Talk:Timeline of Space Shuttle missions

This rocks!
OK, this is a very cool timeline! It's a neat use of wikipedia features, and it visually shows its subject excellently well. It deserves more attention! (sdsds - talk) 05:19, 27 August 2007 (UTC)

Requested move
The article was recently moved from "Timeline of space shuttle missions" to "Timeline of Space Shuttle missions" with the summary " Proper noun (see other articles on the Space Shuttle)". This is incorrect. The word "space shuttle/shuttle" is not a proper noun, nor is orbiter, unless they are used in conjunction with a specific, named orbiter, such as Space Shuttle Discovery. Please refer to NASA's own shuttle page, which has the header image seen here: http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/133493main_openingtext2c.gif, and at the left, a "Fact" box, which this month has: "Mission STS-122 will be the eighth time space shuttle Atlantis has visited the International Space Station.", as well as NASA's technical TPS documents, which do not capitalize orbiter, or shuttle, here, along with the media, as seen from The Associated Press, Aviation Week, Space.com and CBS. It is a common misconception, but it is like saying that "sedan" is capitalized, or "hatchback", when referring to a car. If the car's name has "Sedan" in it, then it is capitalized, but when speaking of a generic sedan, it is not.

The precedence for this naming on Wikipedia can be seen in the Featured List, List of space shuttle missions, which would not have been featured had it been named improperly, and the peer review of Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, which also concurs. "The article capitalizes "shuttle" in many places, I think incorrectly. Space shuttle isn't a proper noun so should be lower-case." Finally, I refer to Webster's dictionary definition, which does not capitalize it, and clarifies it is not a proper noun: "Main Entry: space shuttle, function: noun, definition: A reusable spacecraft designed to transport people and cargo between earth and space." Confirmed by YourDictionary: here. I did contact the editor who moved the article, but they did not reply to my query, and do not seem to be active.

Several other articles were also moved, including Space Shuttle thermal protection system, and the recently deleted shuttle mission list, but many others, including the above mentioned featured list, use the proper capitalization (none) and it seems that we need to have a standardization across the board, one way or the other. Thoughts? Ariel ♥  Gold  06:06, 14 December 2007 (UTC)