America launches Space Station Alpha. Built and supplied by numerous shuttle launches, the space station houses a crew of sixty scientists and engineers. It is a proud day for the United States, but there is considerable grumbling among members of Congress about the cost of the project. Many think the money could have been better used to provide services for the country's growing number of homeless. Elsewhere in the world, skirmishes, minor wars, droughts, famines and overpopulation have brought global economy to the brink of disaster. Struggling with its own financial problems, the United States can no longer provide financial assistance to other regions.