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.
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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
Regarding TSAB, I agree, NASA needs it's own entry.
Quote:End TSAB 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.
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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