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NASA's New 'Exploration' Insignia
colonist writes "NASA has a new insignia for the program set by the Vision for Space Exploration. This UPI article describes it: "Three spheres--Earth, the moon and Mars--are arrayed in sequence, with the streak of a rocket passing through each. A Latin inscription on the emblem says 'Audentes Fortuna Juvat,' which, translated into English, says 'Fortune Favors the Bold.'" Compare it with other space mission insignia."
I don't think there's many things that haven't changed much like nasa's insignias. To me they're all so delightfully kitsch 50s stuff.
Nice to see something with continuity... even nicer that I like that base design.
Fortune Favors the Bold
Didn't Sisko say this in DS9?
Is it just me, or is NASA more of a marketing organization these days? Quit with the speeches and gimmicks and start working towards actually going somewhere interesting (aka Mars, Moon, etc.). I'd rather my taxpayer dollars do that than hype up going to one of these places :-/
</RANT>
...in bed
Q.
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Darn, now I need someone to sew one of these onto my cool GeekMan(TM) action figure battle spacesuits!
Hurricane Ivan: A 17th century prison collapsed. All of the inmates escaped.
They should keep them in the original Klingon!
that the new insignia hints at the future without explicitly including specific targets outside of our moon and Mars.
Visual representations like this can help reinforce what the mission is all about.
I think its cool.
My hyperlinks aren't worth the paper they're printed on.
Safe, sensible, and on the ground.
Probably becuase it's one of the oldest languages there is, and because space exploration is such an historically significant event...
*shrugs*
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur.
(Whatever is said in Latin, sounds profound.)
Free as in mason.
Why do all these insignias use Latin?
If you look at this one, it has the phrase in Latin on one side, and English on the other side of the patch.
That said, it should also be noted that Latin is a rather clear language. There is a reason that French and English are used in diplomacy, they can be interpreted in many different ways, there is alot of 'wiggle room' within them. Let's look at this short phrase. 'Fortune Favors the Bold'.
Does this mean that people who write their name in bold will do better than those who write it in italics? How about Fortune, are we talking about luck or a magazine?
While few 'speak' the language, Latin still remains one of the more 'universal' languages out there and since NASA is working with other space agencies more and more, it might be good to have a descriptive phrase that translates quickly into other languages.
Three spheres--Earth, the moon and Mars--are arrayed in sequence, with the streak of a rocket missing all three and flying straight into the sun
One badge team must have been working in metric, the other in imperial.
I guess the answer is that if it's in English, you see how unimpressive it really is. Because the alternative to "Fortune favours the bold" is that saying of Flight Class 101, "There are no old, bold pilots".
Panurge has posted for the last time. Thanks for the positive moderations.
Because Latin sounds more impressive than everyday English. It's the same reason that the Romans of Caesar's day spoke Greek when they wanted to sound especially impressive. (Hence the line in Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar", "But for mine own part, it was Greek to me," in reference to Cicero's speech earlier.)
Better question: why do you ask and why do you single out NASA? The US motto ("e pluribus unum") is in Latin, as are countless other mottos, slogans, and inscriptions around this country. And if you look, the Latin is translated into English on this NASA patch.
In any event, it wasn't exactly a vital safety message, it's just a slogan. If you haven't studied Latin, you're not really missing something important.
"Fortune Favors the Bold".
.001% chance of something going wrong, and we just can't have that!!
Too bad it doesn't seem to be true these days. Seems to me that the U.S. is so risk-averse that any attempt at space travel will be terribly expensive and will take decades. Not because the technology isn't there (remember, we DID go to the moon 35 years ago), but because there might be a
When we DO finally get space travel sorted out, my suggestion is to put the lawyers and insurance CEOs on the first flight and aim it at the sun (Hey, it's Pauly Shore! And Rosie! Ding ding ding goes the trolley!).
Here is a link with tons of Latin Phrases and the English translation. Latin is the root of many western languages. Latin was required in the European Universities, such as Heidelberg, which was commissioned as a University by Pope Urban VI in 1385 (note the obvious Latin connection).
Pete Carr Owner Chatmag.com
Because it was originally written in Latin by Claudius in his epistles. It is an ancient truism, said well before there was a NASA, before there was an English language, well before the Earth was known to be round. Claudius lived from 10BCE to 54CE, and was emperor of Rome from 41CE until his death.
More people in the western world know Latin than know English, for the "romance languages" were founded from Latin.
Why are there Valedictorians, Baccalautate degrees, Cum Laude, Magna Cum Laude, Summa Cum Laude? I went to a Community College Graduation this week, and Latin was everywhere.
Tradition!
Lastly, Tradition states that a pithy motto be in latin, since it is a "dead" language, and therefore less likely to be misinterpreted.
Dead as dead can be.
It killed off all the Romans,
and now it's killing me."
- Allegedly etched on a desk in a classroom.
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Is it just me, or is NASA more of a marketing organization these days?
Just these days? As I recall, the focus of NASA back in it's heyday was scoring propaganda victories in the Cold War.
The single most practical reason for the moon landing was to show up the Soviets.
translated into English, says 'Fortune Favors the Bold.'
Fortune? How Ferrengi of us. As American Indians are rumored to have said, "Moon people, watch you land! These guys will try to take it."
(One thing about slashdot is that you can mispell just about any word, and nobody complains. But, mispell a Trek word and you are vaporized by the masses.)
Table-ized A.I.
Reminds me of some software projects. First the logo, then the web site, then the coffee cups, and finally start arguing about what is to be accomplished.
"Fortune favors the bold", huh? So what favors the feeble? Whatever that is, NASA should be shopping for some of that.
WWJD for a Klondike Bar?
Its triplanetary! Curse those filthy Boskonians....
NASA has a great PR operation. They should realize that's their core business area and dump the space operations.
Now all they need is funding, a plan, and some sort of stab at a space vehicle.
Whence? Hence. Whither? Thither.
This patch and a vast collection of 'white papers' is all that we'll ever see from this NASA initiative.
The papers will be the result of spending several billion dollars on studies with NASA aerospace industry contractors.
No hardware beyond conceptual models will be produced.
Sorry folks, but if you want to actually GO somewhere, NASA is no longer the most effective way to spend money to get there. In a few more years, NASA won't be able to get people to LEO any more. That makes getting to the moon or Mars difficult.
Delta Clipper series - 3 successful scale model flights of DC-X, project terminated for DC-XA after crash on 4th landing. It worked, though. Defunded in 1996 for the X-33 and following projects.
X-33 started 1996, ended 2001. Concrete was poured for a launch facility. Lots of parts moved in (and out) of an assembly hanger. NASA discovers that when in contact with liquid hydrogen, lots of materials turn brittle and fail under load. (This bit actually develops some good materials science.) Two completed aerospike rocket engines were built and operated in a test stand for 1.12 seconds.
X-37 orbital flight demonstrator. X40A scale model for free flight built in 1998. Fabrication of first X-37 started in 2001, with an orbital test planned for 2003. AIr Force withdrew support in 2002. Project defunded in 2003.
CEV - Announced 2003. NASA Request for Information sent to contractors in April 2004. "Spiral development" plan call for launching a stripped down prototype in 2008, containing only about 30 percent of the systems of a fully developed craft, unpiloted test flights in 2011, and a manned mission in 2014.
The fact that insignia is commonly accepted as a singular today makes that glaringly obvious.
rj
Those who sacrifice security to condemn liberty deserve to repeat history or something. - Benjamin Santayana