For kibitzing - TSAB gazetteer entry

[robkelk]

Because of popular request (okay, Ebony asked and I had something on the go already), here's a draft of a TSAB gazetteer entry. I didn't make up any of
this; it's all from posts to the original Plotbunny thread. I've already posted this as a placeholder over on the wiki, but it's easy to edit the
wiki... Comments, additions, suggestions as to how many corners to fold it into and where to shove it, anything?

---

One of NASA's scientific divisions, the Transrationality Scientific Analysis Bureau is
responsible for investigating the wonders of the 'wave; specifically, they obtain 'waved devices, take them apart, figure out how they work, duplicate
them with hardtech, and design their own variations on them. Their success rate on the first two clauses is substantially higher than that of the rest of their
remit, but one of their notable successes is the atmosphere recyclers installed by Rockhounds in all of their newer space habitats.

In Fenspace, they're sometimes called NASFans by Fen who like them, and
IPX by Fen that don't. Most Fendanes and a few oddballs in Rockhounds copy 'Daneside usage
and call them the TSAB.

The TSAB own and operate station Benjamin Franklin, located in Earth-Luna L4 orbit. Colonel Caldwell
(USAF), its commander, is the ranking United States military officer in Fenspace. The public face of the station is Amy O'Connell, a no-nonsense
Irish-American redhead.



-Rob Kelk




"Read Or Die: not so much a title as a way of life." - Justin Palmer, 6 June 2007
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[M Fnord]

Hm. I had TSAB pegged as a DoD or Air Force operation, actually. NASA is a civillian agency, and as such doesn't allow active duty military personnel to join. If Col. Caldwell is the ranking US military man in Fenspace, he can't be part of NASA. That plus the bleating about "security" vis a vis handwavium means TSAB's a military agency.
If the question then becomes "where's NASA, then?" the answer is pretty simple. Between TSAB shutting them out of the handwavium research & fenships like Moondance, Ptichka & others doing scientific work on contract, NASA's found itself largely marginalized by the new activity.---
Mr. Fnord
http://fnord.sandwich.net/
http://www.jihad.net/
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

[ECSNorway]

Well, there are two ways you can go on that.
One, a lot of USAF pilots and scientists go into NASA.
Two, the Air Force has always considered space to be its place, there was a lot of upset when that function was transferred to NASA in the 60's. (My grandfather used to live down the street from the USAF test pilots, and grandma tells all kinds of stories about it).
This could easily be their way of striking back, as NASA waffles hopelessly over "we want to do SCIENCE, not sci-fi!".--
"I give you the beautiful... the talented... the tirelessly atomic-powered...
R!
DOROTHY!
WAYNERIGHT!
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

[M Fnord]

That was actually sort of my thought, that TSAB was the Air Force's (successful) petty little political maneuver to take control of space operations away from their greatest enemies - NASA and the Navy.
(I'm also pretty damn sure the USAF hasn't forgotten or forgiven the fact that America's first two great space heroes were a Navy aviator and a Marine, in that order, and *their* first guy in space lost his capsule. Bad karma, man.)
This of course wins them support from milfen, but eternal enmity from NASA fen.---
Mr. Fnord
http://fnord.sandwich.net/
http://www.jihad.net/
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

[robkelk]

---

That was actually sort of my thought, that TSAB was the Air Force's (successful) petty little political maneuver to take control of space operations away from their greatest enemies - NASA and the Navy.

---

Which means that there's no way the TSAB is going to get along with the Stingray... which, I suppose, is why Cmdr. (USN) Dodge became Brevet-Admiral (OGJ) Dodge within a year of his ship's launch.
So, we're also going to have to write up what happened to NASA, eh?

-Rob Kelk
"Read Or Die: not so much a title as a way of life." - Justin Palmer, 6 June 2007
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Kokuten]

Well, what happened to NASA?
The month of March, 2012, was not kind to the chronically underfunded (and now unpopular) government agency known as NASA. The crowning blow to a 5-year corporate depression was the unprecedented offer by the Stelvia Corporation to the U.S. Government, to purchase the copyrights and trademarks associated with the NASA group.
The offer is referred to as the "April Fool's Purchase", as the paperwork was originally submitted on April 1, 2012. The purchase was not accepted until April 20th, and is considered to have happened 'disturbingly quickly'.
NASA was officially disbanded, and the research and development programs have been retained under the banner of the newly formed United States Space Agency, or U.S.S.A. The military interested of the U.S.A. are being represented by the TSAB group, and the U.S. Shuttle fleet is undergoing a 'stand-down' initiative.
Pundits are claiming that this is evidence that the U.S. Government is finally willing to 'ride the Wave', and cite the open contracting policy of the U.S.S.A. for catching rides 'Up'
Other pundits are claiming that this is a sign that the U.S. government is on its way out as a sovereign entity, but become mysteriously silent or evasive when asked to name a replacement...
Just a blurb, just an idea. I'm pretty whupped after work today, so take this with a grain of salt.
Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979

