# Next Shuttle Names **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 2, 2003, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-shuttle-names/152313 "2003-02-02T16:12:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-shuttle-names/152313/41 "2003-02-03T03:42:19Z")
I’ll second _Endurance_ and _Intrepid_. _Phoenix_ is a popular name for fictional shuttles. One of the James Bond movies had a Phoenix shuttle, as did the Max Steel cartoon series. I always thought that the name _Atlantis_ was asking for trouble, considering what happened to its namesake. Kinda like when they name ships _Invincible_; I mean, with a name like that you’re just begging God to reach down and smite your ship 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-shuttle-names/152313/42 "2003-02-03T04:09:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Wearia \* > \*\*Lets see here, > Helios, Enigma, Falcon, Explorer, Levithan, Titan to name a few. \*\* Titan is a type of Rocket, and it’s still in use, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-shuttle-names/152313/43 "2003-02-03T04:14:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ranchoth \* > \*\*Or there’s always… > > _Enterprise._ \*\* Good one, but we’ve already got a shuttle called _Enterprise._. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-shuttle-names/152313/44 "2003-02-03T04:14:35Z")
Some of the best names have already been used by unmanned probes. Should they be reused? ---
**Author:** ![Fuji\_Kitakyusho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@Fuji\_Kitakyusho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuji_Kitakyusho)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-shuttle-names/152313/45 "2003-02-03T04:42:17Z")
Perserverance ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-shuttle-names/152313/46 "2003-02-03T05:26:31Z")
I like Valiant and Intrepid. Olympic was the name of Titanic’s slightly older and much much much luckier sister ship. Pioneer, Magellan, Galileo–trouble is a lot of the best names have been taken by robots 🙂 Maybe Einstein, Brahe (no, too many jokes), Hubble–darn! More robots! ROBOTS EVERYWHERE!! Maybe I should go to bed. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-shuttle-names/152313/47 "2003-02-03T06:06:26Z")
[ul] [li]_Resolution_ - HMS Resolution, commanded by Captain James Cook and accompanied by HMS Adventure, was probably the first ship to cross the Antarctic Circle, in 1773. Although Cook’s explorations were extensive and he actually circumnavigated the Antarctic continent, he never approached closely enough to sight land.[/li] [li]_Niña_ - Columbus’ favorite ship. Sailed at least 25,000 miles under his command, including his first two voyages to the West Indies.[/li] [li]_Wright_ - After the Wright Brothers.[/li] [li]_Calypso_ - Jaques Cousteau’s ship.[/li] [li]_Von Braun_[/li] [li]_Ranger_[/li] [li]_Intrepid_[/li] [li]_Constellation_[/li] [li]_Endurance_[/li] [li]_Lexington_[/li] [li]_Bonhomme Richard_[/li] [li]_Vanguard_[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-shuttle-names/152313/48 "2003-02-03T13:08:42Z")
I wouldn’t go for _Niña_, considering Columbus’s “contributions” to native culture. _Vanguard_ is a rocket, and I think it’s still being used. _Intrepid_ is a museum in New York, and _Constellation_ is still a commissioned vessel in the USN, isn’t it? I think _Ranger_ is still afloat, and _Lexington_ is a museum I think. The “Bonnie Dick” was cut up for scrap years ago. Good name, but it just doesn’t sound right for a Shuttle. Isn’t _Constellation_ still in service? _Calypso_ might be my favourite ship. Of course, she was raised after she sunk and survives now as a museum. Good name. Good record. She was even an American ship originally, IIRC. But she has been so recently afloat, maybe we should wait a while. How about naming the next shuttle _ **Cousteau** _? I like _Gagarin_. He was the first, and he should be honoured. But I think NASA would go for an American before the first man in space. Maybe the Shuttle _ **Alan B. Shepard** _? Not only was he the first American in space, but he perservered through Meniere’s disease to get back into space again. It seems fitting we should name the next Shuttle after someone who wouldn’t quit until he accomplished his goal. Anyway, that’s what I think of some of the names presented, plus two of my own. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-shuttle-names/152313/49 "2003-02-03T15:07:42Z")
