Aw, I've always liked "Psi 2000" as a planet name. More to it than yet another "Nonsenseword Five."
The Great Chronological Run-Through
- Thread starter Deranged Nasat
- Start date
"Psi 2000" sounds like the name of a sportscar or electric razor or something. It doesn't fit any kind of comprehensible planetary naming scheme -- what, is it the 2000th planet in orbit of the star Psi? And Psi what? A Greek letter for a star name needs to be followed by the possessive form of a constellation name, like Psi Serpentis.
Then again, "Exo III" is worse. "Exo" just means "outside," or in a space context, "extrasolar." So it's just about the most uselessly generic label possible for an alien planet.
Then again, "Exo III" is worse. "Exo" just means "outside," or in a space context, "extrasolar." So it's just about the most uselessly generic label possible for an alien planet.
Maybe it's a variation on our present-day asteroid naming scheme? If Ceti Alpha can be Alpha Ceti, maybe Psi 2000 can really be 2000 Psi.
Does still raise the question of what the 2000 means, though; 2000th discovered that year (like our comet naming system), maybe? And of course Psi 2000 obviously wasn't an asteroid, so it can't be a direct comparison. Maybe it's a dwarf planet naming scheme?
^Maybe it was named by an astronomer who liked tires, as psi is also pounds per square inch.
--Sran
--Sran
It sounds like the name of a product Harry Mudd would try to sell to telepaths to boost their mental performance. Psiagra, if you will. (Ohh, I can't believe I said that.)
"Captain's log, Stardate 7821.3. The Reliant is in orbit of Psiagra II, a planet near the Romulan border. Although there's been no sign of enemy ships in the vicinity, I've placed the ship on Yellow Alert for the duration of our stay in the event our presence gets a rise out of our mysterious Beta Quadrant neighbors."
^ 
I guess we can come up with all sorts of explanations for the odd names. Exo III is clearly named for the great astronomer Exo of Denobula, or some such. As for Psi 2000, it's named in honour of a character in an insanely popular film that swept Earth some time ago, because the people charting it were total nerds.
I guess we can come up with all sorts of explanations for the odd names. Exo III is clearly named for the great astronomer Exo of Denobula, or some such. As for Psi 2000, it's named in honour of a character in an insanely popular film that swept Earth some time ago, because the people charting it were total nerds.
"Captain's log, Stardate 7821.3. The Reliant is in orbit of Psiagra II, a planet near the Romulan border. Although there's been no sign of enemy ships in the vicinity, I've placed the ship on Yellow Alert for the duration of our stay in the event our presence gets a rise out of our mysterious Beta Quadrant neighbors."
But he'll have to talk to the CMO if that Yellow Alert lasts for more than four hours.
Why are we stuck with the standard issue Sci when we could have a Sci 2000? Get with the times, Sci; upgrade!
Except that by now, "2000" would be kind of retro, wouldn't it? After all, we live in the world of tomorrow!
Touche! I walked right into that one.
Why are we stuck with the standard issue Sci when we could have a Sci 2000? Get with the times, Sci; upgrade!
You want I should be like Ultron?
When the Black Eyed Peas originally released their song "Boom Boom Pow," one of the lyrics went, "I'm so 2008, you're so 2000 and late." Then 2008 came and went, so they updated the lyrics: "I'm so 3008, you're so 2000 and late!"
Sorry I've been slow with the updates lately; other matters keep getting in the way. I'll try and pick up the pace again.
The Galileo Seven
This is another episode that doesn't really add much to the "story" being teased out here, but is pretty good in its own right. It's quite an effective character piece, and if the presentation of the arguments and perspectives isn't always that convincing, it at least addresses some interesting ideas about the nature of leadership and rationality. I don't really have much to say on this one; it wasn't great, but it was solid and enjoyable, and quite a good outing for Spock.
Continuity
The Federation is apparently feeling grandiose, since it now has Galactic High Commissioners among its ranks. The Federation Commissioners were introduced, for purposes of this chronology, in Rise of the Federation; among their number back in the 2160s were the Commissioners for Science and Technology, Defence, and Foreign Affairs. Why the Federation feels that a High Commissioner needs to personally oversee a medical supply run I'm not certain, although perhaps the Commissioners semi-regularly apply themselves to the front lines, so to speak, to get a feel for how things are running? That, or maybe Kirk already has a reputation.
As for planets mentioned here, Makus III is confirmed in Forgotten History as a member world of the Federation, with Council representation (and a native species). The New Paris colonies are mentioned in several sources as being among the elder Human settlements under Federation jurisdiction, dating back to the 22nd Century. And Hansen's Planet, whose natives resemble smaller versions of the Taurus II people, appeared in A Choice of Futures, briefly, having been named for the prize-fighter Sven Hansen whose descendants will include Seven of Nine.
