Colbert Wins ISS Naming Contest
Written by Nancy Atkinson
ISS Node 3: Will it be Colbert?
NASA obviously underestimated the awesome power of the Colbert. In an online contest to name a new module for the International Space Station, NASA suggested a few names, but then provided the possibility for write-in suggestions. Comedian Stephen Colbert won in a landslide, beating out NASA's obvious top suggestion, Serenity by over 40,000 votes. But NASA has not said if they will heed the public's wishes. Nearly 1.2 million votes were cast when the voting ended last Friday. Colbert has been in the lead for some time, and a few weeks ago NASA's Associate Administrator for Space Operations Bill Gerstenmaier joined Colbert on his Comedy Central show to address the possibility of actually naming the module. "Will you now commit to naming that module Colbert if I win your online vote?" Colbert asked Gerstenmaier.
"Well, we're going to have to go think about that as we get all the votes and we see where we are," Gerstenmaier responded. See the video below:
| The Colbert Report | Mon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Space Module: Colbert – William Gerstenmaier | ||||
|
||||
NASA said it reserves the right to choose an appropriate name. Agency spokesman John Yembrick said NASA will decide in April, but will give top vote-getters "the most consideration."
Colbert urged viewers of his Comedy Central show, "The Colbert Report" to write in his name. Colbert received 230,539 votes.
He said "Serenity" is not a name for a space station module, but for an air freshener.
Serenity took 70% of votes for NASA's suggested names, with Legacy, Earthrise and Venture getting just a small percentage of the votes. NASA has said contests like this one are a way to get the public involved with space exploration.
Anyone want to place bets on what the module's name will actually be?
For more information about the Node 3 module, read our original post about the naming contest.
Filed under: Space Station
Related stories on Universe Today
Comment policy: Be nice and brief. Don't advertise your stuff, or promote your personal theories. We'll delete any comments that break these policies. Click here for more details.
March 23rd, 2009 at 2:54 pm
I voted for Colbert.
March 23rd, 2009 at 4:03 pm
I guess next we'll have to send him up to the ISS for an in depth interview and report on what the astronauts actually think about all the controversy? Yes… he can take his eagle.
March 23rd, 2009 at 4:03 pm
I voted for "Venture". Can I still call it that, no matter what name they pick?
March 23rd, 2009 at 4:06 pm
… or maybe a phone call will do?
March 23rd, 2009 at 4:11 pm
Comedian Stephen Colbert ?
I guess that I am a nerd- I have never even heard of him- He is never on the Science Channel is he?
Lets name something for Carl Sagan or
how about William Shatner- or the
James T Kirk module-
March 23rd, 2009 at 4:21 pm
NASA isn't going to select Colbert. They have an easy get-out in that The Colbert Report is part of Comedy Central which is an ongoing commercial enterprise, and naming the module after the star of the show would be seen as free advertising (even more than the free publicity he's already received). As much as I like the show, I don't agree that my tax dollars should be used in this way.
Mark my words, Serenity will get the nod.
March 23rd, 2009 at 4:30 pm
Layman, Colbert himself is a nerd.
Anyhoo, I'd go for naming a module Colbert, but only if NASA named another one Stewart. Besides, that'd piss off the iranians: Stewart is also from Jew-piter, I hear.
March 23rd, 2009 at 4:35 pm
The firefly fans voted for Serenity… and I suspect they have guns.
This could get ugly >_>;
March 23rd, 2009 at 5:00 pm
Who is Colbert? ;o) Can anyone imagine Captain Kirk meeting aliens in a ship named Colbert? Much less a space station module. I'll side with NASA on this one.
March 23rd, 2009 at 5:13 pm
Should have been Serenity.
March 23rd, 2009 at 5:48 pm
Does anyone know if this module has a particular purpose- science- medical- galley-gym- holo-deck….?
Lets vote again- The Sagan Observatory
March 23rd, 2009 at 5:51 pm
Rubbish. If this crap is just a retarded Popularity Contest it's going to wind up being some retarded crap like "The Hannah Montana Module". It has to be Serentiy, gorram it.
March 23rd, 2009 at 5:52 pm
Serenity now…Colbert later.
March 23rd, 2009 at 7:47 pm
I voted for Colbert.
But I think NASA will come up with some lame excuse not to use that.
March 23rd, 2009 at 9:49 pm
The first space shuttle was named Enterprise, from the Star Trek TV show … How's that for naming something after a 'commercial enterprise' huh tacitus?
I voted Colbert
March 23rd, 2009 at 10:16 pm
Yes, Ken, I know about Enterprise. There's a big difference though. There were already eight US Navy ships by the same name before Star Trek ever took to the airwaves, so while the vote to name the first space shuttle Enterprise was obviously swayed by sentimental reasons, there were also excellent historical reasons for giving it that name (not to mention the appropriateness of the term itself). I also don't remember any employee of Paramount launching an active campaign to get that name selected!
