back to article Vote now to name El Reg space plane

Our announcement yesterday, that El Reg would be giving the UK's moribund space programme a touch of the defibrillator with its audacious space paper plane project, certainly seems to have caught readers' imagination. We're obliged to all those who submitted initial technical comments/suggestions. We'll look at those over the …

COMMENTS

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    WTF?

    Ingrates

    All you commentards should be jump at any and all opportunities for the Righteous Glorification of Her Most Majestic Moderatriceness.

    Fucking ingrates. I'm off to get "Queen Bee" tattooed on my face.

  2. Ryan 7
    Unhappy

    MR SPLASHY PANTS

    ^ I demand this as an option

  3. Emo
    Thumb Up

    Even better

    That you can go back and keep voting for your fave!

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Heart

    @John Dee

    I so wanted to but a Register plane has to have Vulture in the title somewhere!

    We all still love you really Sarah :)

  5. James O'Shea

    There can only be one...

    <http://www.lyricstime.com/grand-funk-railroad-queen-bee-lyrics.html>

    That's all.

  6. E_Nigma

    Three Outstanding Proposals

    It was a tough call for me between El Shag, Ballistic Vulture From Hell (BVFH) and Queen Bee, but I eventually went for the Ballistic Vulture (from Hell ):-D ). Good luck in the space race, El Reg!

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    Why am I not surprised?

    At the name which is currently top of the poll.

    At least it confirms everyone is nicely conforming to the 'Geek Stereotype'.

    Paris? well duh......

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Boffin

    Vote for Vulture

    "Houston*, the El Shag has landed"

    doesn't have the same ring as

    "Houston*, the Vulture has landed"

    *Or whatever city mission control will be in

    ps I hope there's plenty of insurance

  9. the spectacularly refined chap

    Vote early, vote often...

    It seems that you have voted already (or maybe someone else on the same IP did it - xx.xx.xx.xx). If you can't resist voting more than once, come back in an hour for another go.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @ AC 13:16

    That would be:

    "Hoxton, the Vulture has landed".

    Although that does imply some sort of Barley-esque nightmare is about to be unleashed ...

  11. Chris Funk

    Write in option?

    I've got to go with "Colbert". Need to come up with what that would stand for. Suggestions?

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Go

    If you're really serious about this

    then I'll donate an HTC Artemis PDA as on-board electronics package- AGPS, GPRS, small camera (never used for aerial photography so not sure of the quality), and can either accept the standard Li-Poly battery or any +5v source through the USB port. Can store pics on SDHC micro-SD cards. Weighs in at 122 grams, so it may be a bit heavy- removing the bodywork would probably help.

    Runs WM6 so software isn't a problem- there genuinely IS an app for everything and has been for a few years... Touchscreen's a bit cracked, but a replacement is a few quid off eBay...

    Also I'm sure I could rig up a lightweight release mechanism and (if required, say for aeliron control) a hardware interface for it pretty quickly.

    And finally, "the El Shag" is a godawful name. AC 13:16 gives a good reason why. The Vulture or even The Queen Bee would be far more appropriate.

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Twatdangle 1

    And just why isn't this a choice? Is ElReg scared of being hoisted on its own petard?

  14. Stevie

    Bah!

    I agree With Hazel Rees. The whole point about being British is the reserve and sardonic humour we are justly famous for. It's what separates us real British from Canadian actors who vainly strive to pretend to be British. Or something.

    "Clever" "jokes" like "ELSHAG" blow the national mystique in front of the Americans, and someone in the editorial department should be fired for dropping the ball and giving aid and comfort to the foreigners.

    (Cue brass band playing "Rule Britannia")

    Remember: If the national stereotype is damaged, The Terrorists win.

  15. Spot the Cat
    FAIL

    Wrong, wrong, wrong.

    Twatdangle 1, registration G-ODFO, got to be.

  16. Adam 52 Silver badge

    First past the post

    A prime example of how to fix an election by dividing the vote.

  17. robert cooke
    Happy

    you guys (and sarah) at el reg are all mad

    and we love you for it. this is the sort of silliness that we all secretly love. british eccentricty at it's best. the rest of the world may have nicer mountains, bigger rivers, nice food etc. but we have the best silly people anywhere in the world.

    God bless you all!

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Ms Bee should be honoured

    Come on lads, let's all show our appreciation of Ms Bee, if nothing else stop it with the "El Shag" votes.

  19. Hermes (nine inch) Conran
    Paris Hilton

    The common shag

    is of course the correct english name for the cormorant, a bird known for swallowing piscines whole. Only a few letters out!

  20. Xris M

    It has to be...

    Ground control to Vulture 1

  21. The First Dave
    Badgers

    @Hermes

    The common shag is a rather smaller bird than the Cormorant. The two species are closely related, but not the same.

