In President Reagan's 1984, State of the Union address, he announced plans for a new US space station. It was to be the American equivalent of the successful Russian space station, Mir. However, it wasn't until 1988 that the project, named “Space Station Freedom,” was officially launched.

Space Station Freedom was to be a permanently manned, Earth-orbiting outpost that could serve as a repair base for the shuttle fleet, a microgravity laboratory and an observation point for astronomers. It would also function as an assembly station for spacecraft heading even farther into space.

However, the project was over budget, the design unrealistic and had met with renewed political opposition. It came to an end, uncompleted, in 1990.

Although Space Station Freedom never fully emerged, fundamental elements survived and were applied to the International Space Station and the Constellation program.

Highlights from a NASA film on Freedom 7, covering astronaut Alan Shepard's intensive preparations for the first American manned spaceflight.; DNI; NASA; Highlights from a NASA film on Freedom 7 from pre-launch sequence through Alan Shepard's historic 15-minute flight.; DNI; NASA; Highlights from a NASA film on Freedom 7, the space station that never was. Follow the preparations and pre-launch sequence through to Alan Shepard's historic 15 minute flight.