Date: Thu, 16 Jun 2005 18:48:28 -0400
To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at WSFA.org>
From: "Mike B." <omni at omniphile.com>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Take that Darth Vader, thwack! , was  Sith
  andbefore

At 06:00 PM 6/16/05 EDT, MarkLFischer at aol.com wrote:
>In a message dated 6/16/2005 4:13:49 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
>_omni at omniphile.com_ (mailto:omni at omniphile.com)  writes:
>
>>There was one battle on that show where a B5 fighter spun and vectored
>sideways
>>while accelerating
>
>NASA approached J. M. Straczynski about using his Star Fury fighter design
>for, I believe, an orbital transfer vehicle...he gave his blessing,
provided
>NASA calls them Star Furies.  NASA reportedly  agreed.

I sure hope that's true...it would be really cool if it was...and ends up
that way.  NASA is way too dry with their naming schemes...I mean "Space
Transportation System"?!?  Why not something that stimulates the
imagination a bit more?  Even "Sky Hauler" would be an improvement over "STS".

One of the things I like about spacecraft in SF is that they usually have
neat names.  "Skylark", "Gallactica", "Enterprise", not a Greek/Roman god's
name with a number or "STS".  "Skylab" was an improvement, but then they
dropped it.  "Star Fury" would be nice...even if it still has the
mythological reference.

-- Mike B.
--
"The dinosaurs became extinct because they didn't have a space program" --
Larry Niven