https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=Zooethexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2026-04-18T10:07:36ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=3195:_International_Station&diff=4038373195: International Station2026-01-17T07:40:30Z<p>Zooeth: Undo revision 403836 by 2401:4900:1CB9:7EEC:C596:20DB:3652:4451 (talk)</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 3195<br />
| date = January 16, 2026<br />
| title = International Station<br />
| image = international_station_2x.png<br />
| imagesize = 265x250px<br />
| noexpand = true<br />
| titletext = Welcome to the International Space Station Exclamation Point!<br />
}}<br />
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==Explanation==<br />
{{incomplete|This page was created by a BOT APOSTROPHE S SPACE TRANSLATION SPACE ERROR PERIOD. Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
This joke makes fun of the parity between 'space', as in the invisible character between words, and 'space', as in the void between astronomical bodies. In this case, it is said that the word 'space' was never meant to be part of the name of the name, but was included as a word due to a transcription error.<br />
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The presumption is therefore that someone thought it necessary to say the name as "International (space) Station," perhaps to quash any misconception that the intended name might be "InternationalStation" (however capitalised). Someone else would have written this down as International Space Station, with the accidental name being accepted due to resulting name being acceptably apt or inconvenient to change.<br />
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The title text furthers the joke by transcribing the exclamation mark at the end of the phrase, similar to [[3143: Question Mark]]. There were also multiple examples of strings, with punctuation (literal and otherwise) and spelling easy to misconvey in [[1963: Namespace Land Rush]], though none of them used either spaces or "space"s. The full name of "International Space Station Exclamation Point" may also sound like it refers to a location in the International Space Station by the name of "Exclamation Point". In a similar vein, when customers order signboards, they sometime come with unintended quotation marks. The customer writes the signage text with quotation marks, with the expectation that the signmaker will ignore them.<br />
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The ISS made the news on 15 January 2026, the day prior to the release of this comic, due to the {{w|List_of_accidents_and_incidents_involving_the_International_Space_Station#2026|unprecedented evacuation of some crewmembers to Earth for medical reasons}}.<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
{{incomplete transcript|Don't remove this notice too soon.}}<br />
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:[Ponytail is talking to Cueball. They seem to be floating in space, surrounded by a wrench, a book, two sheets of paper and some debris.]<br />
:Ponytail: You know, NASA and Roscosmos actually originally named it the '''''International Station''''', but a translation issue led someone to accidentally transcribe the formatting.<br />
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{{comic discussion}}<noinclude><br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Ponytail]]<br />
[[Category:Space]]<br />
[[Category:Language]]</div>Zooeth