Niska's station: moving or stationary? by illbeinmybunk

FIREFLY EPISODE DISCUSSIONS

Niska's station: moving or stationary?

POSTED BY: ILLBEINMYBUNK
UPDATED: Friday, February 4, 2005 21:17
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Monday, August 2, 2004 4:50 PM

I'm guessing this has already been brought up, but if not...

I think of space stations as stationary, not moving. If thats the case, wouldn't Mal have been a little more cautious about delivering medical supplies to the planet Niska orbits. Wouldn't Mal not have gone there at all or at least not called it a "milk run"? In the episode Mal also refers a few times to the "this quadrant" meaning they are in a specific part of space. Maybe Niska's station moves around in this specific quadrant?

Regardless, it seems pretty unlikely that when Serenity entered the system they wouldnt detect a giant space station....

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Monday, August 2, 2004 5:06 PM

AGREY

Well, running with the assumption that Niska only has one skyplex (although the episodes seem to indicate this, it never directly says that he does not own more than one...), it leads us to the conclusion that Niska is based off of just one skyplex, and that it is orbiting the planet Paradisio is on. (I never did catch if that planet had a name...)
Now, since Niska's skyplex, besides being his home, is obviously also a functional orbital cargo transhippment point, it is assumed to be stationary, excepting whatever minimal maneuvering capacity it has (reaction thrusters, if that-depends on how high the orbit is) to maintian orbit, and, of course, the fact that it is orbiting the planet.
The other thing is that Mal quite possibly thought that he alluded Niska's attention (after all, the planet has only one station, and it would not be too hard for Serenity to hide in the planet's shadow and then land when the station could not see), and hence, thought himself and his crew safe. Of course, Mal was wrong, but if I remember right, Niska's lieutenant/assistant/general-purpose bitch said something about "operatives" either detecting or aiding in the detection of the Serenity....which means that Mal was not picked up by the skyplex's (assumably) rather extensive sensor array (Niska being a presumably paranoid crime lord taking precautions), but by Niska's spies.
As to the quadrant bit, that simply gives us a clue as to how they have divided and labeled the known 'verse for ease of conversation and navigation.

Of course, if Niska had more than one skyplex (all looking identical and being outfitted generally the same, very unlikely) that it would not be surprising that Mal thought it was a milk run-he would not have known Niska had a base in that system.
Any questions?

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Monday, August 2, 2004 5:22 PM

RHUTTNER

Quote:
Originally posted by illbeinmybunk:
I'm guessing this has already been brought up, but if not...

I think of space stations as stationary, not moving. If thats the case, wouldn't Mal have been a little more cautious about delivering medical supplies to the planet Niska orbits. Wouldn't Mal not have gone there at all or at least not called it a "milk run"? In the episode Mal also refers a few times to the "this quadrant" meaning they are in a specific part of space. Maybe Niska's station moves around in this specific quadrant?

Regardless, it seems pretty unlikely that when Serenity entered the system they wouldnt detect a giant space station....

I've wondered this myself a number of times. I just checked a few things. In The Train Job, the skyplex was orbiting upside down. This means that the top of the station was pointing directly towards the planet and the bottom pointing towards space.

In War Stories, the skyplex is orbiting almost with a 90 degree rotation to that. This means that both the top and bottom are pointing towards space, and 1 'side' of its rotation is towards the planet.

This change of orientation could be a result of moving the station to a different planet. Mal would not know that Niska had done that. Of course this is just a theory. Theres no evidence either way. But I would rather think that Mal was smart enough not to go to a planet with Niska's skyplex (or one of them if he has several) orbiting.

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Monday, August 2, 2004 6:26 PM

SHINY

This exchange from the shooting script (but either not filmed or cut from the final version) confirms that Niska's skyplex remains in orbit of the same planet (which I don't believe is the one Paradiso is on; Niska simply sent Mal on a mission to Paradiso, it doesn't mean it's on the same planet):

INARA
A man will die, horribly, if I do not
act. I apologize for my conduct, but
as a member of the world council you
cannot be unaware of what Adelai
Niska is.

COUNCILOR
His skyplex is beyond our
jurisdiction. I really must ask
that --

COUNCILOR
I... I appreciate it. I'm just sorry
I can't do more to help you.

INARA
(temper rising)
Then do more -- help me. The Council
can claim jurisdiction over Niska's
Skyplex--

COUNCILOR
A year ago, maybe, but Niska's
become... he's bought off most of the
Council. I'd be in the minority and
on my way to the grave. I wish --

Jayne, your mouth is talkin. Might want to look into that.

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Monday, August 2, 2004 6:51 PM

GUNRUNNER

Well its not stationary since its orbits the planet and thus is mobile, it can change its orbital plane allowing for it to facing differently in the two shows. Possibly it relocate to a moon of that planet using something like Serenity’s Fusion Drive.

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Thursday, August 5, 2004 2:19 PM

RHUTTNER

Possible evidence that Niska does have more than one station is the torture room. In The Train Job the walls are silver and the floor is at the same level as the floor in Niska's office. In War Stories, the walls are darker and have holes in them with light coming in, and the floor is deeper and requires walking down steps.

So maybe he does have more than one and Mal was not aware that Niska had one orbiting this planet.

