Space Station Freedom electrical power system hardware commonality with the United States Polar Platform

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has adopted the policy to achieve the maximum practical level of commonality for the Space Station Freedom program in order to significantly reduce life cycle costs. Commonality means using identical or similar hardware/software for meeting common sets of functionally similar requirements. Information on how the concept of commonality is being implemented with respect to electric power system hardware for the Space Station Freedom and the U.S. Polar Platform is presented. Included is a historical account of the candidate common items which have the potential to serve the same power system functions on both Freedom and the Polar Platform.