Takže, abych to tady nebrzdil, poptal jsem se strýčka Googla a dle všeho mám pravdu. Důvod mise byl uveden pouze v knize: In the novel, Nova 5 is an American vessel owned by The Coca-Cola Company which was sent on a mission to induce the supernova of 128 super giant stars in order to create a five-week-long message in the sky visible even in daylight, reading "COKE ADDS LIFE!"
zdroj:
http://reddwarf.wikia.com/wiki/Nova_5