I would think some of these names would be good Freedom Bradbury Asimov Jules Vern (although Dick would not be appropriate) ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-shuttle-names/152313/50 "2003-02-03T15:08:51Z")
How a about “Space Bob Shuttle Pants” ? ---
**Author:** ![MSU\_1978](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@MSU\_1978](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MSU_1978)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-shuttle-names/152313/51 "2003-02-03T15:09:04Z")
Name it for an American with scientific credentials. 1- Einstein 2- Goddard 3- Jefferson (call it the Jefferson Starship) 4- Franklin ---
**Author:** ![TwungTister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbce88/32.png) [@TwungTister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwungTister)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-shuttle-names/152313/52 "2003-02-03T16:16:32Z")
Space Shuttle **Explosion** or **Spacy** * * * Seriously, Apogee, A(\_)helion, Perigee, Perhelion sound nice to me. Explorer or even Cock would have meaning. ---
**Author:** ![Eli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@Eli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eli)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-shuttle-names/152313/53 "2003-02-03T16:20:22Z")
As long as the name has nothing to do with 9/11, I’m happy. ---
**Author:** ![3waygeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/e95f7d/32.png) [@3waygeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3waygeek)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-shuttle-names/152313/54 "2003-02-03T16:21:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Johnny L.A. \* > **The “Bonnie Dick” was cut up for scrap years ago.** I don’t think so – a couple of weeks ago, CNN showed it leaving San Diego for the Persian Gulf. According to the [US Navy](http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/news/.www/status.html), it’s currently in the Pacific. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-shuttle-names/152313/55 "2003-02-03T16:25:02Z")
A new class of stuttles should be named not after exploratory vessels, that is the system used for the present generation. I propose: inventors: (Thomas Edison, Alexander Bell, Ben Franklin) Astro/Cosmonauts: (as noted by others) American Ideals: (Freedom, Liberty, Justice, Independance) Exploratory Ideals: (Endurance, Dauntless, Intrepid) Foreign Leaders who Aided the United States: (Lafayette, Churchill) American Rivers: (Potomac, Shenadoah, Susquahana) All in all I think American Rivers sounds the best, lots of names, all them loaded with history and signifigance. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-shuttle-names/152313/56 "2003-02-03T16:30:50Z")
> [@](#): > > I don’t think so – a couple of weeks ago, CNN showed it leaving San Diego for the Persian Gulf. According to the [US Navy](http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/news/.www/status.html), it’s currently in the Pacific. I think so. Of course I was talking about [CV-31](http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-b/cv31.htm): > [@](#): > > Following two decades in “mothballs” she was sold for scrapping in March 1992. I was at a gun show where a vendor was selling pieces of her flight deck as paperweights, and other bits taken from the ship. Anyway, there’s already another “Bonnie Dick”. So to prevent any confusion it’s better not to name a Shuttle after a ship that still exists. (It doesn’t really matter with _Enterprise_, but when I say the name I’m almost always talking about CVN-65 and people usually ask me if I mean the science-fiction _Enterprise_.) ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-shuttle-names/152313/57 "2003-02-03T16:40:32Z")
The word is “cromulent.” You speak English? Unpossible! ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-shuttle-names/152313/58 "2003-02-03T17:42:19Z")
Ok how about nameing one **The Cromulent**. ---
**Author:** ![Scruloose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@Scruloose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruloose)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-shuttle-names/152313/59 "2003-02-03T18:47:57Z")
Cromulent is a perfectly Bob name for a space craft. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-shuttle-names/152313/60 "2003-02-03T19:14:17Z")
**Space** is a perfectly Cromulent name for a Bob Craft. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-shuttle-names/152313.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-shuttle-names/152313.md?page=4)