[M Fnord]

Point of information: the last (and I mean *last*) Shuttle flight - STS-132 - is scheduled for 2010. So by 2012 NASA will be grounded (in OTL until Constellation/Orion get running, in Fenspace that's all she wrote).
Anyway.
As much fun as Noah Scott buying the NASA trademarks sounds, this isn't really a situation that megabucks can solve. To get NASA back in the game is going to require cunning, deceit and a deep & abiding love of the American manned spaceflight program.
More on this as it develops, but the idea's been there for a while & can be summed up very simply as "Ptichka wants her sisters."
Moo hoo ha ha ha.---
Mr. Fnord
http://fnord.sandwich.net/
http://www.jihad.net/
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

[Foxboy]

"Ptichka, please respond," the traffic controller on duty on Stellvia hailed the incoming shuttle analogue. "I repeat, Ptichka, please respond."
"We've got them on visual si..." the technician beside him broke off as she spotted the markings on the upper wing surfaces. "Sir, that's not Ptichka."
"Whaddaya mean?" he asked gesticulating wildly at the screen. "There's only one 'Space shuttle' in our neck of the woods, and that's Ptichka!"
At that moment the communications panel caught onto transmissions on a 'dane frequency.
"... is NASA Pegasus requesting docking procedures 'cause we have NO idea what we're doing!" A frantic tween's voice called out. "Can we get some HELP?"

---

Pegasus is a full size plywood mockup built to NASA specs for one of the Space Camp locations. After the particular camp folded from a lack of proximity to NASA's facilities in either Florida or Texas, the Mockup was moved to the University of Oklahoma's Aerospace Engineering Department and used for the Oklahoma City area's school systems' summer science camps. As the 'Wave hit and folks were less and less enamored of hardtech space exploration, the mockup was mothballed in a Warehouse in Norman, Oklahoma, while the space it had taken up was used for a paleontology exhibit.
Remembering Ptichka, a group of NASA Fen had a "Blue Hair Day" and decided to get the shuttles in the public eye again. An attempt to "handwash" Pathfinder at the still-active Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama was thwarted, but a simultaneous, more thorough, run on Pegasus was successful. However, the "adult" in charge (who was sixteen) was not aboard as the nascent AI on board woke up and lifted with a whinny. Kind of prophetic when they used some of Ptichka's Documentaries and the movie Space Camp while refitting her, eh? That said, Pegasus should have some of her own quirks, but as I'm writing this, I'm burning out on inspiration.
Edited to add: The real mockup I'm basing Pegasus on was nowhere NEAR as complete as I'm writing. As I remember it from my own clambering experience, only the top Deck fore of the engine nacelles was there. Enough of a mockup that kids would go "WOW! The Space Shuttle!"
Pathfinder, OTOH, is a real Mockup NASA used to test the pre-launch procedures, the ground based equivalent to the Space Shuttle Enterprise.
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll

[M Fnord]

Oh, that's just beautiful. And in that vein...
Ship Name: NASA Pegasus
Created by Logan Goodhue (Foxboy) with assistance from others
Registry Number: OV-106
Base Hull: Fiberglass & plywood Space Shuttle Orbiter mockup.
Drive Type: Speed (handwavium impulse engine)
Drive Rating: ##WHITENOISE##
Owner of Record: Oklahoma City Public Schools
Flag of Record: United States of America
Home Port: Oklahoma City, OK, USA
Purpose: Educational experience gone horribly right.
Launched: ##WHITENOISE##, 2012ish(?)
Crew: Six or seven fenkinder (ages 11-16) to be named later.
Supplementary Crew: ##WHITENOISE##
Faction: ##WHITENOISE##
Status: Active (friendly NPC, comic relief)
Known Vehicle Quirks:
* A Horse is a Horse, of Course of Course: True to her name, Pegasus has the rough intelligence and communication ability you'd expect from a winged horse. Sometimes this means she's calm, sometimes it means she's... not so calm.