I thought it was great fun for Colbert to throw his lot into the competition and NASA only benefits from the extra publicity it's given them but, as I said, there is no way NASA is going to allow that module to be called Colbert. I suspect they will find a place in the module to stick a plaque with Stephen Colbert's name on it but they will call module Serenity. (After all, Unity and Harmony are the other names, so it fits right in.)
Just having a plaque with Colbert's name on it arriving at the ISS will probably ensure several more show's worth of publicity for NASA.
March 23rd, 2009 at 11:21 pm
Naming the module Colbert would be more evidence of the decline of western civilization.
March 23rd, 2009 at 11:58 pm
Does Colbert in anyway "reflect the spirit of exploration and cooperation embodied by the space station, and follow in the tradition set by Node 1- Unity- and Node 2- Harmony."
I don't think so….
March 24th, 2009 at 12:07 am
Looks more like a gun-mount from the Millenium Falcon to me…
March 24th, 2009 at 2:22 am
I voted for Norris. Because if we named it after Chuck you'd never need to move it out of the way of space junk again.
March 24th, 2009 at 3:20 am
NASA is a public entity; funded, in the main, by public funds. I am a member of the public. I don't like or dislike Colbert. But I know that, among others, he appeals to smarmy, snide mouthoffs who find self validation in his commentary and I certainly do not want a publicly funded project validating that kind of nonsense. There would have been more votes for "Rush" or "Limbaugh" if he had thought of having the smarmy, snide mouthoffs who find validation in his commentary vote for him. NASA has to think about the precedents.
March 24th, 2009 at 3:55 am
Nothing wrong with Colbert.
He managed to bring more attention to the program than NASA did. That itself is saying something. He hasn't done anything to demean the program or hurt NASA in any way.
To be fair… he won. Like it or not.
March 24th, 2009 at 3:58 am
This article has been added to the Astronomy Link List.
March 24th, 2009 at 5:56 am
This is an 'International Space Station. How inappropriate is that, when a self-centered completely ego-centric choice of a name is seriously considered as the number one possibility.
It appears to me, in most space namings a member of the community is often honoured based on their merit and contribution over time or the object is named from their personal preference, as a recognition.
Colbert?! Please. Serenity was excellent, so is Harmony.
Keep it 'international' and symbolic of the unity of the global community.
March 24th, 2009 at 7:30 am
"Serenity"? Are you kidding me?
Only NASA could make space boring.
The people have spoken.
The people are paying for the module
The people are paying all your salaries NASA
Lighten up, learn to live a little and most of all listen to the people NASA.
You should listen.
March 24th, 2009 at 7:53 am
NASA will once again ignore the will of the public who pays for them via their taxes and go with their original name chioce.
And of course NASA will continue to wonder why Joe Sixpack doesn't care about them or space.
March 24th, 2009 at 8:11 am
Hrumpf! Hrumpf! Hrumpf!
Scamp and Huygens for President!
Colbert won fair and square through popular vote!
Oh wait….popular vote means nothing in the US of A. Sorry, my bad…
March 24th, 2009 at 8:23 am
If naming the module 'Colbert' brings added attention and interest to the program, then it is a good thing.
Naming it anything else now, after the contest was won in a fair manner, will only segregate those thousands who supported it, and perpetuate the feeling that the government will go back on its word, and doesn't care about every day civilians.
NASA doesn't need to impress those who are already space geeks. They already have them… for better or worse.
They need to do what they can to improve their image and create a connection with those who have never even been to NASA's web site. Especially when they will be fighting for money within an Obama budget which prides social programs over scientific exploration.
March 24th, 2009 at 9:21 am
Did you notice the new phrase added to the announcement of the naming contest for NASA's Mars Science Lab:
"The non-binding poll to help NASA select a name will accept votes through March 29, 2009. "
"non-binding", huh? I guess the Colbert Nation taught NASA a lesson…
March 24th, 2009 at 9:54 am
You're invoking segregation? Really?? Please, spare us from your ridiculously high dudgeon.
The Colbert campaign was a prank, a joke — quite literally. The Colbert team thought it would be a funny thing to do (and they were right) as well as bringing more attention (and advertising dollars) to the show. The NASA get-out clause was in the rules of the contest precisely for this type of hijacking of the poll.
Nobody in their right mind believes that NASA is required to abide by this comedic gerrymandering of an online poll just because of the risk that American voters might lose their faith in their government. Just how stupid do you think people are?
March 24th, 2009 at 9:56 am
tsk tsk… another opportunity for Humanity co-opted by crass credulity….
"forty-thousand years inventing the wheel, and still haven't agreed what colour it should be…"
..let's call it "the B-Ark"
March 24th, 2009 at 9:56 am
Peter, the poll was non-binding from the beginning.
March 24th, 2009 at 10:24 am
…. I bet "humility" never got a look-in between 185-60 long' W, & 30-75 lat' N,….
…"Vanity" might be more US-media appropriate? .."vacuous ephemera for the attention-deficit" is too self-defeating…
mebe NASA could spend less on PR & Marketing, more on science and engineering, and just call it the view-deck….
?
March 24th, 2009 at 10:27 am
I remember back in 1997 I think it was and Ric Flair won the "write-in" Man of the Year for TIME Magazine by a landslide.
