Xref: lugnet.com lugnet.space:87 Newsgroups: lugnet.space Path: lugnet.com!lugnet From: "Tom McDonald" X-Real-Life-Name: Tom McDonald Subject: Re: Space Station/Base Names (was Re: Space stations?) Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Nntp-Gateway: http://www.lugnet.com/news/post/ Organization: SF BayLUG - www.baylug.org Message-ID: X-Mailer: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 4.01; Windows 95) References: <37e91779.19074456@lugnet.com> <37ef964c.12877214@lugnet.com> X-Nntp-Posting-Host: lugnet.com Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 00:32:23 GMT Lines: 168 (Edited for cogency!) -------------------------------- In lugnet.space, Steve Bliss responded: > BTW, for some reason I think of "Station" to mean something that includes > civilian traffic and/or population, "Outpost" to be without civilian > traffic, but "Base" to mean something more substantial than "Station".(1) > (1) Originally, I had thought of these terms in relation to a planetary > body, that is, "Stations" were only found in orbit or space, and "Bases" > were only on planets, but due to the lack of words to fit all the > possible kinds of installations, other nice short terms weren't to be > found, or at least I've forgotten them. I was thinking along the lines of your original thought. It could still work: "Station Outpost" could be a remote installation in deep space, while "Base Outpost" would be a remote, planet-side site. Actually, "Base Outpost" is more of an oxymoron, since an outpost is explicitly not part of a base. But "Station" and "Base" probably aren't the best words to use for identifying location. Base should be a big military thing, Station has a lot of traffic, probably a mix of civ & mil, and Outpost is somewhere where not a lot of people go, so there isn't much traffic of any type. Let's see if I can find some synonyms. Here's a good one: outstation for outpost. Others: Camp Colony Base Post Depot Terminal Waystation > A downside of this idea is that over time is that as bigger and bigger > installations continue to be made or added onto, some facilities could be > downgraded from "Base" to "Station" (though sub-id's would remain the > same). I'd assume that as installations grew, they'd be upgraded. So a site which starts out as a Station might grow over time, and become a Base. If a site doesn't change, it wouldn't be downgraded. Just bypassed by other, more active, sites. -------------------------------- In lugnet.space, Matthew Miller responded: I'd think of Base to be something purely military/government. Outpost and Station are either mixed or all civilian -- the difference being that an Outpost would be more on the frontier. -------------------------------- In lugnet.space, Jacob Sparre Andersen responded: (in regards to footnote 1 above) This corresponds with my view (and use) of the words. -------------------------------- In lugnet.space, Tom McDonald responded: >How about adding modifiers for location, such as "Surface", "Mobile" (in >space and maneuverable), "Orbiting" (going around a natural body)? >"Outworld" could mean either remote or off-planet. > >Surface Base LD-A >Mobile Outpost LD-B >Orbiting Outstation LD-C > >Other modifiers could be used for the purpose of the site. Such as a >observation post, a mining camp, a drydock station, or a trading >settlement. I like it, though in order to preserve "Alpha 1", should we wish to do so, everything that has a letter should also have a number; so Surface Base LD-A would really be Surface Base LD-A1. We could further modify the ID subcode to mean "sector A, base number 1" or "sector A1", that is, if we want to alphabetize the sectors. I think that amongst the various major installations in any one sector, there'll probably only be one (or less) of each type of major installation (in the case of bases and stations), so that any possible ambiguity introduced by just simply contacting the "Surface Base" is unlikely. Other minor installations might have to be referred to in more detail though. But I don't care. But this also kind of depends on how big sectors are, and how they could be subdivided and/or organized. We know about quadrants eh? How many sectors in are in one? Are sections divisions of sectors? Something else too: I think that "LD" might eventually be dropped from common usage, at it'll be assumed. And it does not seem to add distinction amongst the various installations. -------------------------------- In lugnet.space, then Tom McDonald compiled: Try this on for size (to let the nitpicking continue :-) Would we all agree that "Base" should denote a comparably sizeable military/government-only installation? I think so. So given this, and to continue from this point (that we shouldn't use spaceterms interchangeably because they are in such short supply, it would be inefficient, and that we all would know what another person is saying) I've made a small chart to denote what, I hope, combines what we've all offered/said. Steve offered some more great terms to include, so here's a possible spread of the terms: Typical Planetary Disposition Planet <----- Orbit ------ Star System ----------------> Deep Space planetary- orbital- system- space- out- (underground, asteroid- asteroid- surface) base station station station station outpost outpost outpost outpost outpost (out- port waystation waystation waystation is dropped) colony colony depot Typical Population/Staff Amount Large and/or Varied <---------------- Few and Specialized ---------> Unmanned base port post outpost relay* station waystation depot colony terminal city terminal platform* Typical Proximity To Friendly Systems Same System <---------------------------------------------> Way Far Away base base waystation colony outpost metropolis port depot post city station station station port terminal Personnel/Purpose Military/Government <-------------------------------------> Civilian base depot waystation colony Metropolis outpost station City post port terminal Footnotes to chart: *Relay means installation generally automated and unpeopled, though limited life support is possible, such as communications relays, listening equipment, and telescopes. *Platform means extremely limited supplies available, such as small amounts of fuel, life support equipment, rations, and first aid supplies. This rough chart is just to get interest going. I included two additional terms just for fun: relay and platform. Find the real chart at www.baylug.org/space/installations.htm which I'll be updating to reflect decisions made in this group. Something else to consider: it's not unheard of for an installation to change title and function depending on which high-ranking officer is in residence/command. -Tom McD. when replying, spamcake torpedoes.. away!