A 1960 concept image of the US Air Force's proposed Manned Orbiting Laboratory. The station's configuration was that of a two-person Gemini B spacecraft that could be attached to a laboratory vehicle. The program was cancelled by Defence Secretary Melvin R. Laird in 1969 after the estimated cost of the program had risen in excess of billion, and had already spent .3 billion. Some of the military astronauts selected for the program then transferred to NASA and became some of the first people to fly the Space Shuttle. Image credit: NASA