Spaceship naming

[StrandedonEarth]

Way back when I tried the demo I built the "MonkeyLauncher" series, which culminated with my first Mun landing

[Jeb1969]

My nomenclature trends vary from mission to mission:

If it is like an unmanned mission I usually go with an Acronym or Backronym 

for instance:

MOGL : Münar Orbit Geological Laboratory

As for the science experiments I do the same thing:

for instance on the MOGL spacecraft I have these experiments

MIDAS: Mineralogical Imaging Detector Array System

UVIS: UltraViolet Imaging Spectrometer

IRIS: InfraRed Imaging Spectrometer

GRIS: Gamma Radiation Imaging Spectrometer

and last but not least

MagnoRad: Magnometric and Radiometric Experiments 

Launch vehicles are named differently, they are given actual titles such as:

Xanadu

Chevalier

etc, but I also assign a numeral with each launch vehicle, which is similar fashion to several United States launch vehicles (these vehicles include the Atlas, Delta, Saturn and Titan family of launch vehicles) the numeral typically is a reference to how many engines are on the first stage, i.e. Xanadu IV. On some of my launch vehicles I assign a four digit identification code (Similar to the what was used on the Delta 1000-3000 and Delta II launch vehicles.) The first digit refers to the number of stages, the second digit refers to how many boosters are mounted radially to the launch vehicle, digits three and four are the diameter of the payload fairing (in metres) without the decimal, so a vehicle with a code of 3914 means  three stages, nine radial boosters, and a payload fairing diameter of 1.4 metres. 

Lastly when it comes to crewed spacecraft I name them after an ancient civilization, deities and or vocabulary from that civilization

i.e.

Viking

Odin

Drakkar

etc.

 (If the missions of the same spacecraft are in series I assign a numeral to each mission)

i.e. Viking 4, or Odin II

 

Edited August 14, 2016 by Jeb1969

[The Optimist]

I don't usually build spacecraft

 

 

 

But when I do, I use swear words

[eddiew]

Depends what it does... I tend to name probes after birds, crewed landers after mammals, and probe landers after insects.

But then there are cases like Eevee, Duna Worry, Munpig or Minmouse that are too good to miss and I use them for whatever mission is next in line for those places  

Edited August 15, 2016 by eddiew

[DaGuyAboveYou]

There's so many ways you can choose to name your crafts. I used to name manned crafts after the X-Men but chose their character names instead of their super hero names, Like using Logan instead of Wolverine or Rasputin instead of Colossus. I personally like to name fleets of crafts I use often like a shuttle fleet for example. I chose to go the route of naming the shuttles after a fantasy character or an action/meaning for representation like Paladin or Purity. 

Once you start naming you should get a flag mod and make custom name plates for your crafts. Your designs will start earning reputation as they complete more and more missions. Nothing make me feel better when I see a shuttle with the "Valkyrie" name on the side of the cargo bay.

[OhioBob]

I've usually don't put much effort into naming things.  Although I don't anymore, I once saved all my launch vehicles as subassemblies and simply designated them by how much payload they could lift to LKO.  For example, I would simply name it LV-24 for "Launch vehicle-24 tons".  Now I generally custom build my rockets for each individual payload (I follow a few simple rules of thumb for designing rockets that allows me the slap together a launch vehicle pretty quickly).  Because of this, I don't even bother to name rockets, everything is named after the payload.  In that case I generally give things pretty boring names that simply describe the destination and type of spacecraft.  Examples:  Mun Lander I, Duna Orbiter I, Eve Explorer I, etc.  If I launch a second mission of the same type I simply increase the number, e.g. Mun Lander II.  I often use the "Explorer" name, or something similar, when I have a multi-part craft, such as an orbiter and a lander.  After the parts separate I usually rename them, i.e. Eve Explorer I might become Eve Orbiter I and Eve Lander I.  For my manned missions I usually give them a bit more colorful names, though I haven't formalized any particular rules for doing so.  I generally use whatever pops into my head, though it is almost always the name of a star or constellation.  For space stations and bases I generally give them a Greek letter designation, e.g. Mun Base Alpha.

 

[SpacedCowboy]

Eh, "Lawn Dart", "Horse Shoe", "Shuttle Cock",,, The list goes on and on.