---

--Mal, who actually owns the Space Camp soundtrack.
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

[Kokuten]

---

So by 2012 NASA will be grounded (in OTL until Constellation/Orion get running, in Fenspace that's all she wrote).

---

You could spin that so that that _is_ all she wrote. The U.S. Gummint halts development on Constellation, since __we__ are already doing it better.

---

As much fun as Noah Scott buying the NASA trademarks sounds, this isn't really a situation that megabucks can solve. To get NASA back in the game is going to require cunning, deceit and a deep & abiding love of the American manned spaceflight program.

---

I can see //Pegasus//, but I'm not seeing a lock-stock-barrel buyout of NASA. But.. a tired old orbiter intercepted from the boneyard..
2012 - the Year the Shuttles Came Home
launch the Pegasus in early March, launch //Enterprise//, //Discovery//, //Endeavor//, and //Atlantis// throughout the rest of the year as people get the idea and buy/beg/steal Shuttle carcasses and finish rebuilds..
And on the evening of December 25th, on a pillar of fire, the scavenged and custom-work and duct tape and kludge that is the Last American Space Shuttle rises from the Nevada desert.. and //Challenger// joins the rest of Us.
Now.. given this theory.. if someone raises //Pegasus// in 2012.. I _Will_ get me carcass or spares or testing equipment and rebuild a shuttle and call it //Challenger//.. That bird did too much damage to the American space program to die forever.. Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979

[Foxboy]

Did some research on the "Space Camp" I'd been part of back in the day, and apparently they left the University of Oklahoma two years after I participated, and relocated to the less-prestigious Oklahoma City College/University. Apparently OU wanted more space for football player dorms.
So, legal owner would be "Oklahoma Aerospace Academy" or the PhD who ran the Camp for eight years. Or what you have is fine, too.
I see these kids making all sorts of classic Fennish mistakes:
1.) Pegasus zips through restricted airspace on the way up. The Air Force's Logistics Hub, Tinker Air Force Base, has three of OKC's suburbs nestled up against it.
2.) The token Fat Kid [Well, he WAS the token Fat Kid when they launched...] has an unwitting biomod since the particular strain of goo used on the mockup resembles a snack food of some sort, like Cheez Whip or Whipped Cream and he got hungry on the way up. I have no idea what to do to him that would be simultaneously scary but cool to a "blank slate Fen" like I picture these kids as being.
3.) Others to come to me or others later: since nobody on board is older than 15-16, they need "space uncles/aunts"
I figure they launch during OGJ, say as School's about to start up again for the fall; So like end of August, Early September, 2012.
ETA: And my slow typing gets the better of me again.
Hmm. May or June for Launch, to split the difference? Let this be a summer learning experience for the Kids, after all.
ETA2: Did a fenwiki page for her.
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll

[M Fnord]

---

You could spin that so that that _is_ all she wrote. The U.S. Gummint halts development on Constellation, since __we__ are already doing it better.

---

Yes, well, that is what I meant. In OTL the Shuttle stops flying in 2010, to be replaced by Constellation in 2014 (we hope). In Fenspace, the Shuttle stops flying in 2010 and that's it for the official American space program.

---

And on the evening of December 25th, on a pillar of fire, the scavenged and custom-work and duct tape and kludge that is the Last American Space Shuttle rises from the Nevada desert.. and //Challenger// joins the rest of Us.

---

Two points:
First, you're missing an Orbiter from your litany.
Second, actually digging out the remnants of either of the lost Shuttles and waving the bits is a good way to get your ass kicked from one end of the solar system to the other. To NASA trufen, that's pretty much grave desecration. Not cool at all.
However, when it comes to beloved vehicles lost in the line of duty, the Trekkies have shown us the way forward. The Boeing Corporation have done us the kindness of drawing up some modernization schemes (if I can ever get my hands on the freakin' study). And as we like to say in the Soviet Air Force's engineering division, blueprints are available.
Perhaps Hephaestus would be interested in a joint project?---
Mr. Fnord
http://fnord.sandwich.net/
http://www.jihad.net/
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

[M Fnord]

---

3.) Others to come to me or others later: since nobody on board is older than 15-16, they need "space uncles/aunts"

---

Well, if nothing else Ptichka will *always* come running (with or without a crew) if Pegasus calls for help. Gotta watch out for family, after all.

