posted
He based the series not on the Air Force but the Navy. He probably didn't know any actual naval registries, or what they meant if he did. So he probably just went with what he knew.
"I wanted a very simple number that could be spotted quickly. You'd have to eliminate 3, 6, 8, and 9, so I just went for 1701, which, incidentally and coincidentally, happens to be very close to the license number on my airplane - NC-17740. But I have never really stepped out and squashed the rumor that the number on the Enterprise came off my airplane." -- Matt Jeffries
posted
Also somewhere in that same page was mention of the fact that the Soviet letters were CCC... so its as if they combined NC and CCC and got NCC! voil�.
------------------ "This is cooling, faster than I can..." Tori Amos "Cooling"
posted
Nooo. "CCC" as in the USSR's international civilian craft prefix. Again from the horse's mouth (nobody tell Matt we're calling him a horse):
"Since the 1920's, N has indicated the United States in Navy terms, and C means 'commercial' vessel. I added an extra C just for fun. Interestingly, Russia's designation is CCC."
------------------ "It's obvious I'm dealing with a moron..."
I've always taken Starbase to indicate an advance Starfleet post in an area where there wasn't much Federation government to speak of (yet).
Some fluffy material on the margins of semi-canonicity (novels, etc.) have Starbase 1 out in the fringes of the Solar system, and I personally love McQuarrie's concept painting of a Starbase in an asteroid for that.
In the Earth-Luna system, without counting Spacedock, or having to go to any other planets in this stellar system, we have the:
San Francisco Yards McKinley Station Copernicus Fleet Yards Baikonur Yards Puget Sound Yards Newport News Yards
And probably many others that I am either forgetting or aren't canon. Earth orbit (and to a lesser degree, Lunar orbit) is probably a pretty busy place.
--Jonah
------------------ "It's obvious I'm dealing with a moron..."
posted
I'd have to disagree with part of your classification system. Starbases seem to be part of the larger command structure. Admirals and the like are stationed at them. This suggests, at least to me, that they're located where ever Starfleet needs a local HQ. Outposts on the edges of Federation space are Deep Space stations, no? And these don't seem to be places where orders originate from.
posted
Well, there are probably as many theories as there are theorists on this, but my take is that "star station" is a civilian installation. Starfleet in turn operates a network of starbases used for military, research and other purposes, but with one common factor - they all support starship operations. These starbases are given numerical identifiers, but some of the venerable ones also acquire nicknames like "starbase Montgomery". These stations are within the Federation, and vastly outnumber stations outside UFP borders.
Then there are deep space stations that are located outside Federation territory, hence the name. Once the space around a DS station gets absorbed to the UFP, the station becomes another starbase, and the DS number is freed for future use (which is why even in the late 24th century, Starfleet still uses single-digit DS numbers).
In addition, Starfleet operates "outposts" (with more limited missions than starbases - they can be science-only installations like in "Gambit" or defence-only ones like the outposts of the RNZ) and "relay stations" (as seen in "Aquiel" - there might be civilian commnets, too, but apparently Starfleet maintains a network of its own) and other special installations with special naming systems.
So there. No need to agree with this - it's just one possible way to organize this mess.
posted
What about Deep Space Station K-7? Personally, I'd like consider this a DS just like DS9, but whence the K? Perhaps a change in the record-keeping system between TOS and TNG.
Of course, now that I think about it, K-7 was a civilian station, wasn't it? So it need not fit into any Starfleet naming scheme.
posted
Back to registries for a second. I don't know how this will fit into people's NCC/NAR/whatever debates, but the Vico from "Hero Worship" was evidently Starfleet surplus. It still had the SF pennant on it according to the miniature...
Go fig.
--Jonah
------------------ "It's obvious I'm dealing with a moron..."
posted
Probably the commander of Station K-9,when it was built, got so much teasing from the other Captains about having a dog of a posting, that as soon as he got to be an Admiral he changed the system. . . 8)
------------------ "I rather strongly disagree, even if I share the love of Dick. Speaking of which, that would be the most embarrasing .sig quote ever, so never use it."
------------------ "One's ethics are determined by what we do when no one is looking" Nugget Star Trek: Gamma Quadrant Star Trek: Legacy Read them, rate them, got money, film them
"...and I remain on the far side of crazy, I remain the mortal enemy of man, no hundred dollar cure will save me..." WoV
Printer-friendly view of this topic