Unexpected Yoyo

Frozen Bird

Elon's Nightmare

John Glenn's Dream

Space Junk

Bottle Rocket

Another Bottle Rocket

Aluminum Foil on a Kitchen Match

Somebody stop me < not a vehicle name, only a plea for help >

[septemberWaves]

I have a pretty complex and detailed method of naming my spacecraft in terms of how I arrange the names of particular vessels in a way which gives me a lot of information about the vessel's purpose (an example would be something like "Sugilite HAAV 1 [Tanzanite]", which is a Sugilite-class Heavy Atmospheric Ascent Vehicle for Eve). As for the specific words I choose, it's less ordered. Most planets (and Kerbin's moons) have their mission series named after gods of various mythologies (the mission name is always in square brackets at the end of a vehicle, except for direct ascent/apollo style missions to Kerbin's moons). Interplanetary transports and freighters are usually constructed from modules with a classification based on the name of a character I like (e.g. Organa-class) and then given a unique name that is generally based on a song or piece of music I like. A general exception is things which are designed specifically to go to Eve, for which everything is named after purple gemstones (tanzanite, sugilite, amethyst, etc). The names of my launch vehicles are based on both the size of the payload attachment node and whether or not the rocket is recoverable, but the actual names of each series have no real order for choosing them. Names of spaceplanes and shuttles vary, since I currently don't use enough of them to have particular series of similar designs.

[NotaKlutz]

I have a cargo ship named the Eclipsing Sun. 

[Mycroft]

I have a stock space battleship named Aurora, and a monster space cruise ships called 'Spirit of the Stars'. I usually do bird names for atmospheric crafts, and star/galaxy names for spaceships.

[nosirrbro]

Lately I've been using a pseudoconlang (cypher) to do so. I translate into the language, which uses cyrillic characters, and I then convert the cyrillic into latin and voila! Interesting, rather soviet sounding rocket names. Obviously it occasionally comes out as impronounceable gibberish, but you just pick a different word and translate from there. Usually the word I use is something obvious having to do with the mission that would seem rather dull if placed in english, but using my system both makes sense for why it is there and sounds cool! Fun, moderately related fact, sputnik really just means satellite, or cheap satellite, it just sounds exotic and cool when translated into latin characters and presented to someone who doesn't speak russian.

 

The one exception to my pseudoconlang system is my latest jet fighter, the HF-22 'Thundercougerfalconbird'

Edited August 16, 2016 by nosirrbro

[TheDestroyer111]

I either use the name of the real craft (most of my crafts are replicas) or some descriptive name, on career I also use a prefix to differentiate current, old craft, and contract satellites - for example, my current career mode workhorse is called: (current) Orbital rocketplane Mk1

[Osprey]

I probably took it too seriously, but I made an Excel sheet with name categories for probes, capsules etc, with drop down boxes so after I'd used one for a particular series of missions, I could see what I'd used it for and avoid doubling up. I subdivided categories into...

 

1. Launchers - Categorised by max component diameter at attachment, and total payload mass into LKO. These were sub-assemblies and named after types of fortification (e.g. Palisade Mk.IV, Barricade Mk.II, Redoubt Mk.IV, etc).
2. Probes - Non-crewed. All named after some kind of intrepid leader or individual of some kind (e.g. Observer, Explorer, Harbinger, Exemplar, etc.).
3. Capsules - Crewed, even if a probe core led part of the control process. All virtues or aspirational things (e.g. Dauntless, Audacity, Adventure, Valiant, etc.).
4. Aircraft - All named after types of sword, non-crewed aircraft were specifically daggers (e.g. Scimitar, Cutlass, Falchion, Dirk, etc.).
5. Stations - All some kind of benevolent individual, planned only a hand full of permanent stations, all crewed with a probe-core control (if non-crewed, these would have been probes category) (e.g. Benefactor, Emissary, Guardian, Sentinel, etc.)
6. Bases - Planned a number of crewed bases and non-crewed remote outpost on planets to serve as Research bases, refuelling depots, mining installations or landing strips (even designed a set of modular runway markers and such with lights to indicate safe and non-safe areas to land). These all followed constellation names from Western astronomy (e.g. Aquarius, Draco, Corvus, Virgo, Serpens, etc.) The only exception to this category was a remote base planned for Kerbin (but never actually built in any save, called Gaia.

The excel was designed that you could select a planet, or planet & moon, from a drop-down list, as well as the diameter type (Mk.2 Aero, 2.5m, etc) so that it became quite easy to allocate the names. I still have the spreadsheet if anyone would like a copy for functionality.

[John FX]

I don`t have cool names for my craft, they are named after their destination and I use the craft numbering mod.

This leads to names like Mun 1, Mun 2 etc

It makes things easy to keep track of in the map scene. No wondering where "ephysis" is going and whether it is an old design, you know where "Duna 4" is going and whether it is the latest craft too.

[magnemoe]

7 hours ago, John FX said:

I don`t have cool names for my craft, they are named after their destination and I use the craft numbering mod.

This leads to names like Mun 1, Mun 2 etc

It makes things easy to keep track of in the map scene. No wondering where "ephysis" is going and whether it is an old design, you know where "Duna 4" is going and whether it is the latest craft too.

Same here, that is outside of the fast movers but its only 5 of them and they are he core in my program, make it 6 with systemliner who is currently on its way out of kerbin soi on an training mission. Medusa is underway to Dress, Krakenslayer awaits window for Jool with Tylo base, Starliner is in LKO awaiting shuttle down after established Moho base, a delay as I think I will use it for the Eeloo base too.