A call to action for US fans

Howdy folks, something that has vaguely bugged me for a long time is the fact that there is a USS Enterprise aircraft carrier, and a space shuttle named the Enterprise. Now, I'm not a Trek fan per se. It's a fine franchise, I've got nothing against it, and sometimes I watch the show. I hold nothing against it. But where's the appreciation for Star Wars?
This seems like the best oppurtunity to launch my initiative since people from all over the country are tuned in to read about Celebration II, and even if whole chapters of the Fan Force aren't going, probably someone from each region is. So here goes. Unless I'm mistaken, NASA has nothing named for Star Wars, and I don't think the Navy does either. Chances are, Lucas would rather have a friendly, scientific Space Shuttle named after his creation than a big platform of incredible firepower. So, I want to know if people would be interested in writing their Senators or Representatives, or NASA to get something named the Skywalker. It seems to be the most sensible name for a space craft, and NASA is launching things all the time. A space shuttle would be nice, but I'm not sure when we'll be rolling out another of those puppies, they're pricy. But how about a satellite or a deep space probe (after all, it would be going to a ... well not a galaxy, but a solar system, or planet far far away)? You can't tell me half the folks at NASA aren't Star Wars fans. If they're like a lot of us, Star Wars was their first introduction to Sci Fi. And afterall, every Star Wars film opens with a space ship. So if people are with me, rally the Fan Force trips, take pen or keyboard in hand, and contact Congress. If popular lore is true, that's how Trek fans got a Space Shuttle named the Enterprise. I think it's time we fans got something named after the movies we all love. I don't think it's crazy to want it, and if it's not crazy to want it, it's not crazy to try and get it done.

Dwayne of the Milwaukee fans

 

If I'm not mistaken, there has been a military ship of some kind or another named 'Enterprise' for the past 200 or so years. So the Trekies had history to help them out.

Personally, I'd like a ship named R-2.

If you really want to rally the troops, so to speak, you might want to have a flyer to pass out at the FanForce party. But I would check with the folks running that party if you are going to do that just to get the ok.

~H~

 

Yeah, I don't know what the deal is with Trek fans, but sometimes it seems they are taking over the planet.


!snap

 

NASA may have Star Trek fans, but are you familiar with the Strategic Defense Initiative, better known as "Star Wars" ?

 

I thought about that before making my post. From what I can tell, that was an unofficial nickname, most likely given by the press at the time. The official name was SDI, the Strategic Defense Initiative, and not Star Wars. Plus, why would you want your name attached to an overbudget technology that never even got to the drawing board, violates modern day treaties, and would probably not work? If "Star Wars" were ever used, it would probably be right before a few million of us turned into crispy critters. I'd rather have a space shuttle, or even an aircraft carrier. As for the aircraft carrier Enterprise, maybe that is navy tradition, but from everything I've read about the shuttle, that was indeed named for Star Trek.

 

There have been military ships named Enterprise for a couple hundred years and as for the space shuttle I think that there was a writing campaign to get it named that and enough people wanted it so they went ahead and did it.

 

Well other than the Falcon, I don't see there being many great SW ship names that could be used. Who wants something called the USS Death Star or the Slave 1 Deep Space Probe running around?
How about Organa, or Solo, or my persinal favorite:
The USS Skywalker

 

Yah, I think the "Star Wars" program gets more pulblicity than the "U.S.S. Enterprise".

We win.

 

That was my initial idea for a name, I guess it got lost in the second post, but I think a shuttle, or a probe, or something like that called "Skywalker" would be perfect.

 

If I'm not mistaken, didn't Lucas actually ask that the SDI not be called "Star Wars?" I seem to remember he was pushing hard to distance the two. He didn't like the negative aspects of the SDI reflecting on the films. The irony was that some of the best political cartoons I remember seeing played off of the Star Wars/SDI connection. Does anyone know a good website where some of these cartoons may be posted?

 

Yes, Lucas hated the name Star Wars being attached to that. The press nicknamed it Star Wars - it wasn't official.

As for Enterprise, the aircraft carrier had the name BEFORE the TV series. It was deployed in 1961. The only thing that was named after the Star Trek ship was the shuttle. The shuttle, by the way, never flew into space. It was just a test craft. The Columbia was the first to go into space.

Scott

 

"Star Wars" = popularity, which means that the American public would be more likely to accept the program; so I say that the defense in space thingy was actually named "Star Wars" because of the movies, whereas the "Enterprise" has less to do with Star Trek and more to do with the actual word and history of the military. (How bout that sentence?)

 

The Star Trek ENTERPRISE was named after the Navy ships of the same name. If you notice in TNG episodes you can see all the ships from the past.

Please watch how you talk about the ENTERPRISE. I will be serving aboard her in about two months. She has a special place in my heart because my dad was on the commissioning crew.

Don't talk bad about the Big E!

 

SDI may have been costly and "not there yet", but don't think for an instant that work on it stopped. Just because you don't hear about it, doesn't mean it doesn't exist (a friend of mine was working on the project at one point and there was even an article in Popular Science about it, ever heard of Space Based Lasers or SBLs? )

 

There are sizable number of surface features on Mars named "Darth" et al.

And I do beleive that Houston Control has the address of "SKYWALKER LANE"

 

I named my cat Luke when I was 12. That should count for something.

Scott