Adam said:

"it's a scandal that NASA never got over their arguments with the USAF to do just that. Saturn V should've been kept for what it does best - HLLV missions - while heavy Gemini, launched by Titan II with a couple of strap-ons - would've been ideal for crew flights to a Saturn V orbitted heavy space station. Even a couple of Skylabs nose-to-nose with a docking module between them would've been a great core for an ISS."

Adam knows this because he said "MOL" in his subject line. The "heavy Gemini, launched by Titan II with a couple of strap-ons" is actually the Titan-3C. The Titan-3C was the only man rated US Expendable Launch Vehicle (ELV) that never actually carried people. The Titan-3C was developed to launch the Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) which was a manned spy satellite. MOL was cancelled after CCD imaging technology was developed for the military (yes, your digital camera along with your teflon frying pan are Cold War technology spin offs). With the advent of CCD technology, the old bother of launching spy satellites with film spools in reentry vehicles became obsolete. The KH-11 satellite with its CCD camera superceded the MOL (KH-10). Also NASA and the USAF did get over their issues about the Titan II (obviously since Gemini flew on the Titan II). The USAF simply wasn't happy about man rating an ICBM so NASA could use it. However the USAF thought they were recovering their man rating investment by using the Titan II as the core for the Titan-3C. (Un)fortunately for the USAF that investment didn't pan out with the cancellation of MOL.

Adam's comments about the Saturn-V and the ISS are spot on. It probably would have been cheaper to have resurrected the Saturn-V and then used it to build ISS with two or three launches versus the way they ended up doing it (half assed) with the Space Shuttle. Don't get me wrong: I'm a Space Shuttle fan and still believe Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) technology is the best way to acheive Cheap Access To Space (CATS). However terminating the Saturn-V and putting all our eggs in the Space Shuttle basket was an incredibly stupid decision.

Gary