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Saturday, August 7, 2004 8:56 PM

GNARSH

Hey, I know that if I was an insane crime lord, I'd sure as hell have multiple torture rooms.

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Monday, August 23, 2004 5:44 AM

WITLESSCHUM

The aid says "long range" presumably meaning sensors.

My theory is that the crew landed on the opposite side of the planet from the Skyplex, so it wouldn't notice their arrival, then they sent the shuttle to the pick up so it would be less noticable than a Firefly sitting there.

Niska could have sensors set up on a satellite that would prevent someone from doing this. All in all, they were a bit too casual about the threat of Niska.

Dan

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Monday, August 23, 2004 3:07 PM

LINDLEY

Paradiso was mentioned by an Alliance officer as being in the Georgia system. Whether that's the system name or the planet name is unclear.

For that matter, the idea that Niska's skyplex is orbiting the planet containing Paradiso is also unclear, really.

I'm fairly sure that the planet from War Stories was Ezra.

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Monday, August 23, 2004 3:16 PM

FORRESTWOLF

According to the Locations info on this site, Ezra is indeed the location of Niska's skyplex (also the name of my younger son, which gives me a bit of a worry when I think about it), at least in one of the episodes.

I've wondered, too - the basic problem is Mal not worrying when they get there. I'd say it's more likely to be stationary, and that we just don't have a good feel for how big planets are in Firefly. Ezra's a big place - Mal probably didn't think he'd immediately get ambushed by Niska. Sort of how they didn't worry about Badger and HIM ambushing them on Persephone in Shindig.

Firefly rule of thumb (Mal needs to learn this): When returning to a planet with a recurring "bad guy", expect him to show up.

- FW

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Tuesday, September 21, 2004 11:44 AM

CHARKI127

Moving or stationary? I hope moving but I have nothing to back this up. The job may have been a case of Risk vs Reward. The medical supplies were most lucrative and Mal (and Zoe), for whatever reason, felt secure enough for Wash to accompany him. I suspect the crew of Serenity has far more enemies than employment opportunities. But Mal did not expect to see Niska, he expressed genuine surprise when the blindfold was lifted. Why? Don't know. Will guess "because Niska's station moves." charki

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Tuesday, October 12, 2004 9:35 AM

the movie is not the Series. Only the facts have been changed, to irritate the innocent; the names of the actors and characters remain the same

Quote:
Originally posted by rhuttner:
In The Train Job, the skyplex was orbiting upside down. This means that the top of the station was pointing directly towards the planet and the bottom pointing towards space.

In War Stories, the skyplex is orbiting almost with a 90 degree rotation to that. This means that both the top and bottom are pointing towards space, and 1 'side' of its rotation is towards the planet.

This change of orientation could be a result of moving the station to a different planet.

A simpler explanation is that the station is not tide-locked to its primary, and there's one or three quarters of an orbit difference in position. Now from the shape of the station, and the fact that, @some point in its orbit, its long axis points through the planet, I think it likely that it would eventually get tide-locked. But that takes time.

Keep the Shiny Side Up

Wutzon: Jerry Joseph & the Jackmormons, "Climb to Safety", from "Mouthful of Copper"

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Thursday, October 14, 2004 6:24 PM

JOE

I would assume that the station was in a geostationary orbit so you always know where it is - makes it very handy for docking spacecraft to know where to aim for when a long way off (the sky above a planet is vast, and the station is a tiny speck in comparison - I suppose with the speedy engines in FF this would be less of a problem).

It could also be in the stable L4 position of the planet and its moon (or sun) so it was always in the same relative position between the two bodies. This would put it a considerable distance from the planet which would put Mal at ease if he was going back there.

--
http://jo-ham.com - engineers think just that little bit differently

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Thursday, October 14, 2004 10:41 PM

the movie is not the Series. Only the facts have been changed, to irritate the innocent; the names of the actors and characters remain the same

Quote:
Originally posted by Joe:
I would assume that the station was in a geostationary orbit so you always know where it is

Geostationary does not imply tide-locked. The station would (@least could) show a different aspect to the primary throughout its orbit.

Keep the Shiny Side Up

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Friday, October 15, 2004 3:03 AM

CAPTAINHARBATKIN

Your home, moving or stationary? Screwed right to the ground, isn't it? Stationary, then. But the whole damned planet is orbiting a minor star, which is itself moving, and the local cluster is moving and the galazy is moving, and apparently the universe is expanding...

So, your home is moving, and it's even more obvious that Niska's place is moving, unless wires hold things in place. Bet Niska sends a crew out to paint the wires so they don't show up in photos. Evil bastard, sounds like something he'd do.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
...they'll rape us to death, eat our flesh, and sew our skins into their
clothing - and if we're very, very lucky, they'll do it in that order.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Friday, February 4, 2005 9:17 PM

REAVERINA1985RIVIERA

Judging from the size of Serenity docked onto the Alliance ship and Serenity docked to the Station, Niska's Skyplex is smaller than the Alliance cruser. It certianly has less mass than the cruser.

If the Alliance can get that astoundingly large construct to move, then it's also likely that the Skyplex can travel.

---------------------------------------------
You don't argue with a Reaver.

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