I note that the updated Stellar Cartography places Murasaki 312, and thus Taurus II, apparently within the Taurus Reach. I believe it may be equated with Beta Tauri, I'll have to check that. It would sort of explain/justify the name, which otherwise might be added to the list alongside Exo III and Psi 2000. I'm not going to bother asking how an M-class planet is found within a phenomenon compared to a quasar (I know, of course, that quasars weren't understood when the episode was made, although the episode does helpfully call it a quasar-like phenomenon rather than an actual quasar).
Next Time: "Court Martial". Then "The Menagerie". I like those ones. Even if they are clip-shows. "Court Martial" I don't recall that well, so this might be interesting.
The Galileo Seven
This is another episode that doesn't really add much to the "story" being teased out here, but is pretty good in its own right. It's quite an effective character piece, and if the presentation of the arguments and perspectives isn't always that convincing, it at least addresses some interesting ideas about the nature of leadership and rationality. I don't really have much to say on this one; it wasn't great, but it was solid and enjoyable, and quite a good outing for Spock.
Continuity
The Federation is apparently feeling grandiose, since it now has Galactic High Commissioners among its ranks. The Federation Commissioners were introduced, for purposes of this chronology, in Rise of the Federation; among their number back in the 2160s were the Commissioners for Science and Technology, Defence, and Foreign Affairs. Why the Federation feels that a High Commissioner needs to personally oversee a medical supply run I'm not certain, although perhaps the Commissioners semi-regularly apply themselves to the front lines, so to speak, to get a feel for how things are running? That, or maybe Kirk already has a reputation.
As for planets mentioned here, Makus III is confirmed in Forgotten History as a member world of the Federation, with Council representation (and a native species). The New Paris colonies are mentioned in several sources as being among the elder Human settlements under Federation jurisdiction, dating back to the 22nd Century. And Hansen's Planet, whose natives resemble smaller versions of the Taurus II people, appeared in A Choice of Futures, briefly, having been named for the prize-fighter Sven Hansen whose descendants will include Seven of Nine.
I note that the updated Stellar Cartography places Murasaki 312, and thus Taurus II, apparently within the Taurus Reach. I believe it may be equated with Beta Tauri, I'll have to check that. It would sort of explain/justify the name, which otherwise might be added to the list alongside Exo III and Psi 2000.
I'm not going to bother asking how an M-class planet is found within a phenomenon compared to a quasar (I know, of course, that quasars weren't understood when the episode was made, although the episode does helpfully call it a quasar-like phenomenon rather than an actual quasar).Next Time: "Court Martial". Then "The Menagerie". I like those ones. Even if they are clip-shows. "Court Martial" I don't recall that well, so this might be interesting.
^As it happens, Murasaki 312 could plausibly be interpreted as a microquasar, something that wasn't even theorized when the episode was made. At the time, quasars were just mysterious radio sources, their nature unknown, so the use of the term wasn't too problematical. Later on, we determined they were large extragalactic objects, rendering the episode's use of the term rather silly; by the '80s, we'd figured out that quasars were active supermassive black holes at the centers of remote galaxies (it must've been by the '80s, since my college astronomy professor was a quasar expert, and I had the impression that his explanation for them was still a fairly new idea at the time). But by the mid-'90s, we'd developed the idea of a microquasar, a binary system with a black hole component and an accretion disk producing radiation by the same mechanism as a quasar, but on a much smaller scale. These are things that do, in fact, exist inside our galaxy, and could credibly be described as quasar-like phenomena.
(I love it that in the TOS Remastered version of "The Galileo Seven," the depiction of Murasaki 312 actually resembles a microquasar, while still evoking the color and cloudy quality of the original effect.)
So basically this is an instance where science initially outpaced and discredited an idea from science fiction, then circled back around and made it plausible again.
(I love it that in the TOS Remastered version of "The Galileo Seven," the depiction of Murasaki 312 actually resembles a microquasar, while still evoking the color and cloudy quality of the original effect.)
So basically this is an instance where science initially outpaced and discredited an idea from science fiction, then circled back around and made it plausible again.
Very cool Christopher!
Well, here's one thought:
Rise of the Federation: A Choice of Futures establishes, IIRC, that the Federation Commission is comprised of office-holders who are popularly elected and serve as the heads of a particular department. They are, in other words, the equivalent of cabinet ministers or secretaries. It's not clear if they're elected to the particular portfolio or if they are assigned a portfolio (perhaps by the President/Council President?).
However, we know from Forgotten History that by the late 2260s, the Federation has officials who are titled "Secretaries," who head their respective executive departments and are appointed by the President, with no election. They are not equivalent to a cabinet; they are a cabinet, explicitly so. This is confirmed by DS9's "Extreme Measures," which establishes in dialogue that Section 31 had an agent in President Jaresh-Inyo's cabinet.
The Federation Commission seems based on the European Commission -- indeed, much of the RotF-era UFP seems based in part on the structure of the E.U. But, there again, the E.U. is a very inefficient system, with a lot of structural redundancies and an overly-complex governmental structure.
