14 DAY TRIAL // Comedian Stephen Colbert urged his fans on Tuesday to put his name up as a nominee for nominating NASA's new International Space Station (ISS) module that was to be launched soon. He thoroughly dismissed the four denominations that the American space agency had selected for the module, which were Earthrise, Legacy, Serenity and Venture. He said that they sounded like brands of tea, and proposed that his last name, Colbert, be used instead. On NASA's website, his entry already jumped to first place, following numerous votes from fans.
“Those aren't space modules, those are organic teas. But you know what name would look fantastic on the side of that module? Colbert!” the comedian shared earlier this week in an edition of his fake-conservative show “The Colbert Report.” Apparently, fans believed that this was actually a good idea, so they took to the agency's site and started voting. By Wednesday, his name had already made the top of the list, speeding by the former favorite, Xenu, which referred to some galactic Scientology ruler.
“Folks, I'm telling you, if we keep this up until the contest ends on March 20, my name will live forever – or at least until that node burns up in a fiery reentry. Which is how I'd like to go out myself,” he pointed out two days ago. And chances are that his fans will actually follow his advice. While for some it may not seem such a good idea, others salute the initiative, considering that NASA's names, although very nice, all follow the same line in general, and that a change would be welcome once in a while.
The space agency seeks the public's input on voting a future piece of the ISS for the second time. When it was looking for a name for Node 2, some 2,220 students expressed their preference for the term “harmony,” which was finally accepted. As opposed to that, now Node 3 has received proposals and votes from some 169,000 people, and most of them chose the denomination “Colbert.” Node 3 will feature many racks for future life-support equipment, as well as some windows, from where astronauts will have sweeping views of the Earth and the Moon.
“We think that the 'Colbert' entry is great, and are excited that Mr. Colbert and his audience have taken an interest in the contest,” space station program analyst Jacob Keaton, who is also the manager of the Name the Node Contest, commented.