Currently in my great register project, I'm working on the Hypergiant-class (formerly Cibola-class) tankers. These ships are named after astronomical objects & terms. (solar eclipse, ring of Jupiter, planetary nebula, Vodrey Nebula, Delphic Expanse, Kuiper Belt object, etc).
However...I'm rather surprised to say that there seems to be a dearth of usable items. Far less than I thought, to be honest. That being said, do you think that for a support vessel like this, Starfleet would use a general name? For example, NGC 5078 is a lenticular galaxy with no other name. Would USS NGC 5078 fly, y'think?
Posted by HerbShrump (Member # 1230) on :
No, because it sounds too much like a registery. I think it'd get really confusing.
They may go with other names. Enola Gay and Boxcar, for example, were the names of the two bombers that carried the A-bombs in WWII.
USS Fatboy, USS Starry Cluster... I can see names like those.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Er...maybe not "USS Fatboy"- the KLingons would laugh.
There's a zillion people that have made astounding and relativly unknown contributions to our society and science- dig through some history books. I have a USS Doolittle for example (my grandma was his secretary for two years and still has his "flying wings" lapel pin).
Max A nice USS Shoemaker (for Gene Shoemaker) would be nice- a science ship, naturally.
Then there's the many heroes of modern physics (overshadowed by Einstien, unfotunately) like Planck and Niels Bhor.
How about Thomas savery- who built the frst engine....and brought the industrial revolution into full swing.
Or just make up vulcan-sounding names, like I occasionally do. Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
Well, there is precedent: the US Navy has has USS LST 1157 & the like. It's just...well, I can make up stuff easily, but then there's gonna be a LOT of "XXX Nebula" & "YYY Star Cluster" & such.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
I want to serve on the "XXX" ship.
Posted by Mikey T (Member # 144) on :
USS Gonala, Nebula Class USS Manila, Miranda Class USS Quezon City, Miranda Class USS Taipei, Akira Class USS Baton Rouge, Norway Class USS Northridge, Ambassador Class USS Mission Hills, Excelsior Class USS Vekalar, Excelsior Class
I'd say they sound fine...
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
:::covers eyes & shakes head::: MISSING! THE POINT!
Focus, people..!
Posted by bX (Member # 419) on :
Well I expect that while the distant galaxies maybe wouldn't get names for a while yet, by the time there were freighters and colonists and aliens bopping around between them there wouldn't be so many catalogue and number names. Which is to say, you should make shit up. USS Mintakan Ice Ring, USS Gordon Smirch Nebula, USS Umbeke Quicksilver Satellite, USS Acturan Conjunction, etc. I'm sure among the approx 7050 "gaseous anomalies" (srsly, wtf?) our heroes of every frickin' Trek show have encountered/made contact with there would be some good canon-esque names.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
"Acturan Conjunction...what's your fun-tion?" Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
Shik, don't forget that many of those objects have probably received names from cultures that live closer to the neighborhood of those phenomena. Just make up lots of alien-sounding names!
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
USS Astronomical Unit. The men on board will enjoy the pun, anyway.
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
Yeah, I was thinking of that myself, MM & Bx. I went scouring & the names of astronomical objects in Trek is woefully low. But this morning, I thought about the same thing. NGC 6781, for example, a planetary nebula in Aquila. Maybe there's a "local name" for it, the A'argok Nebula. Or something.
Also, you'd think there would be more fun things like Scutum Arm, cubewano, & the like. Alas.
...How many ringed planets have we seen in Alpha & Beta Quads? If any.
(And Bx? TOTALLY stealing those names.)
quote:Originally posted by HerbShrump: USS Fatboy...
"I BEG your PARdon?!?" "Fat Boy. The name of the bomb." "That's Fat MAN, you blistering idiot...!!"
Posted by Peregrinus (Member # 504) on :
I think it's a combination of the names of the first two, Fat Man and Little Boy. A fusion, if you will...
I've used the names of planets, life-forms, and personalities from all forty years of Trek material, aired and written.
As for ringed planets, there have been a few, but I will have to rewatch TNG to get their names.
--Jonah
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
Sliders. Early years. S1, I believe. Bennish builds The Bomb to save Earth from asteroid doom. Reluctantly, Arturo pairs with him. That conversation ensues after Bennish blurts out, "Fat Boy..!"
Posted by Johnny (Member # 878) on :
We see a ringed planet at the start of TNG every week. I'm sure there were a few others, although if it's names you're after that'd be more tricky.
Posted by Lurker Emeritus (Member # 1888) on :
I think you're missing something. It's because you're a terrestrial lifeform who has got into the habit of intuitively measuring things according to their internal volume and apparent weight
If you also consider "mass" as a factor in the selection of eponyms, then you can start to include much more interesting astronomical phenomena like pulsars and quantum singularities and perhaps even dark matter! USS Dark Matter Nebula. In the Trek universe there is no reason why these objects would not have common names alongside their designations as they would be very important navigational hazards to FTL starships and their existence and locations would be widely known among both navigators and scientists.
Building on the Nebula names theme, you can even have names of protostars. Perhaps use those for a second class of slightly smaller vessels, or as names of tenders for the larger nebula named ships.
Red giant stars? Plenty of those around and plenty have already got names.
Minutiaman is right. This is Trek. Make them up. In that context, use my suggestions to assign made-up names to particular phenomena for consistency and added interest.
When you consider the vast number of possibilities there's really no need to rehash the tired old game of naming ships after people!
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
I DO have a USS Dark Matter Nebula, actually.
In any event, this class is almost done & then it's on to the great structural support member that is the Niagara-class.
Posted by Lurker Emeritus (Member # 1888) on :
quote:Originally posted by Shik: I DO have a USS Dark Matter Nebula, actually.
In that case, ignore me.
In any event, this class is almost done & then it's on to the great structural support member that is the Niagara-class. [/QUOTE]
In that case, try the following: USS Two's Company USS Third Leg USS Penalty Weight USS Bilge Keel USS Threesome
No, I meant...oh, never mind. It's just a visual thing, how I see the project..
Posted by Peregrinus (Member # 504) on :
For what it's worth, one of my first-flight Nebulas (Nebul�...?) I named the USS Sword of Orion, a little ha-ha due to the fact that most of the "stars" in Orion's sword are nebul�.
--Jonah
Posted by Shik (Member # 343) on :
Ganked.
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)