It seems to me that maybe at some point, the Federation began streamlining its system of government -- generally eliminating the Ministers' Conferences to decide major policy, for instance -- and began adopting some of the practices of traditional governments. And at this point, maybe the Federation Commissioners began to be displaced in favor of Cabinet Secretaries, with the Commissioners still around but maybe no longer holding the kinds of prestige and authority they had once held -- hence working in the field.
Another possibility: Maybe by the 2260s, Federation Commissioners are the civilian government's equivalent of "field commanders," representing the presidential administration and their respective cabinet secretary in areas of space where the Federation's presence isn't as built-up. So, maybe the Federation Secretary of Colonization determines that there needs to be a colony on Planet Zog out in the Zogous Reach, and so the Department of Colonization determines that there need to be regular supply convoys from Planet Zim to Planet Zog, and then it becomes the job of the Federation Commissioner for Colonization to travel to the Zogous Reach to oversee the establishment of the new colony and of regular convoy runs between Planet Zim and Planet Zog. So still a high position, but now not as high as in the past.
Very cool! Although the use of ambiguous language helped.
What I have in my Rise of the Federation notes as a possible meaning for "High Commissioner" is that by the TOS era, the UFP has enough member worlds to have more than one commissioner for each portfolio, and the senior one in a given department is the High Commissioner. I'm not sure that makes sense, though, especially given the established existence of cabinet secretaries in that era.
In the British Empire, a High Commissioner was essentially the governor of a protectorate, or an agent of indirect rule. It's been used in other countries as a term for a colonial governor. In the modern Commonwealth, though, it's essentially the ambassador between one member nation and another (although the Federation actually uses the ambassador title for that role). Ferris's title, however, was "Galactic High Commissioner," which adds another layer of uncertainty. Was he meant to be the colonial governor of the whole galaxy? Or an ambassador to it?
In the British Empire, a High Commissioner was essentially the governor of a protectorate, or an agent of indirect rule. It's been used in other countries as a term for a colonial governor. In the modern Commonwealth, though, it's essentially the ambassador between one member nation and another (although the Federation actually uses the ambassador title for that role). Ferris's title, however, was "Galactic High Commissioner," which adds another layer of uncertainty. Was he meant to be the colonial governor of the whole galaxy? Or an ambassador to it?
Interesting. That scenario has some intriguing implications for the wider picture I'm building here, of a Federation that has become large enough that it's essentially functioning as two civilizations in one, with conflicting ideals as to how that civilization should administer itself. Essentially, a conservative core consolidating itself into something more streamlined, as you say - stabilizing the Federation as more of a traditional national government than a alliance (and we see this reflected too in the apparent reorganization and homogenization of the Starfleet - we see, implicitly, the merging of the fleets in this era, and soon enough there will apparently be only a single fleet represented by the historic UESPA arrowhead) and an outer fringe that is almost rebelling against federal authority. We see much in the way of bureaucrats and officials from the Federation essentially attempting to almost strong-arm the frontier into line, coming down harshly on the "cowboy" approach of Kirk and co, and the reality of the colonies often seems to blur the line between the criminal and the legal, and to disregard centralized authority.
EDIT: This appears to be the era of the Federation's great restructuring, or a period of great restructuring. The Federation has expanded far and has become sprawling, and there seems to be a real political drive to standardization and a firm hand of control. There's an awful lot going on in this timeframe: charismatic individual geniuses given free reign to disastrous effect, e.g. Adams, Daystrom; the efforts of the Anti-Federation League and other counter cultures; looming armed conflict with the Klingon Empire; intense colonization drives with ulterior motives in the Taurus Reach; internal tensions over the admission of Coridan (which seems to really be about the freedoms of certain member worlds to do business in a possible grey area and other members attempting to stop it); a Starfleet whose old guard seem to define the organization's recent history around military actions at Donatu and Axanar, but which is so watered down in terms of military capacity that its leading admirals define it as almost civilian in nature.
Perhaps the term "Galactic High Commissioner" is indeed grandiose, even arrogant? The declaration that the galaxy will achieve stability and prosperity under the strong hand of a tightly-administrated Federation?
"Colonies operating almost on the other side of the legal line; the Orions meddling in everyone's business while claiming neutrality as a shield; rapacious Klingons ready to tear things down as they bankrupt their own resource-poor worlds on a military build-up. This is the galaxy where there is not a strong Federation presence. Well, we're not afraid to declare, that, yes, the Federation's view should be to the galaxy as a whole - and the galaxy would be better off with the Federation entrenched".
A bit of posturing from those who felt that the best response to the uncertainties of the era would be an affirmation of the Federation as a firm but fair master? A little bit of quasi-colonial language might enter the discourse? Not that I'm saying the Federation was actually turning imperialist; merely that I could see a bit of grandstanding being considered appropriate; and balanced by various libertarian and ultra-liberal movements who don't like what's increasingly perceived as a heavy hand. I've mentioned before how Starfleet's internal self-image and public image seem rather different in the Errand of... books, and how this might be part of an effort to downplay the role Starfleet played at Axanar as the strong arm of Federal authority against member worlds' assets?
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