPLM, but NASA could not afford
to pay for it. Instead, the Italian space agency, ASI, would now
finance the $400-million project in return for crew time and
experiments on the Space Station. Article by Marcus Lindroos
More... - Chronology... International Space Station American
manned space station. Development from 1994.