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NASA To Announce Module Name On Colbert Show
olddotter noted that NASA's Facebook page says "NASA's newest module for the International Space Station will get a new name on April 14. The agency plans to make the announcement with the help of Expedition 14 and 15 astronaut Sunita 'Suni' Williams on Comedy Central's 'The Colbert Report.' The program will air at 11:30 p.m. EDT."
This is probably the first time in 10 years news about NASA has stuck in my mind. Sure some scientific stuff is interesting to read... sure I hear press releases and news tidbits, but those go in one ear out the other. This is the best "stick to your ribs" news (aka marketing) NASA has made with the post baby boomers.
No comprende? Let me type that a little slower for you...
The real news was that this was announced on the NASA Facebook page. The medium is always the message - as Colbert's success demonstrates.
I know its been covered a lot elsewhere (scienceblogs.com) but I don't think it can be understated. Colbert Report is a great venue for science, a wonderful public face. He's had on lots of scientists, more than any show I can recall in a couple decades.
I don't recall the last fun show that had the host actually talking to an Astronaut in orbit.
So even if NASA goes with Serenity for the name, I'm glad they went onto Colbert to announce it.
You're right. I didn't want to be in school, however since we live in a "free"* country, government enforcers made me attend so tax-funded bureaucrats in my local school district would be able to keep their educational budgets intact even while making do such rudimentary things as coloring maps in a CP-level History Class or trying to learn German from the woman who'd been the Spanish teacher the year before. I found it was far more effective to pursue an education by exploring on my own, coupled with finding mentors who knew a great deal about certain subjects. Maybe that sounds elitist, but the same path is open to anyone with a little curiousity about the world. Crazy idea, I know, not wanting to use tax dollars taken from other people for my own benefit.
But, since it is essentially a toilet, I think Colbert should get the honors; Serenity should be the name of a spacegoing vessel.
Amen to that. Let me try this comment again, I think it got modded down by the dumber side of the Firefly fanbase (you know, the side I'm not on) last time: Serenity is a spaceship. This thing is not only not a spaceship, but its ass does not glow. It does not make any sense whatsoever, whatsofuckingever to name it Serenity. I know a lot of you loved the show, so did I; I know a lot of you voted for that name, but it was silly. Don't get your back up because you're wrong :D
I do have to admit to liking the idea of naming just the toilet after Colbert. He likes to twist people's dicks after all (metaphorically speaking, so far as I know) and it would only be justice. But then we'd probably end up with a toilet module named Serenity which is just not much of a tribute. Sorry.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
I said it before, and I'll say it again:
The public's lack of interest in NASA has nothing to do with pop culture, it's that NASA isn't doing anything interesting anymore.
In the days of the space race, it was very exciting. The "us vs them" competition with the USSR, people doing things never done before, going to places nobody ever went before. And all that done by launching people with experimental hardware done on monumental scales.
Where is all that now? NASA keeps shuttling people between ground and space station, where they do amazing experiments, such as how spiders react to a lack of gravity. The hardware is still big and dangerous, but now if something goes wrong it's not because it's new unproven tech, but because the management at NASA is stupid. The Mars robots are about the most interesting thing being done these days, and even that isn't all that exiciting.
What's needed is not nonsense like Britney getting involved in the space program, but a space program that does something the public would be interested in. A colony on the moon, and astronauts on Mars would be a start. Sure it's dangerous and expensive, but it's also very much exciting, and the danger didn't stop anybody in the race of getting to the moon.
I think, judging by their chosen venue, the name they release will be obvious. To do otherwise would just be tacky.
"Yes, we'll get all the recognition we can from your show, but not scratch your back in kind."
Glad they went with it, as it was the winner. Aside from that, the name marks much more than anything like Serenity would.
Serenity shows the world what? There are a few scifi geeks in NASA? At most, maybe that they find inspiration in grand goals. Naming it Colbert, on the other hand, signifies a return to pop-culture significance. That the people are excited about space again. Or at the very least, naming it after Colbert will ensure that the module stays in the public eye as he continues his "status updates" (like he did for his baby eagle and a few other stunts). It would be a huge missed marketing opportunity NOT to name it after a television host who has supported science more than any other in recent history.
Of course, they already know this. That's why it's being revealed on his show.
I'm reminded of the dumbasses that lobbied to get the shuttle prototype named "Enterprise". Due to design changes, it never went into space. Nice tribute.
On the plus side, it didn't blow up either.
Get off my lawn.
Serenity is as meaningful as "Enterprise". Hell, the name "Enterprise" is pretty damn boring without the back-history. It conjures visions of boardrooms and suits, "enterprise-wide mandate", "enterprise agreement", "enterprise regulations".