3195: International Station - Revision history

Utdtutyabthsc: /* Explanation */ This looks detailed enough to be complete.

2026-02-04T06:37:58Z

‎Explanation: This looks detailed enough to be complete.

Elizium23: specify who

2026-01-26T01:28:23Z

specify who

Elizium23: per talk

2026-01-26T01:27:00Z

per talk

82.132.239.241: /* Explanation */ Replacing the Guardian link (I'm a fan of the Grauniad, but it's a semi-paywalled site) with one from the BBC (same story, plus a few more examples given to chuckle at...).

2026-01-20T16:04:10Z

‎Explanation: Replacing the Guardian link (I'm a fan of the Grauniad, but it's a semi-paywalled site) with one from the BBC (same story, plus a few more examples given to chuckle at...).

82.13.184.33: /* Explanation */

2026-01-20T09:20:30Z

‎Explanation

82.13.184.33: /* Explanation */

2026-01-20T09:19:45Z

‎Explanation

82.13.184.33: /* Explanation */

2026-01-20T09:17:45Z

‎Explanation

Kynde: /* Transcript */ complete

2026-01-20T07:32:08Z

‎Transcript: complete

92.23.11.33: How about this?

2026-01-20T00:54:24Z

How about this?

Elizium23: Here we go: moved some of this out of the linkage

2026-01-20T00:47:07Z

Here we go: moved some of this out of the linkage

@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 ==Explanation==
-{{incomplete|This page was created by a BOT APOSTROPHE S SPACE TRANSLATION SPACE ERROR PERIOD. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
 This comic plays on different meanings of the word 'space': firstly as the invisible character between words, and secondly as in the void between astronomical bodies. In this case, it is claimed that the word 'space' was never meant to be part of the name of the {{w|International Space Station}}, but was included as a word due to a transcription error.

@@ Line 21: / Line 21: @@
 While the ISS had other names during its design, such as Space Station Freedom or Alpha, it does not appear that NASA or Roscosmos literally originally referred to it as just International Station. The Russian name for it is "Международная Kосмическая Cтанция" (MKC) or "Mezhdunaródnaya Kosmícheskaya Stántsiya", which translates as "International Space Station" using the cosmic, non-punctuation meaning of "space".
-The ISS crew was in headlines from 8–15 January 2026, when NASA and SpaceX {{w|List of accidents and incidents involving the International Space Station#2026|returned some crew members to Earth}} ahead of schedule, because of an unspecified medical concern.
+ISS Expedition 74 and {{w|SpaceX Crew-11}} were in headlines from 8–15 January 2026, when NASA and SpaceX {{w|List of accidents and incidents involving the International Space Station#2026|returned some crew members to Earth}} ahead of schedule, because of an unspecified medical concern.
 ==Transcript==

@@ Line 21: / Line 21: @@
 While the ISS had other names during its design, such as Space Station Freedom or Alpha, it does not appear that NASA or Roscosmos literally originally referred to it as just International Station. The Russian name for it is "Международная Kосмическая Cтанция" (MKC) or "Mezhdunaródnaya Kosmícheskaya Stántsiya", which translates as "International Space Station" using the cosmic, non-punctuation meaning of "space".
-The ISS crew was in headlines on 15 January 2026, the day before the comic, when NASA and SpaceX {{w|List of accidents and incidents involving the International Space Station#2026|returned some crew members}} to Earth, earlier than scheduled, because of an unspecified medical concern.
+The ISS crew was in headlines from 8–15 January 2026, when NASA and SpaceX {{w|List of accidents and incidents involving the International Space Station#2026|returned some crew members to Earth}} ahead of schedule, because of an unspecified medical concern.
 ==Transcript==

@@ Line 17: / Line 17: @@
 The title text furthers the joke by transcribing the exclamation mark at the end of the phrase. The word 'point' can sometimes be used to refer to a specific location within a wider space, such as a {{w|Meeting point|muster point}}. The "International Space Station Exclamation Point", then, may  sound like it refers to a named location in the International Space Station (the "Exclamation Point") that is specifically intended for making exclamations (such as the one in the title text). (Turning a punctuation mark into a voiced part of a statement in this way is similar to [[3143: Question Mark]]; there were also multiple examples of strings with punctuation (literal and otherwise) and spelling easy to misconvey in [[1963: Namespace Land Rush]], though none of them used either spaces or "space"s.)
-Similar problems to these can occur when customers order signboards. They sometimes come with unintended quotation marks, because the customer writes the signage text with quotation marks, with the expectation that the signmaker will ignore them. Or they may give the order verbally, resulting in similar problems as seen in the comic. Or [https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2008/nov/01/5 even more comprehensive failures] may occur.
+Similar problems to these can occur when customers order signboards. They sometimes come with unintended quotation marks, because the customer writes the signage text with quotation marks, with the expectation that the signmaker will ignore them. Or they may give the order verbally, resulting in similar problems as seen in the comic. Or [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7702913.stm even more comprehensive failures] may occur.
 While the ISS had other names during its design, such as Space Station Freedom or Alpha, it does not appear that NASA or Roscosmos literally originally referred to it as just International Station. The Russian name for it is "Международная Kосмическая Cтанция" (MKC) or "Mezhdunaródnaya Kosmícheskaya Stántsiya", which translates as "International Space Station" using the cosmic, non-punctuation meaning of "space".

