For kibitzing - TSAB gazetteer entry

[ECSNorway]

Depending on the gravity arrangements - and if you're using rotation only, that bay's gonna be close to nil-g - you could put one in 'upside down' relative to the other. They'd fit much better that way.
As for the TSAB... their /primary/ remit is scientific research, especially towards duplicating some of the more advanced space-travel tech (speed drives, etc) with hard-tech. However, it IS a military operation... which means that there is onboard security at the very least, and in the wake of the incidents leading up to SOS-con this is likely to have been beefed up. What should this include?
I'm noodling on something based around a specific set of 'wave-tech... possibly gravitic manipulation... since I'm a huge fan of the Honor Harrington stories, possibly a gravitic Sidewall generator... --
"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.

[robkelk]

Not to derail the conversation or anything - it's going in directions I never dreamed it would, and I like it - but I did start this thread to kibitz on the TSAB gazetteer entry...
Here's a re-write (and a couple of points from my own imagination), for consideration, commentary, or wholesale re-re-writing:

---

The TSAB
One of the Department of Defence'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.
They are also responsible for maintaining an official United States presence in space, and for operating the US space program.
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 Stephen 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.

So What Happened to NASA?
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.
The final Shuttle flight, STS-132, took place in 2010. After that, NASA gave up on manned space flight altogether, since handwavium-modified vehicles were more economical than anything the Constellation project could possibly produce with hardtech alone.
The final nails in NASA's coffin were delivered in 2012. First, the Space Camp Shuttle mockup Pegasus was handwaved and launched into space that March, followed by NASA's own Pathfinder mockup and the actual decommissioned Shuttles Discovery, Endeavor, and Atlantis later that year. (The Enterprise was left in the Smithsonian, as a lasting reminder to Earth of what they had done to reach space.)
Second, there was the "April Fool's Purchase", where Stellvia Corp. offered to purchase the copyrights and trademarks associated with the NASA group on April 1, 2012. The purchase was accepted on April 20, and is considered to have happened "disturbingly quickly."
NASA was officially disbanded at the end of April 2012, its unclassified intellectual property going to Stellvia Corp. while its personnel, classified intellectual property, and physical assets were assigned to the TSAB. Some NASA scientists refused to work for the military even indirectly; many of them ended up in space on their own.
As to the disposition of the NASA trademarks, Stellvia Corp. commissioned Hephaestus to produce two new shuttles in 2013: Challenger II and Columbia II. These were assigned to Stellvia Corp.'s new Main Belt Research Stations McAuliffe and Chawla, respectively, as station launches.
(The Navy only managed to launch one ship into space - the Stingray, in March 2012 - before a change in leadership put an end to their space program. The Stingray was left without logistical support, and by necessity transferred its flag to the nascent Space Patrol later that year.)

---

How badly did I goof this time?

-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

[ECSNorway]

I sincerely doubt that the Navy would give up. It's actually been a big source of discussion now and again - the Air Force claims that "if it flies, it's ours, thus space is ours", and when it was at most a few people at a time in a smallish craft like a Shuttle, they had a point.
The Navy, on the other hand, is the only military institution with experience at managing large crewed vehicles in a hostile environment, and after all, they call them ships, don't they?
The Navy would not give up their space program that easily... or at all. --
"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.

[robkelk]

Not permanently, but its current Admirality (as shown in "A funny thing happened on the way to the shipyard...") don't consider it a high priority, either.

-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]

Respectfully submit that NASA & what happens to it post-wave deserve their own gazetteer article, not something tacked onto the TSAB entry.
Otherwise, I've no immediate complaints.---
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]

Certainly. Let's use the above as a springboard for discussion, though - it's getting late and I'm starting to have to triple-check my typing for errors before I hit the "add reply" button...
-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

[Foxboy]

The big nit I have is one that was brought up when I introduced when I originally wanted the Pegasus to launch.
We have too much "Cool" lumped around that part of 2012: Spring in Terra's Northern Hemisphere.
It's just a thought of keeping everything from happening at once, is 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

[Kokuten]

suggest we bulk-move the entire "Space Shuttle Bit", as it's stored in my brain, to 2011.
Regarding TSAB, I agree, NASA needs it's own entry.

---

The TSAB
One of the Department of Defence'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.
They are also responsible for maintaining an official United States presence in space, and for operating the US space program.
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 Stephen 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.

