NASA's next node will be named...

Chalk one up for Steven Colbert, kind of.

NASA announced Friday afternoon that astronaut Sunita Williams will appear Tuesday on "The Colbert Report" to unveil the name of the newest node for the International Space Station.

(Credit: NASA)

From everything NASA has indicated, the node probably won't be named for the comedian. It likely will be dubbed "Serenity," based on the official voting results on NASA's site.

NASA ran an online contest earlier this year to name the node. The agency's official suggestions: Earthrise, Serenity, Venture, and Legacy. But NASA also (naively, perhaps) stated that the public could offer write-in votes.

Colbert is known for using his show's wildly dedicated fanbase and online social media to rally support for such acts as repeatedly altering Wikipedia's entry on elephants and running for president. And he decided to rally his fans to name the node for him.

Write-in votes for Colbert eclipsed all others, which NASA does acknowledge. But his entry falls under only the Top 10 suggestions list.

"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," Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for space operations at NASA headquarters, said in a statement.

"I certainly hope NASA does the right thing," Colbert has said. "Just kidding, I hope they name it after me."

According to NASA, Node 3 is a "pressurized module that will provide room for many of the space station's life support systems." Those include oxygen generation, temperature and pressure controls, oh-so delightful urine reclamation, and shower and toilet facilities. Node 3 is set to launch in late 2009.

Considering NASA has chosen to unveil the name on Colbert's show, there must be some twist to it all. Comedy Central itself is playing with the idea that NASA will name a space toilet for Colbert.

[Angmarr]

wow this shows how much we Americans care about NASA - SAD = (

[mementh]

I challange all media outlets to respect this Space overlords supporters and onyl refer to it inp ublic as the Colbert Module, no MATTER WHAT NASA CALLS IT

MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Seriously though don't name the toilet after him... look what happened to Prince John of Rotthinham.

[littleM]

NASA has been in it's own world since Armstrong set foot on the moon, ignoring the public. But their world needs public funding, and we'll ignore that too if they stiff us on Colbert.

[bakedpatato]

Xenu. If NASA named it Xenu and it broke...the CoS would call their lawyers for sure!

[Jack K1]

Colbert or a diaper - pretty funny either way.

[wxstar]

Serenity was the name of the spaceship on Firefly (and the movie with the same name.)

[Cheetahjab]

Acctually nasa has stated before, it has no relation to the show of the ship.. but firefly fans attached that meaning to it.

[ewsachse]

Let's hope it is not related to that show or movie. The TV show crashed and burned. The movie was a box office flop (it cost more to film than it earned at the theaters). NASA should not name a space module after a disaster. That is what is called "bad karma".

[pjhenry1216]

@ewsachse: lots of good stuff crash and burn. there have been good movies that flopped in the box office. Correlation does not imply causation. In any case, I found both the series and the movie to be extremely entertaining and much better than whats on TV nowadays. Under your theories, this would imply that American Idol is world class programming. If that is indeed the case, I wouldn't bother with your opinion anyway. I sure would hope you'd watch something before discussing the quality of the show/movie.

[ejschlapp]

NASA could have solicited a commercial sponsor to name the node like most sports venues these days and plastered stickers on the outside of the node like NASCAR. No bucks, no Buck Rogers.

[joyofsomeone]

Has anyone noticed that Gaia is actually the perfect name for the node? "provide room for many of the space station's life support systems." It'll be the area that supports the life on the station, and with it's viewing windows down to Earth... It's like it was made for it :)

Can you tell i voted for Gaia? XD

[ZetaZeta_]

I'm actually guessing it was a raid by the GaiaOnline forums.

[XiroMisho]

VIA LA COLBERT!
VIA LA COLBERT!
VIA LA COLBERT!
VIA LA COLBERT!
VIA LA COLBERT!
VIA LA COLBERT!
VIA LA COLBERT!
VIA LA COLBERT!
VIA LA COLBERT!
VIA LA COLBERT!
VIA LA COLBERT!
VIA LA COLBERT!
VIA LA COLBERT!

[ledhead1962]

Uh, that would be viva Colbert. Nice try.

[ZetaZeta_]

By way of Colbert.

[scdecade]

Cancel NASA. It's loong overdue. NASA serves no purpose in the modern world.

[ledhead1962]

Yeah what good could come from trying to explore new regions and possibly finding an outlet off of the closed environment of the planet earth. Lets stick with what we've got, I mean when has the human equation ever included testing the limits? Curiosity is so over rated and stagnation is so much easier. Plus, with so many country's going into space why would America want to risk losing on another global stage? Better to stay home and watch the TV coverage.

