Secret Name For NASA Craft Slips Out

Associated Press ^ | 08/22/06 | Unknown

[My2Cents]

A "throwback" logo. I like it.

[Herakles]

If anyone had seen a model of this space craft they would know that the appropriate name for it would be "Bigger Saturn 5". The design is lame, uninspiring and nothing new; but what could you expect from the politically correct diversity crowd running NASA. They, like the rest of the US government, have become an embarrassment!

[My2Cents]

Not "The James Tiberius Kirk"?

[andy58-in-nh]

Hai Karate

I think that's right next to the Old Spice.

[RightWhale]

The design is lame, uninspiring and nothing new

Like cars have wheels on the bottom and windows all around. Maybe if they put fins on the fenders it will look more futuristic.

[Elsiejay]

You're right. I believe that wheeled 'jalopy' was called the Moon Rover.
I happened to be attending a church picnic in a city park that day, and someone brought a radio so we could hear the first words spoken from our moon's surface. I'll never forget that experience, even if my recollection of the names of the machines involved might become fuzzy.

[Phsstpok]

"I guarantee you that sucker will move."

"God was knocking and he wanted in BAD!"

I'll bet you both lines were Jerry Pournelle's (represented by the character Wade Curtis in the book). 

I personally love the character of Harry Red.  I just checked my ebook copy and they don't attribute the "God was knocking" thought to any particular character, but I've always associated it with Harry.

Now, segueing into a discussion in the thread  Stargate SG-1 cancelled, Atlantis renewed, who would you cast for the parts in Footfall if it were filmed?  We seem to be talking about a creative takeover of the SciFi channel and deciding on what SF we would use to create movies, mini-series or season long arcs and how we'd cast them.  I don't have anyone who I've settled on for that part... but in my fantasies I might even try out for it.  Niven and Pournelle would have to play "themselves" in the story.  But what about the rest?

[baltodog]

No...that was a 1st grade poem he wrote about the solar system:

"Saturn,Saturn, what do you see?
I see Uranus staring at me."

I remember thinking, "That's my boy!"

[KevinDavis]

[jmcenanly]

It was supposed to be secret until Aug 31? I picked up my copy of the new logo last week from this site http://www.collectspace.com/home.html

[Lunatic Fringe]

Can't do that... the Roman name for Hermes was Mercury, and they already had a Mercury program.

[Lunatic Fringe]

[jmcenanly]

The Apollo Lunar Module was the lander portion of the Apollo spacecraft built for the US Apollo program to achieve the transit from moon orbit to the surface and back. The module was also known as the LM from the manufacturer designation (yet pronounced 'LEM' from NASA's early name for it, Lunar Excursion Module).

Coincidentally, the LEM for Apollo 16 was named Orion

It was also during this flight that they announced the Space Shuttle project.

[jmcenanly]

If anyone had seen a model of this space craft they would know that the appropriate name for it would be "Bigger Saturn 5". The design is lame, uninspiring and nothing new; but what could you expect from the politically correct diversity crowd running NASA. They, like the rest of the US government, have become an embarrassment!

The design seems to be less engineering and more archaeology.

[jmcenanly]

The French beat us to it.

[FierceDraka]

Orion??? ORION???

I've seen the specs for Project Orion, and this, sir, is NO Orion.

Project Orion was a ship powered by NUKES, capable of boosting THOUSANDS of tons of payload anywhere in the Sol system. Not some chemically-powered tinkertoy to send a few tons to Luna!

Click here to see a video of what a REAL Orion ship might look like on a mission to Mars.

What's next? Calling a scheme for wind power generation "Manhattan"? Not ragging on the concept of returning to Luna, but dammit, words have MEANING.

[FierceDraka]

Well, I'd've suggested the name from the ship on Quark, but they never named it.

Wow. I remember Quark from when I was a wee lad.

Wasn't that about the same time "Man From Atlantis" starring Patrick Duffy was on NBC?

[RadioAstronomer]

Sure, but it should have a significance to Ares/Orion. They must have thought it out that far when they were brainstorming over the emblem.

Ares and Orion are right out of "2001 a Space Odyssey".

[Irishguy]

hahaha...u said it bro...

ENTERPRISE!!! i VOTE FOR ENTERPRISE!!!


to boldly go, where, ahem, we have been before and left the cameras cos we are friggen fed up with the conspiracy crap, erm and to seek out a lot of dust, and, ahem, stuff...

[andy58-in-nh]

Well, I would have to guess it wasn't meant to be all that much of a secret: