Matt Tobey
As you know, "Colbert" received an overwhelming majority of votes in NASA's Node 3 naming contest. And as you also know, the space agency has not yet committed to recognizing the will of the people, suggesting they might instead name a space toilet after the Colbert Report host and prompting a number of Congresspeople to get involved in the debacle. Well, the waiting and debating will soon end when a real no-foolin' astronaut appears on The Colbert Report next Tuesday at 11:30pm / 10:30c to announce NASA's final decision.
NASA's newest module for the International Space Station will get a new name on April 14.
The agency plans to make the announcement 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 p.m. EDT.
The name, which will not be publicly released until the program airs, was selected from thousands of unique suggestions submitted on NASA's Internet site, www.nasa.gov. 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."
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 moved to April 14.
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."
Node 3 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. Node 3 is targeted for launch in late 2009.
The Colbert Report airs Monday through Thursday at 11:30pm / 10:30c. After the jump, you can watch Stephen Colbert discussing the Node 3 on the show.
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As for the difficulty getting NASA to accept Colbert as a name, remember, "It's all in the packagin." You should have packaged it differently. I went on a dictionary site (http://www.freedict.com/onldict/jap.html)and looked all over for equivalent meanings that might be more palatable to NASA. "KO + BEA" in Japanese is "large, great + base up". I only spent 5 minutes on this, but that's pretty good!
Stephen,
I completely support all the efforts to name the water recycling module of the international space station to "the Colbert Node". A "John" by any other name! With this now universal recognition perhap this moniker will serve to redefine and rename restrooms the world over from "the john" to "the Colbert" or "the Colbert Node".
Anticipating your success I have instructed everyone in my sphere to drop the "the john" reference in favor of "the Colbert" or "the Colbert Node". It stuck from the start. The ladies think it's cool and have started using it too, having never before referred to the restroom as "the john". Ladies young and old are now excusing themselves to "the Colbert".
I live for the day when males not just in "The Nation" but the world over simply excuse themselves to "the Colbert Node" or ask innocently with absolute confidence in mixed company, "Where is "the Colbert?" or I need to use "the little Clobert Node!"
This brings new meaning to the old adage: "taking one for the team!" Big Fella – You Got Stones!
On behalf of myself & every male named John the world over,I bid you Good Luck & God's speed Stephen ! Tuesday can't come quick enough.
Sincerely,
Just another John
P.S. Let's check back in 6 months to a year. If this goes the way I suspect, perhaps we can work on renaming fans of the "oldest profession" in the world from "Johns" to "Colberts" as well. If this strikes too close to home maybe they can go by the moniker "Nodes". Let me know your thinking on the issues.
I think NASA should cut a deal with Colbert. Let’s face it: most of the country doesn’t give a hoot about NASA these days and I’m not sure that young people think astronauts are all that cool anymore either. In fact, they’re widely perceived as pretty much humorless. But, a little humor injection might be just the “boost” NASA needs to propel itself back into popular culture. Perhaps with a new Colbert Report segment like “Better Know an Astronaut”.
Along the same lines, NASA should seriously think about sending a comedian into space. Take a vote! It’s Stephen Colbert, hands down. Even the right wingers would embrace the opportunity to divert Colbert from his current mission.
Dear NASA,
Clearly NASA is Not Actually Stoke About……Colbert!!!!
Keep in mind one thing:
Suni Williams can be seen in a set of 2007 photographs alongside fellow astronaut Steven R. Swanson aboard the ISS as he shows off his Firefly and (yes) Serenity DVDs floating in zero gravity.
But don't fret. I'm sure Colbert can still get that toilet named afer him.
It says here the name won't be released until Tuesday.
I think NASA made up their mind or they're changing it:
http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/name_ISS/index.html
Despite COLBERT being the top of the list, they still show "Serenity" as the overwhelming favorite in votes….perhaps if they excluded the votes for COLBERT…maybe they can make you an honorary astronaut, issue you one of those NASA flight suits with your name on it, and hand you a round-trip ticket for a very, very quick flight to wherever you want to go on Earth. Who says once that thing is up in the air it HAS to go to space? Flying at that speed to your vacation…that's first class. Prepare for liftoff!
"Juice It" for what it's worth!