NASA does not name ISS module COLBERT.

NASA recently held an online contest to name the new ISS module (formerly known as Node 3). After more than a million votes cast, and despite winning the popular vote, Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert was denied his name on the module. NASA instead chose the name Tranquility.

Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations said, “Apollo 11 landed on the moon at the Sea of Tranquility 40 years ago this July. We selected ‘Tranquility’ because it ties it to exploration and the moon, and symbolizes the spirit of international cooperation embodied by the space station.”

Image: NASA (public domain)
Image: NASA (public domain)

“We don’t typically name U.S. space station hardware after living people and this is no exception,” Gerstenmaier joked. “However, NASA is naming its new space station treadmill the ‘Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill,’ or COLBERT.

Colbert announced the naming live on his show yesterday evening

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Tony Coyle

I'm a technophile with an enduring interest in almost anything real or imagined. I suffer fools badly, and love trashy science fiction, plot-free action movies, playing guitar, and baking (especially scones. You haven't lived 'til you've eaten my scones. I've recently undertaken bread, and am now in danger of gaining in a matter of weeks the 60 pounds I've lost in the past 2 years). My wife & I are Scottish, living north of Atlanta, GA, with two children, one dog, and a growing collection of gadgets. I work for a living.

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