---

End TSAB entry.
Begin NASA entry

---

So What Happened to NASA?
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.
The final Shuttle flight, STS-132, took place in 2010. After that, NASA gave up on manned space flight altogether, since handwavium-modified vehicles were more economical than anything the Constellation project could possibly produce with hardtech alone.
The final nails in NASA's coffin were delivered in 2012. First, the Space Camp Shuttle mockup Pegasus was handwaved and launched into space that March, followed by NASA's own Pathfinder mockup and the actual decommissioned Shuttles Discovery, Endeavor, and Atlantis later that year. (The Enterprise was left in the Smithsonian, as a lasting reminder to Earth of what they had done to reach space.)
Second, there was the "April Fool's Purchase", where Stellvia Corp. offered to purchase the copyrights and trademarks associated with the NASA group on April 1, 2012. The purchase was accepted on April 20, and is considered to have happened "disturbingly quickly."
NASA was officially disbanded at the end of April 2012, its unclassified intellectual property going to Stellvia Corp. while its personnel, classified intellectual property, and physical assets were assigned to the TSAB. Some NASA scientists refused to work for the military even indirectly; many of them ended up in space on their own.
As to the disposition of the NASA trademarks, Stellvia Corp. commissioned Hephaestus to produce two new shuttles in 2013: Challenger II and Columbia II. These were assigned to Stellvia Corp.'s new Main Belt Research Stations McAuliffe and Chawla, respectively, as station launches.
(The Navy only managed to launch one ship into space - the Stingray, in March 2012 - before a change in leadership put an end to their space program. The Stingray was left without logistical support, and by necessity transferred its flag to the nascent Space Patrol later that year.)

---

Regarding the Navy not being in space beyond the Stingray.. well, gimme a moment.Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979

[robkelk]

---

We have too much "Cool" lumped around that part of 2012: Spring in Terra's Northern Hemisphere.

---

That's Haruhi's fault. big grin>

-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

[robkelk]

One more time...

---

The Transrationality Scientific Analysis Bureau
One of the Department of Defence'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.
They are also responsible for maintaining an official United States presence in space, and (after substantial bureaucratic infighting between the US Air Force, the US Navy, and NASA) for operating the US space program.
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 Stephen Caldwell (USAF), its commander, is the ranking United States military officer in Fenspace. The public face of the station is Major Amy O'Connell, a no-nonsense Irish-American redhead.

---

I think we're all agreed on this one. Maybe.
The NASA entry, on the other hand... We can't even agree on the dates in that entry, let alone the specifics.
Just so we're all on the same page, here's what I have at the moment. I'm not wedded to anything in this description, so kibitz away...

---

NASA
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.
The final Shuttle flight, STS-132, took place in 2010. After that, NASA gave up on manned space flight altogether, since handwavium-modified vehicles were more economical than anything the Constellation project could possibly produce with hardtech alone.
The final nails in NASA's coffin were delivered in the early 2010s. First, the Space Camp Shuttle mockup Pegasus was handwaved and launched into space in March 2011, followed by NASA's own Pathfinder mockup and the actual decommissioned Shuttles Discovery, Endeavor, and Atlantis later that year. (The Enterprise was left in the Smithsonian, as a lasting reminder to Earth of what they had done to reach space.)
Second, there was the "April Fool's Purchase", where Stellvia Corp. offered to purchase the copyrights and trademarks associated with the NASA group on April 1, 2012. The purchase was accepted on April 20, and is considered to have happened "disturbingly quickly."
NASA was officially disbanded at the end of April 2012, its unclassified intellectual property going to Stellvia Corp. while its personnel, classified intellectual property, and physical assets were assigned to the TSAB. Some NASA scientists refused to work for the military even indirectly; many of them ended up in space on their own.
As to the disposition of the NASA trademarks, Stellvia Corp. commissioned Hephaestus to produce two new shuttles in 2013: Challenger II and Columbia II. These were assigned to Stellvia Corp.'s new Main Belt Research Stations McAuliffe and Chawla, respectively, as station launches.
(The Navy only managed to launch one ship into space - the Stingray, in March 2012 - before a change in leadership put their space program on long-term hiatus. The Stingray was left without logistical support, and by necessity transferred its flag to the nascent Space Patrol later that year.)

---

-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]

---

I think we're all agreed on this one. Maybe.

