14 DAY TRIAL // Officials at NASA have announced that the new American module for the International Space Station, currently known as “Node 3,” will receive its new name on April 14th. The new name is highly speculated on, mostly because of the fact that the public poll that was conducted on the space agency's official website showed that people wanted the new module to be named Colbert. The host of the bogus-conservative Comedy Central show “The Colbert Report” urged his viewers to vote his name for the new ISS segment a few weeks ago, and people did. Colbert came out on top, in front of all the four names that NASA proposed for the modules.
The “Help Name Node 3” poll closed on March 20th, with more than 230,000 people voting for Colbert. The runner-up, the “Serenity” name, got 40,000 votes less, while the third place was occupied by a write-in name, “Myyearbook,” which surprisingly totaled roughly 147,637. Still, Colbert may get a run for his money, as sources from NASA told reporters that the name of the comedian could go on the new ISS space toilet. It's still unsure whether Colbert will agree to having his name placed on a loo, but in all fairness, he won the naming contest fair and square.
“The node naming poll was organic and took on a life of its own. 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,” NASA Space Operations Associate Administrator Bill Gerstenmaier, from the agency's headquarters in Washington, DC, said.
The name of the new module will be announced on “The Colbert Report,” which airs on April 14th, on Comedy Central, at 11.30 pm EDT. NASA informed that astronaut Sunita “Suni” Williams, who was on both Expedition 14 and 15 to the ISS, would help make the announcement. “I certainly hope NASA does the right thing. Just kidding, I hope they name it after me,” Colbert told. The new name will not be published or otherwise divulged until the show airs.
The Node 3 will be launched in late 2009, and it’s meant to house a number of ISS' life-support systems. Also, the new pressurized structure also contains an observation room of sorts, which will offer astronauts working within an almost-full perspective on the motion of the robotic arm outside. The sides of the room will have 6 windows, with an additional one in the “ceiling.”