What's the significance of the ship's names in your Mission's End series? I know who some of the ships are named after but for the life of me I can't figure out the connection!

M.M. Perry Most of the ships are named after famous explorers - those are the ones you've likely guessed already. The Armstrong (Neil), Bell (Gertrude), Drake (Sir Francis), Ericson (Leif), Franklin (Sir John), Magellan (Ferdinand), Pytheas (of Massalia), Sacagawea (of the Shoshone), Tereshkova (Valentina), Turing (Alan - a little poetic license here as he is sometimes considered a "digital era" explorer), and the Xuanzang (a Chinese Buddhist monk who was a famed explorer). Obviously Nimoy (Leonard) is an actor who in his roles was an explorer in a fictional setting - but he guided me as a child through explorations of space (Star Trek), and later as an adult through explorations of alternate worlds (Fringe), so for me he was an important explorer. :) There are two more, the Xan and the Hershowitz - both named after fictional explorers in the world of the series. This is to place what happens firmly in our world, yet at some point in the future where these two explorers would have made a name for themselves.

Though you haven't asked, I'll also add a bonus explanation :) - the last names on the ships are similarly chosen from famous scientists, teachers, counselors, botanists, spies, etc. from around the world. Tesla (Nikola), da Vinci (Leonardo), etc. for engineers; Carver (George Washington), Carson (Rachel), Deere (John) among the botanists.

Thanks for asking the question!

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