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GreatAuntAnesthesia writes:

This vintage half-hour special of the BBC's "Tomorrow's World", first aired in 1987, looks at manned space exploration in the wake of the Challenger disaster, the context of the then still-present Soviet Space program and space race, and of course the technology of the time. Tomorrow's World was a much-loved and respected science and technology television series that ran for almost 40 years, which will be fondly remembered by Brit Soylentils of a certain generation.

Early plans for the ISS (referred to throughout as "the American Space Station") focus on the manufacturing of drugs and microchips in freefall, and political concerns about the militarisation of space. Plans for European and Soviet shuttle-like vehicles are compared. Mention is made of the Challenger investigation and the technical (but not the managerial) failures and solutions. Bold predictions about pre-millenial Mars missions are bandied about and big, chunky mid-80s sweaters are worn. If hindsight makes parts of this video seem politically or technologically naive, that only adds to the fascination of this window into an optimistic, turbulent and pivotal era in manned spaceflight.

[Note: This link is to the BBC iplayer. This may present some not-insurmountable obstacles for those of you who are outside the UK and/or opposed to DRM.]