Needless to say, he was NOT selected as man of the year.
However,
I think they should name it Colbert and hopefully more people will make a big deal about naming some of these machines. Maybe it will bring some NEEDED attention to Space!
March 24th, 2009 at 11:44 am
If "Colbert" wins out then the Canadian Space Agency should consider renaming the DEXTRE robot "Mercer" to keep with the comedian theme.
March 24th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
I think it would be well-humored and funny (same thing?) for NASA to name it Colbert.
March 24th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
I like the idea that Colbert attracts a very hip an savvy crowd. These folks actually KNOW that we are building an International Space Station! and may even know where to look for it when it passes over…
March 24th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
Humor like music opens our minds.
March 24th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
The fact that a name from a canceled, one-season science fiction show was able to come within 40,000 votes of a very popular comedian on TV every night is quite an accomplishment.
Scamp, based on your comment, you should give yourself a treat and check out "Firefly"- the Joss Wheadon show from which the name derives. Not so boring.
March 25th, 2009 at 6:33 am
Someone compare the number of comments on this article to the number of comments on articles concerning substantive aspects of NASA's space strategy and tell me it isn't an example of Parkinson's Law of Triviality, a.k.a the bikeshed painting problem.
I think Serenity is an utterly vacuous name. What serenity is it named for? I can't imagine a bustling space station being very serene, unless of course it's abandoned or everyone aboard dies. Maybe that's why they want to name it Serenity? In anticipation of all their astronauts getting owned by a piece of space junk?
Colbert may be equally vacuous, but at least it has the redeeming virtue of being humorous. Simply thinking module 1: Unity, module 2: Harmony, module 3,: Colbert makes me giggle. That's why NASA won't do it. Fun is illegal, you know.
March 25th, 2009 at 10:54 am
watchful stone guardian SAID:
If "Colbert" wins out then the Canadian Space Agency should consider renaming the DEXTRE robot "Mercer" to keep with the comedian theme.
HA HA HA, that's excellent!! For sure…I vote for renaming to "Mercer" (as in Rick Mercer).
Seriously though, on has to consider, what is the functionality of the new module.
Perhaps name it appropriately to tie in with that. I didn't think of Serenity from the sci fi show, but the meaning itself seems to suit the use.
BTW: It is NOT the American Space Station…keep that well in mind.
Ok here is a stray name for the module, after the fact: –MAYA–
Off the cuff it has many valuable meanings, but I thought it also gives a nod to the key breakout character from the tv series Space1999.
March 25th, 2009 at 7:04 pm
@tacitus
Are you kidding? Naming it after Stephen Colbert would be perceived as free advertising? Ahem, well, they didn't just conjure up the name Serenity – it was the name of the space vessel in the TV series Firefly, and the follow-up film of the same name. So whether you're glorifying Joss Whedon or Comedy Central, you're accomplishing the same damn thing.
I personally dislike the name "Venture", because it's just a synonym for "Enterprise" and "Endeavour", two names which have already been used for shuttles (and the former of which was wasted on only a test vessel that never saw actual spaceflight). The USS Venture was also well-known Federation Galaxy-class Starship from the Star Trek franchise. So, more commercialism right there. And Earthrise is a somewhat popular massively-multiplayer online role-playing game. Wouldn't want to advertise that, either.
Without knowing the specific purpose of the module or its intended use, it's really hard to settle on a decent name. Most orbital platforms that have been launched are named appropriately after notable astronomers or physicists, i.e., Kepler, Hubble, Fermi, etc. If they had bother placing similar names of noted scientists like that with at least some brief description of their accomplishments, the public might be more inclined to vote on such names.
Seems to me if you're going to bash Colbert for winning the contest, you'll have to bash just about all the other names NASA picked themselves because they all have some kind of niche commercial tie-in value that many people all over the world will be able to identify. He won fair and square. Leave it alone. If NASA's going to snow the public on these types of things, than their plan to get the public involved or interested more in space sciences will surely backfire and instead cause the public to lose faith in them.
March 25th, 2009 at 10:57 pm
It's just a module. Save Carl Sagans name for something big, like a new exploring rover on another world.
March 26th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
Big whoop, Colbert won. It's not like they're naming the entire space station, or the LEM. It's just one out of a dozen modules in a space station. Why wouldn't you chose Colbert? If the people want it and it brings publicity- great!
March 27th, 2009 at 2:08 pm
Seriously, NASA should just be happy that many people even gave a damn, considering how boring and uninspiring they make science and space in general appear.
Not naming the module Colbert would be a step in the WRONG direction for NASA, yet again.
March 28th, 2009 at 10:07 am
Colbert and Stewart are self-proclaimed FAKE NEWS. Colbert is clearly FAKE CONTEST WINNER.
March 28th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
NASA suggested Serenity, and people want it.
Serenity will be the name choosen. Why? Well because I said so and because other names are a joke.
March 31st, 2009 at 5:44 am
Colbert should have a room named for him on the ISS – the toilet.