---

Rewrite to try & remove the disjointedness:
The Transrationality Scientific Analysis Bureau
The Transrationality Scientific Analysis Bureau (TSAB) is the American Department of Defense agency responsible for researching and reverse-engineering handwavium technology. After a series of concerted infighting between the US Air Force, US Navy and NASA, TSAB is also the agency responsible for maintaining the official American presence in Fenspace, including the former civilian manned space program.
TSAB's standard operating procedure is to obtain wavetech devices, analyise their working properties, then duplicate the process with hardtech. Their success rate with acquisition and analysis is better than their success with duplication, but TSAB has made several advances, most notably the air recyclers used by Rockhounds, Inc. in their later model space habitats.
In Fenspace, the (relatively few) fen who approve of TSAB call them NASFans, while others call them IPX or simply those damned vultures. The majority of (sober) fen simply use the acronym, like many another government agency before them.
TSAB owns and operates Benjamin Franklin Station at the Earth-Luna L4 point. Franklin Station's commander, Air Force Col. Stephen Caldwell, is the ranking American military officer in the greater solar system. The station's public face is operations director Maj. Amy McConnell.
Criticism
TSAB has come under fire multiple times during its short existence. Supporters of the mundane American space program have accused that TSAB management "destroyed" NASA by denying the agency handwavium or other technical support. Critics within the Defense Department have claimed that TSAB, despite being directly under Joint Chiefs control, has deliberately shut out the other service branches in favor of the USAF. The Navy took matters into their own hands with an abortive handwavium space program using decommissioned Seawolf submarines in 2011-2012.
(Last para doesn't ring right, suggestions welcome.)

---

---

Just so we're all on the same page, here's what I have at the moment. I'm not wedded to anything in this description, so kibitz away...

---

Technical note: Pathfinder is even less of a shuttle than Pegasus, if such a thing is possible. Pathfinder is basically a full-scale diecast toy of a Shuttle. I don't really see the wave managing to do much to it. Maybe you could get it to fly, but I doubt it.
Here's the rough timeline as I saw it working on the Graces writeup (YMMV):
2010: STS-132/3, final assembly of ISS & last hardtech Shuttle mission.
2011: The OKC fenkinder cabal gets Pegasus handwashed & flying.
2012: Fen conspiracy slips the KSC ground crews enough handwavium to get the Shuttles flying again.
2012: Soviet Air Force buys/begs/borrows/steals plans for Block II Shuttles from Boeing.
2013-14: The Graces are launched as they come out of the waving process & get vetted on the ground.
2014: Hephaestus & Soviet Air Force go in on joint licensing of Block II Shuttle production lines, begin turning out "modernized" mushytech Shuttles for general sale. The first two are Challenger-A and Columbia-A(*).

---

(*) "Noah, you're a good man and a good friend. But you have to understand something. You may be the richest bastard in Fenspace, but I'm the *biggest* bastard. If you insist on buying Columbia, I'll fight you for her. And I'll *win.*" --MGen Mal Fnord, regarding the lulzworthy Great Shuttle Bid War of 2014.---
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]

---

Technical note: Pathfinder is even less of a shuttle than Pegasus, if such a thing is possible. Pathfinder is basically a full-scale diecast toy of a Shuttle. I don't really see the wave managing to do much to it. Maybe you could get it to fly, but I doubt it.

---

Stick some sort of engines on the back of it (maybe ion drives, like the Epsilon Blade has), and you're halfway to something that can fly once 'waved. This means it was an (un)official NASA project, though, since whoever did it would need free access to Pathfinder.

---

"Noah, you're a good man and a good friend. But you have to understand something. You may be the richest bastard in Fenspace, but I'm the *biggest* bastard. If you insist on buying Columbia, I'll fight you for her. And I'll *win.*" --MGen Mal Fnord, regarding the lulzworthy Great Shuttle Bid War of 2014.

---

"Damn it, Mal, I already bought the name from NASA, two years ago! But I'm a reasonable man, and you're my little girl's boss, so I'll let you have it - if you agree to give me free access to the Soviet Air Force's still images. When I bought NASA's unclassified intellectual assets, I got the Astronomy Picture of the Day website, and I need content, damn it..."

-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]

---

Stick some sort of engines on the back of it (maybe ion drives, like the Epsilon Blade has), and you're halfway to something that can fly once 'waved. This means it was an (un)official NASA project, though, since whoever did it would need free access to Pathfinder.

---

When I say "diecast toy," I'm not exaggerating. It's literally just steel plate welded together in a rough approximation of a Shuttle's shape. At least Pegasus was designed to have mockup controls, avonics and crew spaces. Pathfinder doesn't have *any* of that. Getting it to fly would be like dipping a Tonka truck into handwavium and expecting it to start driving around.

