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Challenge: Put a Fenspace spin on this article
04-04-2011, 02:43 PM
Noticed http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/04/04/uksa_is_go/]this article on The Register and thought its subject should be mentioned in Fenspace... but obviously not "as is". So, what spin does Fenspace give the new "UK Space Agency"?
[size=smaller] (Yes, I am trying to get other people to write FenWiki content. Why do you ask? )[/size]
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Yes, please, someone else write Fenwiki stuff so he can go back to LOGG and his Nadesico Stagger...
(All kids love LOGG!)
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Bullet points.
Strong emphasis on 'Make do and Mend' and using what they have to hand. Not having a budget near NASA's, they often have to come up with economical but functional solutions to problems which NASA would just throw billions at until it went away.
A bit like British Leyland in space, suffering a little from overmamagement, and a tendency to investigate crackpot ideas seriously, while also occasionally turning out brilliant but flawed Triumph Stags.
Shed engineer's ethic.... a lot more hands-on than NASA or the Russians. "Well that satellite's definitely broken, we'll have to go up there and just fix the darned thing," The guy who designed the thing may well be part of the team fixing it.
There's probably a waved Harrier Jet or Concorde in there....
James May will be involved somehow.
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They model at least part of their operation on the success of the Solomon Space Agency -- and to steal a bit from the second "Rocket Girls" book, they start with their own corps of small, pretty girl astronauts for the very same reason the SSA did it -- they can use what might have initially been half-scale test capsules as their actual working craft, thus saving lots of money.
ETA: The fact that their astronauts are also Page Six girls is purely coincidental and in no ways a public relations ploy, of course.
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I think they're more likely to go the way of Dan Dare, Ministry of Space, and several other 2,000 AD-type titles. Old school Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon type ships are more the Brits speed.
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Which, let's be fair, doesn't preclude the use of Page 6 girls as astronauts. Hell, it might even make it more imperative.
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Need I mention UFO's Gay Ellis? Perfect example. 
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"Page 6"? When did they migrate from Page 3?
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Inflation is a terrible thing.
(ba-dum-ching)
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Bob Schroeck Wrote:Yes, please, someone else write Fenwiki stuff so he can go back to LOGG and his Nadesico Stagger... It's "Nadia", not "Nadesico"... although now that you mention it, I'd love to see somebody write the interplay between Doug and Ruri.
That's "somebody other than me", BTW. I still have to write "Legend of Galactic Girls", "Blue Skies, Blue Water", and "Weekend at Looney's"...
Bob Schroeck Wrote:(All kids love LOGG!) They hug it and pet it and call it "George"...
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It was my little friend and I would pet it and love it and SQUEEZE it... but it don't move no more. *sad panda*
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Quote:It's "Nadia", not "Nadesico"...
Gah! That's twice in less than a week. And I remember as I typed that instance thinking that I was getting it right this time!
I need more freaking sleep.
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robkelk Wrote:Bob Schroeck Wrote:Yes, please, someone else write Fenwiki stuff so he can go back to LOGG and his Nadesico Stagger... It's "Nadia", not "Nadesico"... although now that you mention it, I'd love to see somebody write the interplay between Doug and Ruri. I'm pretty sure each one would go:
"Baka," Ruri sighed, disgusted, as she walked away.
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... I'd probably have the artical starting off somewhat like this:
No, fellow Fen, it is no joke. On April 1st, and with that stiff upper-lip solemnity that Old Blighty is so good at, they declared that the United Kingdom Space Agency is officially open for business. Ever sticklers for tradition, even if it is the tongue-in-cheek variety, they decided to make the official proclamation on the same date in 1918 when the same was done for the Royal Air Force.
The newborn UKSA is an executive agency under the Department for Business, Industry, and Skills. The big business types of the SMOFs should know what that means. (Hint-hint-nudge-nudge at Mr. Scott.)
And so on and so on... 
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Bob Schroeck Wrote:Quote:It's "Nadia", not "Nadesico"...
Gah! That's twice in less than a week. And I remember as I typed that instance thinking that I was getting it right this time!
I need more freaking sleep.
I thought you were doing it on purpose this time...
Mark Skarr Wrote:robkelk Wrote:Bob Schroeck Wrote:Yes, please, someone else write Fenwiki stuff so he can go back to LOGG and his Nadesico Stagger... It's "Nadia", not "Nadesico"... although now that you mention it, I'd love to see somebody write the interplay between Doug and Ruri. I'm pretty sure each one would go:
"Baka," Ruri sighed, disgusted, as she walked away.
Well, that's how each one would end, yes.
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M Fnord Wrote:Inflation is a terrible thing.
(ba-dum-ching) That'd totally depend on the skill of the surgeon and the size of the implant.
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blackaeronaut Wrote:... I'd probably have the artical starting off somewhat like this:
No, fellow Fen, it is no joke. On April 1st, and with that stiff upper-lip solemnity that Old Blighty is so good at, they declared that the United Kingdom Space Agency is officially open for business. Ever sticklers for tradition, even if it is the tongue-in-cheek variety, they decided to make the official proclamation on the same date in 1918 when the same was done for the Royal Air Force.
The newborn UKSA is an executive agency under the Department for Business, Industry, and Skills. The big business types of the SMOFs should know what that means. (Hint-hint-nudge-nudge at Mr. Scott.)
And so on and so on... Hmm. If anything, I see the Fenspace Phenomenon pushing that forward by six months to a year. I can see Parliament demanding that "Something Be Done" about all these people in their flying cars. The EEO would probably be first, but I see the UKSA coming about around the same time.
I may have to put something into Terror from the Shadows, since it's set in London.
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