---

Hmm. May or June for Launch, to split the difference? Let this be a summer learning experience for the Kids, after all.

---

I dunno, I'm okay with late summer for the launch, just because it feels like we're bunching all the cool stuff in the beginning of the year otherwise (we've got the Stingray, Grover's Corners and SOS-Con all happening within a month or so of each other, after all).---
Mr. Fnord
http://fnord.sandwich.net/
http://www.jihad.net/
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

[Kokuten]

The pair of Suburbans lashed to the stack of massive steel girders hung motionless outside of Stellvia, patiently waiting their turn. The lights on the station, burning white in the endless dark, flashed twice and turned red.
"Stellvia control, this is the Wiregeek.. what's going on, can I help?"
"WG, Stellvia control, do you have heavy towing capability?"
"Ahhh.. that's an affirmative, Stellvia, what am I towing?"
"There's a plywood Shuttle, looks like Ptichka with an American flag.. they need a tow, we've got a dock setup but they don't have a good hand or a good stick."
"Ahhh... Can Do, Stellvia.. please send me a heading and frequency"
The lead Suburban detached from the girders and motored off at on a tangent, soon rounding the station and drawing to a halt relative to the mottled white swan shape of the Shuttle.
"Hello, Shuttle!"
"H-Hello"
"I hear you rugrats need a tow in"
"I'm 16!"
"And I'm driving a tow truck. Can you lower your nose gear for me?"
As the nose gear on the Shuttle lowered hesitantly, the driver's side door of the Suburban opened, releasing a puff of air and a human figure. The figure grabbed at the door and pulled itself down the side of the Suburban. Hooking up a thick cable to the rear of the vehicle, which pivoted and backed slowly towards the shuttle.
The tow in was slow but uneventful, and the shuttle slid into a pressure-tight berth at Stellvia without even brushing the sides.
"Stellvia, this is WG - one shuttle, slightly shaken. I'm headed back out for my steel, take care of these kids."
"Thank you, mister, we owe you one!"
"Good luck, kids.. and Welcome to Fenspace!"Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979

[Kokuten]

---

To NASA trufen, that's pretty much grave desecration. Not cool at all.

---

The trick is to do it from spares and chassis and custom work, play the public relations as phoenix - not zombie.

---

Perhaps Hephaestus would be interested in a joint project?

---

Oh, VERY much so. Just think about what the 'Wave can do for ceramic shield plates.. Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979

[Feinan]

*grin* OK....I love the idea of the NASA Pegasus. And more fenkinder are always a good thing, in my opinion. The Jason and his girls will offer help if they need it.
As for the Challenger idea...desecration? I can see why a lot of people might go for that view. But...I can't help but think that it'd be a far better tribute to the crew for it to be up there DOING something, in any form, rather than in pieces on the ground.
Also...I wonder what would happen if Julia Ecklar's The Phoenix and Leslie Fish's Guardians were played during the 'waving...

[Bob Schroeck]

---

Well, if nothing else Ptichka will *always* come running (with or without a crew) if Pegasus calls for help. Gotta watch out for family, after all.

---

And this might also be the incident that establishes the Grover's Corners' reputation as being a haven for fenkinder.

-- Bob
---------
The Internet Is For Norns.

[Bob Schroeck]

---

As for the Challenger idea...desecration?

---

Some might see it that way no matter how you did it. It might take the edge off to call them "Challenger II" and "Columbia II".

---

I wonder what would happen if Julia Ecklar's The Phoenix and Leslie Fish's Guardians were played during the 'waving...

---

Open up a whole lot of metaphysical questions if the right wrong things were to happen...

-- Bob
---------
The Internet Is For Norns.

[robkelk]

---

The crowning blow to a 5-year corporate depression was the unprecedented offer by the Stelvia Corporation to the U.S. Government, to purchase the copyrights and trademarks associated with the NASA group.

---

I was going to say "Noah has better things to do with his money, and he's cut all ties with the US"... until I read this:

---

"... is NASA Pegasus requesting docking procedures 'cause we have NO idea what we're doing!" A frantic tween's voice called out. "Can we get some HELP?"

---

Which made me laugh out loud. (And now I'm going to be late for work...) Sure, let's run with it.
And now I know why Noah re-built Stellvia in 2014 to match this image (courtesy M Fnord) - besides keeping the economy afloat after Operation GREAT JUSTICE, he needed the extra room, and a docking bay big enough to hold a couple of Shuttles.