---

"Damn it, Mal, I already bought the name from NASA, two years ago! But I'm a reasonable man, and you're my little girl's boss, so I'll let you have it - if you agree to give me free access to the Soviet Air Force's still images. When I bought NASA's unclassified intellectual assets, I got the Astronomy Picture of the Day website, and I need content, damn it..."

---

"You're under the erroneous impression that I *care* about your weird little impulse buys. There will be no deals here; I don't care if you buy Shuttles in bulk and start naming them after the '56 Dodgers, Columbia goes to the Soviet Air Force as per the licensing agreement - we get our pick of the first available vehicles.
"And if you want content for APoD, sack up and ask the astronomers for it!"---
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]

I note that, contrary to the above indications re: fate of USS Stingray. I find it doubtful, at the very least, that a continuing US presence in space (the TSAB) would allow a fellow American military unit to starve on the vine to the point that they would effectively desert.
While I have no issue with assuming that Stingray and her crew have a working arrangement with the "Solar Patrol" or other organizations, they are still American military officers, I'm fairly certain of it. And they will receive support from both the TSAB and Rockhounds. (There's a thought. They may have several small asteroid bases scattered around the system, courtesy of Rockhounds' mining work...)--
"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]

---

I note that, contrary to the above indications re: fate of USS Stingray. I find it doubtful, at the very least, that a continuing US presence in space (the TSAB) would allow a fellow American military unit to starve on the vine to the point that they would effectively desert.

---

Well, think about it like this: The Stingray was a black-project runaround set up by the Navy in order to get past TSAB's restrictions on handwavium access. The project was set up by an admiral who retired before launch, commanded by a crew of people already on the shitlists of various people in the upper ranks, and the boat was a design long since superceded & scheduled for retirement. It wouldn't be hard for Dodge's enemies in the Pentagon to spin the Seawolf's launch (especially as it was violating a direct order to stand down) as an act of mutiny and piracy against the Navy. If Dodge's direct superiors (see "enemies" above) disavow any knowledge of his actions, they could damn well hang Stingray out to dry without support from "official" military lines.
In that case, TSAB wouldn't offer support, as the official line would be that Stingray was just as outlaw as, say, Ptichka or Wave Convoy were pre-amnesty.---
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!"

[Cobalt Greywalker]

---

"You're under the erroneous impression that I *care* about your weird little impulse buys. There will be no deals here; I don't care if you buy Shuttles in bulk and start naming them after the '56 Dodgers, Columbia goes to the Soviet Air Force as per the licensing agreement - we get our pick of the first available vehicles."

---

"Calm down guys. Don't make the Ship Registrars invoke the precident set by the Enterprise Incident and BAN the name Columbia from the spaceways. Speaking as the owner of the backup Master Ship Registration Database, I'd comply with that order.
Mal, Noah owns the name for Space Shuttle Columbia. You want it? Give the ship to Sora. Noah will let HER name it Columbia, and everything's nice and legal.
It'd make a nice birthday present for Sora, don't you think Noah?"

[robkelk]

---

It'd make a nice birthday present for Sora, don't you think Noah?"

---

Of course it would, but can Mal wait until next May for it?

-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]

---

Mal, Noah owns the name for Space Shuttle Columbia. You want it? Give the ship to Sora. Noah will let HER name it Columbia, and everything's nice and legal.

---

OOC:
Before we continue this particular slapfight, I did some digging (Research? In my Fenspace? It's more likely than you think!) into exactly what copyrights/trademarks NASA actually owns (and therefore could sell to Stellvia).
Out of all of the terabytes of text, photos, line drawings, blueprints, artwork and assorted miscellaney generated by NASA over the last 50 years, only *three* images are held under copyright: the two logo variants & the agency seal. Everything else - and I mean *everything* not under a security clearance - is officially public domain material. This may mean that the whole "Stellvia buys everything" scenario might need some rethinking. JSYK.---
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 whole "Stellvia buys everything" scenario might need some rethinking

---

Naw, actually, it makes the "Stellvia buys everything" scenario _plausible_. You're buying the logos, the seal, and the name.
The rest is either public domain, or whole cloth.Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979

[Cobalt Greywalker]

Which also means that we can have two Columbia Shuttles, NASA Columbia and USSR Columbia.
And now I'm thinking about how the Ship Registration system works...