@@ Line 17: / Line 17: @@
 The title text furthers the joke by transcribing the exclamation mark at the end of the phrase. The word 'point' can sometimes be used to refer to a specific location within a wider space, such as a {{w|Meeting point|muster point}}. The "International Space Station Exclamation Point", then, may  sound like it refers to a named location in the International Space Station (the "Exclamation Point") that is specifically intended for making exclamations (such as the one in the title text). (Turning a punctuation mark into a voiced part of a statement in this way is similar to [[3143: Question Mark]]; there were also multiple examples of strings with punctuation (literal and otherwise) and spelling easy to misconvey in [[1963: Namespace Land Rush]], though none of them used either spaces or "space"s.)
-Similar problems to these can occur when customers order signboards. They sometimes come with unintended quotation marks, because the customer writes the signage text with quotation marks, with the expectation that the signmaker will ignore them. Or they may give the order verbally, resulting in similar problems as seen in the comic, or [https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2008/nov/01/5 even more comprehensive failures].
+Similar problems to these can occur when customers order signboards. They sometimes come with unintended quotation marks, because the customer writes the signage text with quotation marks, with the expectation that the signmaker will ignore them. Or they may give the order verbally, resulting in similar problems as seen in the comic. Or [https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2008/nov/01/5 even more comprehensive failures] may occur.
 While the ISS had other names during its design, such as Space Station Freedom or Alpha, it does not appear that NASA or Roscosmos literally originally referred to it as just International Station. The Russian name for it is "Международная Kосмическая Cтанция" (MKC) or "Mezhdunaródnaya Kosmícheskaya Stántsiya", which translates as "International Space Station" using the cosmic, non-punctuation meaning of "space".

@@ Line 15: / Line 15: @@
 The presumption is therefore that someone thought it necessary to say the name as "International [space] Station," perhaps to quash any misconception that the intended name might be "InternationalStation" (however capitalised). Someone else would have written this down as "International Space Station". The resulting accidental name was then accepted, due to it being apt or inconvenient to change.
-The title text furthers the joke by transcribing the exclamation mark at the end of the phrase. (This is similar to [[3143: Question Mark]]; there were also multiple examples of strings with punctuation (literal and otherwise) and spelling easy to misconvey in [[1963: Namespace Land Rush]], though none of them used either spaces or "space"s.) The word 'point' can sometimes be used to refer to a specific location within a wider space, such as a {{w|Meeting point|muster point}}. The "International Space Station Exclamation Point", then, may  sound like it refers to a named location in the International Space Station (the "Exclamation Point") that is specifically intended for making exclamations (such as the one in the title text).
+The title text furthers the joke by transcribing the exclamation mark at the end of the phrase. The word 'point' can sometimes be used to refer to a specific location within a wider space, such as a {{w|Meeting point|muster point}}. The "International Space Station Exclamation Point", then, may  sound like it refers to a named location in the International Space Station (the "Exclamation Point") that is specifically intended for making exclamations (such as the one in the title text). (Turning a punctuation mark into a voiced part of a statement in this way is similar to [[3143: Question Mark]]; there were also multiple examples of strings with punctuation (literal and otherwise) and spelling easy to misconvey in [[1963: Namespace Land Rush]], though none of them used either spaces or "space"s.)
 Similar problems to these can occur when customers order signboards. They sometimes come with unintended quotation marks, because the customer writes the signage text with quotation marks, with the expectation that the signmaker will ignore them. Or they may give the order verbally, resulting in similar problems as seen in the comic, or [https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2008/nov/01/5 even more comprehensive failures].

@@ Line 24: / Line 24: @@
 ==Transcript==
-{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}
+:[Ponytail is talking to Cueball. They seem to be floating in a weightless environment, surrounded by a wrench, a book, two sheets of paper and some debris. Whereas Ponytail is almost depicted like she is sitting on her knees leaning forward, Cueball is floating with his head down towards her and his legs up in the air away from her.]
 :Ponytail: You know, NASA and Roscosmos actually originally named it the '''''International Station''''', but a translation issue led someone to accidentally transcribe the formatting.
 {{comic discussion}}<noinclude>
 [[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
 [[Category:Space]]
 [[Category:Language]]