The James Webb Space Telescope, Hubble’s long-awaited successor, is mired in controversy over its name.
In 1999, Karen Knierman took a free cup at her first major astronomy conference, just before she started grad school. It had the logo of an ambitious observatory, designed to peer into the universe’s farthest galaxy, NGST, short for Next Generation Space Telescope. The mug was on Knierman’s desk in 2002 when NASA made the surprise announcement, NGST would become JWST, after James Webb. Knierman took a sip from his suddenly outdated cup and wondered, Who?
In response to the protests, NASA undertook a review of historical documents, looking for evidence of Webb’s direct involvement in the discrimination or dismissal of LGBTQ employees. Apparently, the agency failed to find one: Last month, without releasing any additional information, the current NASA administrator, Bill Nelson, announced that JWST would remain JWST. “We have found no evidence at this time warranting a name change,” Nelson said in a statement.
If JWST had launched earlier, its name might have escaped this level of scrutiny. But it’s 2021, and NASA has spent the last few years making a concerted effort to identify scientists, many of whom are women and people of color who have been neglected in space history. The name of this telescope is one of the most important that NASA will choose. Years from now, the name Webb may be as famous as Hubble, another symbol of human achievement. Usually, NASA consults with the space community in decisions like this, picking up names that will resonate widely; in this case, the agency has relied, more than once, on top-down decision making and failed to show its work.
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Now, instead of the glossy narrative that had been planned for the launch of one of its most expensive projects, NASA had a problem. Even after Nelson’s announcement, scientists and the rest of the space community are still asking for answers. Controversy has followed JWST to its launch site in French Guiana, on the north coast of South America, where it arrived earlier this month by ship from California. And it will float in the background as the telescope is launched into space and settle in its distant orbit, unfolding piece by piece, its luminous hexagonal mirror ready to welcome the universe. Even there, a million miles away from Earth, the telescope may still be weighed down by its terrestrial load.
Editor : Good Fit
Writer : Zulfikar Ali Husen
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