  22. Anonymous Coward
    Alien

    @Xris M

    Ground control to Vulture One

    Ground control to Vulture One

    Get your protein fix by munching carrion

    Ground control to Vulture One

    Commencing countdown, engines on

    Check iGnition and may Job's love be with you

    Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five,

    Four, three, two, one, liftoff

  23. Dale Richards
    Heart

    Queen Bee

    Beautiful, delicate, inspiring.

    Godspeed, Sarah. May you soar with grace and majesty.

    Bask freely in the twinkle of a million stars, but never let them burn your wings.

  24. James O'Brien
    Paris Hilton

    @@Xris M

    God that was awful :P

    This line is what hurt it

    "Get your protein fix by munching carrion"

    It just doesnt roll off the tounge. Although I know this isnt much better I think it is more encompassing of TheReg and the comment boards:

    Get your protein fix Paris Hilton style

    Cheerio

  25. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    Queen Bee Falls From Grace

    Black Vulture - it even sounds like the UK 'Rainbow Codes' we still use for developmental craft.

  26. MnM
    Alert

    Get rigging

    It can't be El Shag. I self-censored my own suggestion, Twat, on the ground that it was puerile, and for what?

    Surely this small bug in the voting software will soon be rectified and the Vulture will fly.

  27. Clive Galway
    Joke

    Spacecraft name

    Personally I think we should call it A4

    The americans wouldn't get that one though, I suppose.

    Maybe if the launch pad had a huge countdown board with the words "PC LOAD LETTER" flashing in bright lights?

  28. white_darkness
    Coat

    Just can't seem to get behind...

    Aegypius, due to the mythology behind the name and the "special family relationships involved".

  29. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    Ground Control to Vulture One

    Ground Control: Vulture One, please be advised, we see your orbit about to intersect that of a defunct NOAA weather satellite.....

    Ground Control: Vulture One, we no longer see telemetry tracking data for the NOAA weather satellite, please respond.....

    Vulture One: Buuurrrrrrp!

    Ground Control: Never mind....

  30. Anonymous Coward
    Pirate

    @ Chris Funk

    C.O.L.B.E.R.T

    Combative

    Orbital

    Lightweight

    Bearing

    El

    Reg

    Treachery

    We need the paper to have a skull and bones pattern on it.

  31. Martin 10

    has to be shag

    "Houston*, the El Shag has landed"

    doesn't have the same ring as

    "Houston*, the Vulture has landed"

    Ture.... but as they are well aware of in Ibiza every time a new jet of tourists arrive it will be

    "Houston", the shaggers have landed...scorchio!

  32. jake Silver badge

    @Clive Galway & names

    "Personally I think we should call it A4

    The americans wouldn't get that one though, I suppose."

    Eh? You talking ISO 216? Some yanks have clues about paper ;-)

    That reminds me ... I just ran out of business cards. Pardon me while I fire up the Heidelburg windmill in the garage ...

    I still think "Vulture X", "Vulture X II" and "Sarah" should be the names of the three.

  33. Captain DaFt
    Thumb Up

    Ok, you guys convinced me...

    The Vulture it should be! But as a nod to Clive Galway above, How about The A4-Vulture? has a nice technical sound, and accurately describes the craft!

  34. Anonymous Coward
    Dead Vulture

    This poll is currupted by jery mandering

    If you add the votes of

    Vulture

    Vulture 1

    Vulture Venture

    Even without BVFH it is clear that Vulture being a part of the name has a clear majority (Sorry I just don't understand how El Shag is funny? can someone please explain).

  35. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @clive

    if a4 was an option, i'd vote for it. sadly, it's not.

  36. Mark Monaghan
    Coat

    What about the launch vehicle?

    I propose that the "launch vehicle" should be named "Rover".

    It has a Portmeirion guide book in the pocket.

  37. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    @Hermes

    What is the airspeed velocity of the unladen common shag?

    ...Mine's the one with the herring in the pocket.

  38. bigphil9009

    @ James O'Brien

    What are you talking about - ever heard of rhythm??

    "Get your protein fix by munching carrion" works brilliantly!

    The stupid Paris Hilton meme lost its appeal, well, pretty much as soon as it first appeared... Same as all the appaling "coat" gags that litter this board.

  39. AlgernonFlowers4
    Alert

    Live Coverage

    There has to be live coverage of the event. There'll probably be lots of wannabe Dan Dare's who will want follow the whole mission with their joysticks, starting from the moment Paris mounts El Shag's mighty erection (the launch tower), to when El Shag starts rising and thrusting upwards until mission climax nears and Vulture Control announces to the world that Paris has cleared El Shag for re-entry, at which point it all begins to deflates and El Shag returns back to earth.

  40. Mark 91
    Headmaster

    @Adam 52

    "A prime example of how to fix an election by dividing the vote."

    Indeed. All the Vulture Voters probably need to pick one of the Vulture names and get behind that- Otherwise, we'll end up with "The El Shag".

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