Edit: As for the Shuttles "coming home", could we leave the Enterprise in the Smithsonian, on Earth? It never did break atmosphere, and Noah would want the 'Danes to have some reminder of the end of their manned space program if he's ever asked...

-Rob Kelk
"Read Or Die: not so much a title as a way of life." - Justin Palmer, 6 June 2007
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[M Fnord]

Wow, go to sleep for a couple hours and things explode.

---

The trick is to do it from spares and chassis and custom work, play the public relations as phoenix - not zombie.

---

It'd have to be *all* custom work - most of the Shuttle spares right now are in rotation on the three orbiters.

---

But...I can't help but think that it'd be a far better tribute to the crew for it to be up there DOING something, in any form, rather than in pieces on the ground.

---

Putting aside the whole desecration issue, there really isn't any point to trying to reassemble either Orbiter. This is what Challenger looked like after the accident, and there's even less left of Columbia. As a strictly practical matter it's better to honor the crews & the ships by letting the names continue on than trying to rebuild something that badly fucked up.

---

and a docking bay big enough to hold a couple of Shuttles.

---

I hate to break it to you, man, but that bay? *Not* big enough to hold a Shuttle. You could squeeze one in, but you'd scrape the shit out of the belly if you tried.

---

As for the Shuttles "coming home", could we leave the Enterprise in the Smithsonian, on Earth? It never did break atmosphere, and Noah would want the 'Danes to have some reminder of the end of their manned space program if he's ever asked...

---

I'm cool with that. Breaking it out of the Smithsonian would be such a massive pain in the ass as to not be worth it, and if the VVS/Hephaestus OV-201 project gets off the ground we'd be able to crank out our own Shuttles. ---
Mr. Fnord
http://fnord.sandwich.net/
http://www.jihad.net/
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

[Foxboy]

I'm considering calving off a new thread for the Pegasus plotbunny to let this thread get back to the TSAB... also. I need to find a public domain US Space Shuttle pic for the Pegasus page.
These kids should be considered open characters, though I do ask that they be "Bulletproof Innocents." That is, the worst they suffer directly is bullying by "ageist" Fen or 'Think of the CHILDREN!' ranters.
ETA: DAGNABBIT! I can't get a FenWiki link to work at ALL.
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll

[robkelk]

---

I hate to break it to you, man, but that bay? *Not* big enough to hold a Shuttle. You could squeeze one in, but you'd scrape the shit out of the belly if you tried.

---

But... you put a Shuttle on approach to it in the image...

-Rob Kelk
"Read Or Die: not so much a title as a way of life." - Justin Palmer, 6 June 2007
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[M Fnord]

---

But... you put a Shuttle on approach to it in the image...

---

For showing the scale of the damned thing, not as a representation of normal operations.
ETA: Actually, I stand corrected. There is *just* enough clearance to get two Shuttles in the bay - can't extend the landing gear, and neither one can turn around if there's two in the bay at the same time, but there's clearance. Probably a good idea to *not* have two Shuttles in the bay at the same time, though, 'cause clearance between the two can be measured in centimeters.---
Mr. Fnord
http://fnord.sandwich.net/
http://www.jihad.net/
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

[Feinan]

Yeah, I know how many bits the originals were in. It was more for point of argument about desecration versus tribute that I broached the subject. On the other hand, that HAS led me to consider an idea. Those of you who read my posting on making the memory storage devices for my girls and the honey form of handwavium that went with that know that I like to use lots of symbols in my handwaving - along with appropriate pagan rituals.

Now...consider a spaceship - mostly new - but incorporating as many bits and pieces from older ships. A ship that would be a sort of embodiment of the dream of spaceflight. And not just old ships, but whatever you can get your hands on. A piece of lunar rock here, a lever smelted from iron ore from Mars there. Tiles from the shuttles, screws, gauges...anything you can get, from as much of the history of spaceflight as possible. Handwave it to a collection of music that embodies the history and dream of spaceflight - THAT would be easy enough, given a decent-sized filk collection. Starting with Leslie Fish's Surprise! (about Sputnik I) and working forward to future spaceflight. I don't honestly have any preset ideas about what would happen with it...but I have to think it'd be DAMNED interesting to see.
*grin* And yes, I would still include The Phoenix and Guardians in the playlist. For an endeavor like this, invoking spirits seems to be appropriate. Especially THOSE spirits.

[Kokuten]

WOAH.
welcome bac, Fenian!Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979