Talk:3195: International Station

Sometimes I wonder if some of these comics aren't just for the sake of seeing whatever explain xkcd users come up with 2A01:CB19:FAB:3100:D027:1047:976:8EE2 22:25, 18 January 2026 (UTC)

Holy refresh pull exclamation mark! tilde tilde tilde tilde --DollarStoreBa'al^Converse 14:55, 16 January 2026 (UTC)

Should the "not-earth" "space" be changed to something like "the void between astronomical bodies"? I'm not sure if, say, the surface of the Moon or Mars or Eminiar VII count as being "in space". BunsenH (talk) 15:27, 16 January 2026 (UTC)

I think "space" gets used pretty frequently for "not-Earth". Consider that NASA is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and launches probes to other astronomical bodies. People talk about the Moon landing as being part of the "space program". "Spacemen from Mars" is a reasonably common phrase. 163.116.254.45 19:38, 19 January 2026 (UTC)

Try getting to (or from) the Moon (or Mars) without using using space at all. I challenge you. (If you can do it, there's probably a Nobel Prize in it for you. Or just a life of far more mundane wealth-accumulation. Possibly in an entirely undetectable but criminal sense.) 92.23.11.33 20:11, 19 January 2026 (UTC)

I initially interpreted the cartoon as showing the people and objects floating within something gloopy, and the wrench as a bone, and that the joke was about an "internal space station". Here we are, inside a gelatinous cube, or possibly a gigantic space amoeba... BunsenH (talk) 15:43, 16 January 2026 (UTC)

New Category: Weightless There are a few strips that take place demonstrating micro-gravity, right? Is that worthy of a category? The 'space' tag could be used for comics about space or comics in space (or, I guess, comics on planets?). 191.101.157.82 17:08, 16 January 2026 (UTC)

I think the ISS was originally called start quote Alpha end quote period tilde tilde tilde tilde 134.173.108.120 18:23, 16 January 2026 (UTC)

I'm early! 2603:7083:8700:E02:FE51:837E:B6F:327 18:24, 16 January 2026 (UTC)

It took me a moment to get it, but when I did this xkcd made me capitals LOL which doesn't happen often 2401:D005:D402:7A00:7FE1:F042:B839:91B8 21:23, 16 January 2026 (UTC)

You forgot tilde tilde tilde tilde tilde tilde tilde tilde --DollarStoreBa'al^Converse 21:31, 16 January 2026 (UTC)

At least it's not the International Ampersand En Bee Ess Pee Semicolon Station ellipsis tilde tilde tilde tilde 174.142.148.226 21:42, 16 January 2026 (UTC)

Speaking of Ampersand Aa Em Pee Semicolon, that's a real life example of this effect actually happening. It was at the end of the alphabet where they would say "X, Y, Z, and, per sé, 'and'". Tilde tilde tilde tilde. Not sure if that is relevant enough to the comic though. Tharkon (talk) 02:26, 17 January 2026 (UTC)

Dear Bot, don't get this Irishperson started on apostrophes. 205.175.118.102 22:57, 16 January 2026 (UTC)

From John Littlewood's "A Mathematician's Miscellany": A minute I wrote (about 1917) for the Ballistic Office ended with the sentence 'Thus a should be made as small as possible'. This did not appear in the printed minute. But P. J. Grigg said, 'what is that?' A speck in a blank space at the end proved to be the tiniest a I have ever seen (the printers must have scoured London for it).Lord Pishky (talk) 03:59, 17 January 2026 (UTC)

International Space Space Space Station? Inexplicable (talk) 07:17, 17 January 2026 (UTC)

International Space Space Space Space Space Space Space Station? Logalex8369 (talk) 17:22, 19 January 2026 (UTC)

These comments make me want to see if you could have "tildetildetildetilde"(the actual characters) as your account name. These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For (talk) 02:18, 18 January 2026 (UTC)

Nope, typing ~~~~ gives an invalid username error. 2A04:4E41:6405:35F:0:0:EB9C:B35F 05:49, 18 January 2026 (UTC)

This one reminds me of 3143 a bit too much. Explainyourself (talk) 03:45, 18 January 2026 (UTC)

Am I the only one that interpreted it as "originally it was not supposed to be a space station but rather a 'regular' (ie. terrestrial) station, but because of a transcribing mistake they put it in space, hence the random floating stuff" -- Baruch (talk) 10:04, 19 January 2026 (UTC) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

That is a good insight! I think the wording is open to this kind of interpretation. (Interestingly, the "random floating stuff" does not include a sketch of the station interior itself, or any structure, per se.) Elizium23 (talk) 18:50, 19 January 2026 (UTC)

The main page has been vandalized with a floating picture of Osama Bin Laden. 65.35.147.191 (talk) 15:39, 19 January 2026 (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

I just dealt with that. If I have to deal with it again, then I will. 82.132.244.8 16:01, 19 January 2026 (UTC)