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The Belfast Telegraph reports on the Spaceflight Bill, proposed legislation that is to be put before Parliament this week.
The government issued a statement on the proposed legislation. According to the statement, Britain could build space-ports on its own territory "by 2020."
Whether the launch facilities would be on the home islands, in the British Overseas Territories (which include islands in the Caribbean such as Montserrat), or both was unclear to the submitter.
[What, if any, advantages are there for launching from Britain vs a location in the Caribbean? -Ed.]
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Space Launches from British Territory to be Proposed
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The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
TOO BAD YOU CAN'T BUY a voodoo globe so that you could make the earth spin
real fast and freak everybody out.
-- Jack Handey, The New Mexican, 1988.
(Score: 1) by moondoctor on Tuesday February 21 2017, @01:49PM
Thanks! Getting there...
What about plain old Britain, is that just short for GB? And, back to the question, are the territories Britain? I was under the impression that the English folks in Gibraltar consider themselves to be in Britain.
>Great Britain - England + Scotland and whatever located on the same island (The British Isles)
Not being tricky, just curious: So then Northern Ireland is not Britain? Ireland and Northern Ireland are both on the same island that is a British Isle, but are different countries. What about the hundreds of Islands that make up the British Isles? 'What is Britain' can end up being a much stranger question than it appears at first. And that's not even getting into the cultural aspects.
It seems that Ireland is considered a British Isle, which is very confusing to me (I know, not hard to do). Tiree, yeah, but Ireland? Also, I don't think the Welsh would appreciate being called 'whatever' but there you go... And the Cornish maintain this fantasy that they are their own country, separate from England, UK, GB and all of it. I wonder if it offends a Cornishman to be called British? They definitely don't like being lumped in with them.
(Score: 4, Funny) by theluggage on Tuesday February 21 2017, @03:32PM
Wikipedia explains it all [wikipedia.org] including a helpful cut-out-and-keep* diagram [wikipedia.org] that says it all.
*but don't print it out on expensive paper, because all bets are off post-Brexit...
I wonder if it offends a Cornishman to be called British?
...probably, but it comes pretty far down the list c.f. spreading the jam and cream on your scone in the wrong order, calling anything made east of the Tamar a "Cornish Pasty" or suggesting that their ancestors had a relaxed attitude to customs & excise and might occasionally, accidentally, have left misleading lights on rocky coasts to ensure a supply of "salvage"...
(Score: 1) by moondoctor on Wednesday February 22 2017, @08:41AM
Thanks, that's awesome. That chart is hilarious...
Simple, eh?
(Score: 2) by rleigh on Tuesday February 21 2017, @10:59PM
There are also several alternative names for Great Britain (Prydain--modern Welsh), including Brittannia (grande Bretagne--Français) and Albion (derives Alba--Gallic), including spelling variants for all of these! All of these are in widespread use all over the island!
(Score: 3, Informative) by rleigh on Tuesday February 21 2017, @11:25PM
Regarding Cornwall and countries in the UK. Consider that what we call "England", "Scotland" and "Wales" were created by the agglomeration of many tens of smaller independent kingdoms over the course of centuries. They are the modern day counties for the most part. Some were annexed later than the others, and this includes Cornwall and Northumberland for England. This is of course a very long time back now!
(Score: 2) by Nuke on Tuesday February 21 2017, @11:56PM
what we call "England", "Scotland" and "Wales" were created by the agglomeration of many tens of smaller independent kingdoms over the course of centuries. They are the modern day counties for the most part.
No, most counties were not kingdoms. Most were created as administrative areas. AFAIR there were seven kingdoms just before England was effectively united into a single kingdom by Athelstan (Alfred the Great's grandson). There were certainly many tribal chiefs at earlier periods, but they were not necessarily "kings" and their areas certainly did not correspond with the later counties. Athelstan's kingdom did not include Cornwall, Wales or Scotland.