[Bob Schroeck]

---

And now I'm thinking about how the Ship Registration system works...

---

Haphazardly, like everything else in Fenspace. It probably started as a FAQ-like list regularly posted to a newsgroup, updated as new ships were 'waved or made it to space -- probably handled much the way I handle the glossary thread. Eventually someone decided it was getting too big for that and turned it into some kind of website/database. The only question is did they decide to charge for it at any point, or is it still a "free service" of the community at large?

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

[robkelk]

---

It probably started as a FAQ-like list regularly posted to a newsgroup, updated as new ships were 'waved or made it to space -- probably handled much the way I handle the glossary thread.

---

And there's probably competing/complementary lists, as well.

---

Eventually someone decided it was getting too big for that and turned it into some kind of website/database.

---

As seen in "Disturbing Implications of Land Rising Into the Sky" - Noah asks Yoriko whether Grover's Corners is in the recognition database.

---

The only question is did they decide to charge for it at any point, or is it still a "free service" of the community at large?

---

It's probably free. Whoever compiled the database would have shared it with, or sold it to, station owners and other BNFs, and at least one of them would probably have posted it to the Interwave.
Then volunteers (such as A.C.) stepped up to maintain the thing...

-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

[Bob Schroeck]

---

And there's probably competing/complementary lists, as well.

---

That makes sense.

---

As seen in "Disturbing Implications of Land Rising Into the Sky" - Noah asks Yoriko whether Grover's Corners is in the recognition database.

---

I'd forgotten that passage -- but I thought that was more a db of ship classes and silhouettes. I.e., "does it match the profile of any known craft?" Then again, the two might be the same...

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

[Kokuten]

As Cobalt mentioned in this thread, the Trekkies main base, Starbase 1, is one of the 'replicant masters' for the ship registry database. I would assume that the Warsies main base is one, as well as Phobos base and Crystal Tokyo.
The Ship Registry Database is a very open conventional MySQL type database (I'm not database savvy to provide more details), with the primary focus on access restrictions being to _track_ changes and requests, additions and decisions.
In the event of a conflict, there are two 'normal' courses of action. We see the first course of action in use between Hermes Universal Deliveries and Hermes, Inc, the shell corporation for Hephaestus' majordomo AI - They've simply agreed to have very similar names, and provide easy clarification and contact-forwarding services for people who get confused.
The second method, which we haven't seen "On Screen" yet, is for the two parties to agree to a moderation council, for which it turns out that the Amish and Nigerians are both very popular choices..

---

As seen in "Disturbing Implications of Land Rising Into the Sky" - Noah asks Yoriko whether Grover's Corners is in the recognition database.

---

A "Ship Recognition Database" is vastly different from a "Ship Registry Database", also. Any station or ship with a sophisticated enough AI (or smart enough owner), is going to maintain a profile database of emissions, engine, sillouhette, IFF squawk, and various other cues for identifying ships. This data is likely to be shared on a fairly open database, and on an informal level.Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979

[Cobalt Greywalker]

From Rob:

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Then volunteers (such as A.C.) stepped up to maintain the thing...

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It's not so much a hobby for A.C. but a necessity. The White Stallion's transponder (despite ANYTHING tried, including several complete replacements and a kitbash by both A.C. and the Professor) keeps randomly changing to be uncomfortably close to any other available ships (USSR Pachinko was one she rather cringed at). A.C. maintains a backup of the master list because she's been reduced to sending out emails to the other maintainers saying what the Stallion's current squark is, and how it is different to ship x.
From Kokuten:

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The Ship Registry Database is a very open conventional MySQL type database (I'm not database savvy to provide more details), with the primary focus on access restrictions being to _track_ changes and requests, additions and decisions.

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Pretty much how I envisinged it. I just added constant Interwave link so the various masters can deal with queries.

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A "Ship Recognition Database" is vastly different from a "Ship Registry Database", also. Any station or ship with a sophisticated enough AI (or smart enough owner), is going to maintain a profile database of emissions, engine, sillouhette, IFF squawk, and various other cues for identifying ships. This data is likely to be shared on a fairly open database, and on an informal level.

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This is also tied into the 'Encounters Log' any registered vessel/station keeps. People usually check them at dock and pump the unrecognised hits to the general recognition system so people are aware of unregistered ships in an area of space. The recognised but unknown ships get added to the ships recognition DB.
It depends on how paranoid the A.I./pilot/captain is whether the Encounter Log keeps any of the recognised ships afterward.