NASA ran into problems with a public competition to name a new module on the International Space Station. It offered website visitors a shortlist of names to choose between but allowed them to write in their own choices.
According to Space.com, comedian Stephen Colbert encouraged viewers to write in his own name. When voting ended on March 20th, “Colbert” was the winner, beating “Serenity” by 40,000 votes.
I’m torn because I enjoy Stephen Colbert’s show and I’m also a fan of the TV series Firefly, which is the origin of Serenity.
But it looks like NASA officials may sort the problem out by naming the new ISS toilet after Colbert and the new module after Serenity.
Colbert pressed NASA’s human space flight chief, Bill Gerstenmaier, to name the space module after him during a show on March 10. But Gerstenmaier was noncommittal, saying only that the space agency would have to “think about that” as the votes came in.
“That’s NASA’s problem,” Colbert said. “You guys think too much.”
Well I guess having any part of the ISS named after you is an honour… even if it is the toilet