MSL Naming? |
MSL Naming? |
Dec 25 2006, 12:15 AM
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#1
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Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8785 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
Anybody know if there's to be a naming of names for MSL? If so, I'd just like to propose an unimpeachable candidate moniker: Sagan (Carl to his friends).
I know that the MPF lander was named in his honor, but for some reason the name never stuck with the public in the same way that Sojourner, Spirit, and Opportunity did; perhaps we tend to anthropomorphize rovers more than fixed landers. In that light, MSL will hopefully spend many years exploring Mars much as Sagan did; what could be more fitting? -------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
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Dec 25 2006, 12:27 AM
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#2
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2488 Joined: 17-April 05 From: Glasgow, Scotland, UK Member No.: 239 |
Anybody know if there's to be a naming of names for MSL? If so, I'd just like to propose an unimpeachable candidate moniker: Sagan (Carl to his friends). I know that the MPF lander was named in his honor, but for some reason the name never stuck with the public in the same way that Sojourner, Spirit, and Opportunity did; perhaps we tend to anthropomorphize rovers more than fixed landers. In that light, MSL will hopefully spend many years exploring Mars much as Sagan did; what could be more fitting? Antoniadi? Lowell? Burroughs? In order of credibility... Bob Shaw -------------------- Remember: Time Flies like the wind - but Fruit Flies like bananas!
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Dec 25 2006, 12:37 AM
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#3
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Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8785 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
You forgot Heinlein (Red Planet)! Come to that, how about "Willis"?
-------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
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Dec 25 2006, 12:45 AM
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#4
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2488 Joined: 17-April 05 From: Glasgow, Scotland, UK Member No.: 239 |
You forgot Heinlein (Red Planet)! Come to that, how about "Willis"? I'd go for 'Willis' any day, but 'he' came from fiction, rather than (alleged) fact! And as for Stanley G Weinbaum... Bob Shaw -------------------- Remember: Time Flies like the wind - but Fruit Flies like bananas!
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Dec 25 2006, 12:52 AM
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#5
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Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8785 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
Yeah...if we ever send another pair of rovers, I'd definitely go for Willis & Tweel. If nothing else, some of the kids might rediscover the magic in these classics...it makes a difference.
-------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
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Dec 25 2006, 08:17 AM
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#6
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1870 Joined: 20-February 05 Member No.: 174 |
Tars Tarkas and Deja Thoris.
And there's always good <?> old Ras Thavas, the Mastermind of Mars. |
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Dec 25 2006, 04:49 PM
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#7
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Member Group: Members Posts: 688 Joined: 20-April 05 From: Sweden Member No.: 273 |
How come nobody has even mentioned Schiaparelli?
Also in the name of political correctness shouldn't we use the native pronounciation of Tweel which was actualy "Trrrweeerrlll"? tty |
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Dec 25 2006, 08:05 PM
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#8
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Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8785 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
Oh, great; if we do that, then we'll have to figure out Willis' true name in High Martian!
-------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
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Dec 25 2006, 08:57 PM
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#9
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2922 Joined: 14-February 06 From: Very close to the Pyrénées Mountains (France) Member No.: 682 |
Antoniadi? Lowell? Burroughs? In order of credibility... Bob Shaw Bob, you forget a question mark after the last name! Does it mean that he is your favorite? -------------------- |
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Dec 25 2006, 10:15 PM
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#10
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2488 Joined: 17-April 05 From: Glasgow, Scotland, UK Member No.: 239 |
Bob, you forget a question mark after the last name! Does it mean that he is your favorite? Unquestionably! Bob Shaw -------------------- Remember: Time Flies like the wind - but Fruit Flies like bananas!
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Dec 26 2006, 03:14 AM
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#11
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3419 Joined: 9-February 04 From: Minneapolis, MN, USA Member No.: 15 |
Since MSL will travel faster than the MERs and Sojourner (if only marginally), it will be the fastest moving thing on Mars.
So, why not call it Bottomos? -the other Doug p.s. -- if someone could name the short story from which my reference comes, I'd love the reminder. I remember the piece clearly, but have not the slightest remnant of the title or author left in this rotten gray thing I call a brain... *sigh*... -------------------- “The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right.” -Mark Twain
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Dec 26 2006, 05:17 PM
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#12
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 2488 Joined: 17-April 05 From: Glasgow, Scotland, UK Member No.: 239 |
Since MSL will travel faster than the MERs and Sojourner (if only marginally), it will be the fastest moving thing on Mars. So, why not call it Bottomos? -the other Doug p.s. -- if someone could name the short story from which my reference comes, I'd love the reminder. I remember the piece clearly, but have not the slightest remnant of the title or author left in this rotten gray thing I call a brain... *sigh*... oDoug: "The Holes Around Mars" by Jerome Bixby. I was never really sure about a moon called 'Bottomos' - sounds more like a feature to be associated with the eighth planet... Bob Shaw -------------------- Remember: Time Flies like the wind - but Fruit Flies like bananas!
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Dec 27 2006, 01:33 AM
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#13
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Member Group: Members Posts: 267 Joined: 5-February 06 Member No.: 675 |
Off hand, I imagine NASA will follow past patterns of planetary vehicles and give MSL a generally descriptive and symbolic name (like MER-A/Spirit; MER-B/Opportunity).
There is a pattern of naming space observatories after modern astronomers: Hubble (optical), Chandra (x-ray), Spitzer (IR), Compton (gamma ray), and (with ESA) Herschel (far IR). The only planetary vehicles named after people are named after historic scientific figures or explorers: Galileo, Cassini-Huygens, Magellan. If this pattern holds, "Sagan" is out of the running for MSL. Steve |
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Dec 27 2006, 01:58 AM
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#14
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Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8785 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
The only planetary vehicles named after people are named after historic scientific figures or explorers: Galileo, Cassini-Huygens, Magellan. If this pattern holds, "Sagan" is out of the running for MSL. Steve How so, Steve? Sagan was more than a popularizer, he did some very fundamental work in planetary science. Arguably, he was one of the true pioneers in the field after Bruce Murray, and although this is recent history it is history nonetheless. -------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
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Dec 27 2006, 07:18 AM
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#15
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Member Group: Members Posts: 112 Joined: 17-November 05 From: Canberra Member No.: 558 |
How so, Steve? Sagan was more than a popularizer, he did some very fundamental work in planetary science. Arguably, he was one of the true pioneers in the field after Bruce Murray, and although this is recent history it is history nonetheless. However there is already a Sagan memorial station on Mars, so naming MSL after him might be overkill. I nominate Bagnold. Ralph Bagnold was a remarkable man, a pioneer in the use of vehicles in desert exploration in the 20's and 30's, inventor of several useful gadgets for mechanised desert exploration and travel. DuringWWII he founded the Long Range Desert Group, a formidable military unit that specialised in deep penetration special operations in North Africa. Bagnold also did almost all the fundamental research on aeolian geomorphology, sedimentology and physics and wrote scores of papers. His last paper, coauthored with Carol Sagan, was on the sand dunes of Mars. Bagnold, desert traveller, explorer, and scientist, and Mars researcher, seems an eminently suitable name for a Mars rover. Jon |
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