[ZetaZeta_]

I think space is pretty worthless. It would take millenia before we reach anywhere useful. It's more sensible to spend money exploring our oceans.

[Saerain]

Right. Because Earth will be here forever, and always habitable.

No. We need to expand beyond this rock. The sooner the better. If not to expand, then to survive at all. NASA and nanotech efforts are the most important endeavors we have.

[ZetaZeta_]

If Earth dies, then we're going to all die unless it dies after we've made a few intergalactic wormhole gates to various habitable stations around the universe or we've terraformed and completely inhabit a different sphere in our system. This will take thousands of years at least, and ridiculous resources that one nation can never put together.

It's a little bit easier to just clean up, explore, and protect our damn sphere.

[pjhenry1216]

Yea. I'm ignorant and I think NASA should be canceled so therefore, I'm obviously right.


Do research next time. Here's a non-exhaustive list of 50 things that NASA helped bring to our world through its research: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/50-years-50-giant-leaps-how-nasa-rocked-our-world-879377.html

Don't run your mouth without thinking first. There are plenty of things to come out of NASA other than pictures of space.

This has nothing to do with finding a new place to live. Better fuel efficiency (better almost anything efficiency... if something can be rated in terms of efficiency, NASA can probably make it more efficient... life-support systems, recycling systems, etc.), better and safer building materials, safer travel on both land and in the air, renewable energy (NASA puts money into solar power, the sun powers their little toys out there and they want to get the most out of it).

How can anyone with half a brain not realize that there is so much to gain from NASA?

[sythara]

Keep in mind that yes NASA has done great achievements in for the good of the world, there are other space agencies that made just as many contributions.

Still, NASA needs to stay, just the management teams need to be fired.

[ZetaZeta_]

@pjhenry1216:
I'm still unconvinced we need to pour such a massive amount of money into NASA every year. Those 50 innovations are interesting, but please think about what NASA's budget is, and if innovations like that can come from a non-space organization.

[He_And_Him_Studios]

Name it after him, they said that the one with the most votes would be the name, so name it after him. NASA should be happy they got all of the votes they did because of him.

[gsigas]

Their intention was to draw interest in the space station and Colbert helped them to do it. The fact that they are unveiling the name on Colbert's show makes me think they probably did talk to him and offered to name it after Colbert, but Colbert probably came up with the toilet idea to add more humor.

[thelemurking]

Maybe I missed it in the article, but NASA is sending an astronaut to The Colbert Report this Tuesday to announce the name of the module. There were people in the senate and congress telling NASA to honor the vote and name it after Colbert.

[chash360]

Shows what kind of sense and reason is in our congress huh? Ultimately NASA retained full rights to name it what ever they wanted, even with the voting. Just like presidential voting, it does not matter what the citizens choose, its what gets decided by the powers that be (for better or worse). It is a shame for the media to get to decide these things (you saw what happened in 2004), and like it or not, Colbert is part of the media. As long as there is a monopoly upon comminication, the opinions of the many will be overwhelmed, by louder voices of those with the microphones. They will lead their sheep to the cliffs if it will bring them moneyand power. And if you want to argue that the voices of the many were the Colbert following, try comparing that number, to number of voices of the unheard, which far outnumber the Colbert Nation.

I like the Colbert Show, but as he has done little more than make a mockery of the organization, and not contributed more than satirized publicity to it, he simply does not deserve naming rights. If someone famous, that did not provide direct contribution to the agency's goals or success, deserved such rights, I would think Gene Roddenberry, or George Lucus, or Jules Verne would certainly be more appropriate.

The name Serenity falls inline with the other module's names, so does Tranquility, of which both you might expect to achieve after either relieving yourself, or getting a good dose of oxygen in space (does that satisfy your desire for humor CN?). A toilet named after Colbert, is quite appropriate, provided he agrees with such, that much he does deserve for this antic.

[pjhenry1216]

@chash360: I dunno. Bringing NASA back into the limelight and making people remember that it still exists is a big achievement. If it weren't for Colbert, most people probably wouldn't even know there'll be another node being added. Colbert did an amazing amount of PR for NASA.

[JCPayne]

Do u watch his show. It is not just the toilet as that Arizona politician was calling it. It also had the water and oxygen equipment.

[jmcconnor]

Flame on, flamers...flame on.

SERENITY! ROCKS!!!