Flare Sci-Fi Forums: Our Solar System's name ("One Small Step")

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Posted by Wes (Member # 212) on :

I am watching Voyager right now, and just heard Chakotay say "Aries IV" and explained it as Mars. Our solar system's name is Sol. Wouldn't this mean it would be Sol IV? I've heard the system described before on episodes of The Original Series and The Next Generation.

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Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :

Aries IV? Weird. Apparently Chakotay has a Greek fetish. (Witness his retelling of a Greek myth in "Dragon's Teeth".)

Anyway, it's not a naming system that has ever been mentioned in Trek before. Though the concept of naming a planet and then giving its position from its primary is an interesting one. But it isn't commonly used in SF, not that I've found, anyway.

So does that mean Chakotay would list the nine planets as...
Hermes I?
Aphrodite II?
Earth III? (Since Earth is Greek already...)
Aries IV?
Zeus V?
Cronus VI?
I-have-no-idea-what-the-Greek-counterpart-is VII?
Poseidon VIII?
Hades IX?

Very curious.

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--
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Posted by Timo (Member # 245) on :

No, no, the correct spelling must be Ares IV, which is just the Greek equivalent of the Roman word "Mars".

I think Chakotay is speaking about the mission to Mars, called mission Ares Four, just like the Moon mission was Apollo Eleven. Makes one wonder what happened to Ares One through Three, though - it doesn't seem likely that Mars missions would take the gradual approach of the moon shots, where major components of the final hardware were test flown and given Apollo mission names.

Perhaps there were three full-scale attempts to reach Mars prior to the 2030s, and they all failed? Given the "turn to evil" on Earth as shown in "Past Tense", the likely deaths of the crews certainly wouldn't stop the parties responsible from trying again.

Also, if the attempts were all failures, this explains why Mars wasn't conquered immediately in the 1990s when Earth got its first DY-100 ships. Those probably kept blowing up unless there was a genetically engineered supergenius aboard minding the boilers. Heck, something like the DY-100 could have been the booster for this Ares Four capsule.

Timo Saloniemi

Posted by The Vorlon (Member # 52) on :

The Aries IV was quite a step backwards from a DY-100, so it's quite likely that given events in "Space Seed" have obviously not occurred here in real time, that the writers have simply decided that those events never happened, and are writing the new future based on the current here and now. Sad, but true.

To answer the original question: the words "Sol System" have never been heard on ST. They've said "Terran System" a few times, though. B5 is one of the few series to have mentioned "Sol" and "the Sol System".

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[This message has been edited by The Vorlon (edited November 18, 1999).]

Posted by TerraZ on :

Personnaly, calling Earth simply "The Earth" seems like a stupid idea. Wouldn't other species call their planet Earth but in their own language?

I know it's not entirely canon, but I would really prefer a more distinct designation. So I propose Terra (no, my name didn't come from there so don't accuse me of having the inflated ego syndrome ) and Luna, Sol system. The other planets of course get to keep their respective name. I think it gives a more personal touch. After all, the Moon is as stupid a name as the Planet and Luna (first heard in Valiant) was very poetic.

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Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :

As mentioned, the term is "Ares", the Greek couterpart of Rome's Mars. "Aries" is the zodiacal ram, which has nothing to do w/ anything.

And the Greek counterpart of Uranus is Uranus. :-)

Also, "Earth" is not Greek. It derived from the same source as a similar Greek word, though. However, this is inconsequential, as the Greek term for the planet Earth (not that they knew it was a planet) is Gaea.

And, as long as I'm getting picky, the Roman goddess of the Earth was actually Tellus. :-)

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Posted by Obi Juan (Member # 90) on :

The way I choose to look at the whole Khan thing is that the ole genetically enhanced super genius was technologically light years beyond his enemies i.e. most of earth technology was as it is now during the Eugenics Wars. When Khan was defeated and had to flee from earth he managed to keep most of his technological advancements from falling into the hands of his enemies.

Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :

Well, you can all go to hell. You can go to hell and die!

And apparently that was the name of the ship anyway, yes? Sheesh.

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"And if we weren't good to you, Dave, you shouldn't take it all the way to your grave."
--
Will Rigby

Posted by Wes (Member # 212) on :

Thanks for clearing it up. Don't feel bad Sol. I still consiter this system named sol. hehehe

-Wes

Posted by Xentrick (Member # 64) on :

one tiny nagging little plot question about "One Small Step"

okay, the away team finds mummified astronaut martyr adrift in space far from home, and as an act of supreme tribute... they put him in a torpedo casing and set him adrift in space far from home [???]

are you KIDDING me!!

They couldn't pack this guy for the long haul and repatriate his mortal remains back on the planet of his birth? Is this how they honor a hero? A cheap replicated flag and two minutes of sticky sentament?

Jeez, not even a Scots piper!

Posted by Kosh (Member # 167) on :

Fro a book I read a long long time ago: The main character was looking for his homeworld, he was kidnapped as a child. But no one seems to remember ever hearing of this planet.

Earth!!! Who would name a planet after dirt!!

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Posted by Diane (Member # 53) on :

Xentrick: My thoughts exactly! Why go to all the trouble of bringing his body back if they're going to throw it out again? Though I was thinking more along the lines of displaying him in a museum like an archaeological find rather than burying him on Earth. :�

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Posted by Xentrick (Member # 64) on :

Thanks

Told the plot line to a gal at work, including burial in space. She said, "Spock was buried in space."

Yes, but Spock was Starfleet. This poor guy wasn't; Earth hadn't even made First Contact yet. Born and raised on planet Earth, and that is where his bones belong, if traditional means anything.