'I Hope They Name It After Me,' Comedian Quips
NASA plans to announce the name selected for the newest module
for the International Space Station on April 14 - 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 pm
EDT.
NASA originally planned to announce the node's name on April 28,
after it arrived at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
However, the node's arrival at Kennedy is delayed until May, so the
announcement was moved ahead to April 14.
The name, which will not be publicly released until the program
airs, was selected from thousands of unique suggestions submitted
on NASA's web site. The "Help Name Node 3" poll asked people to
vote for the module's name, either by choosing one of four NASA
options or by offering their own suggestion. The poll closed on
March 20.
"The node naming poll was organic and took on a life of its
own," said Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator
for Space Operations at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "We
received more than a million entries, in large part because social
media Web sites and television programs, such as 'The Colbert
Report,' took an interest. This spread overall awareness of the
International Space Station."
The show's producers offered to host
the name selection announcement after comedian and host Stephen
Colbert took interest during the census and urged his followers to
post the name "Colbert." "I certainly hope NASA does the right
thing," said Colbert. "Just kidding, I hope they name it after
me."
A staggering 1,190,437 people voted or suggested names for the
module. Of the names submitted by the public, "Colbert" got the
most votes. NASA's suggested names, in order of popularity, were
"Serenity," "Legacy," "Earthrise," and "Venture." Of the four,
"Serenity" was the overwhelming favorite, receiving 70 percent of
the votes.
Although the poll received an overwhelming response and served
its purpose in increasing the public's interest in Node 3, the
rules of the contest state that the results of the voting are "not
binding" and NASA "reserves the right to ultimately select a name
in accordance with the best interests of the agency."
Node 3, targeted for launch in late 2009, is a pressurized
module that will provide room for many of the space station's life
support systems. Attached to the node is the cupola, a
one-of-a-kind work station with six windows around the sides and
one on top.