Wikipedia:WikiProject Spaceflight/Style guide
This is a draft, work in progress guideline to reflect project consensus application of the Manual of Style.
Italic type
The style guideline says: "Italic type (text like this) should be used for the names of ... named, specific vessels: ... Spacecraft (often fictional)." The following examples are given: the Space Shuttle Challenger, USS Enterprise NCC-1701, Constitution-class starships
For purposes of the style guide, spacecraft are taken as a metaphoric extension of ocean-going ships; this is exemplified by the term spaceship used in fiction, which denotes a reusable interplanetary or interstellar vessel, the only consumable and expendable part of which is the fuel. Such "spaceships" do not yet truly exist, yet some manned spacecraft have been named in this manner, and more can be expected in the future as spaceflight continues to develop.
Real-world named spacecraft have included:
- Project Mercury capsules: Freedom 7, Liberty Bell 7, Friendship 7, Aurora 7, Sigma 7, and Faith 7
- Apollo lunar spacecraft:
| Mission | Command/Service Module | Lunar Module |
|---|---|---|
| Apollo 9 | Gumdrop | Spider |
| Apollo 10 | Charlie Brown | Snoopy |
| Apollo 11 | Columbia | Eagle |
| Apollo 12 | Yankee Clipper | Intrepid |
| Apollo 13 | Odyssey | Aquarius |
| Apollo 14 | Kitty Hawk | Antares |
| Apollo 15 | Endeavour | Falcon |
| Apollo 16 | Casper | Orion |
| Apollo 17 | America | Challenger |
- Space Shuttles: Enterprise, Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis, and Endeavour.
- SpaceShip Two: VSS Enterprise, VSS Unity, three more TBD