Should the James Webb telescope be renamed?

[Officer Big Mac]

The article isnt that long and I didn't think summarizing the reasoning of these scientists was going to be sufficient so you can read for yourself. But I think there are plenty of figures that we could name the next space telescope after that is a positive symbol for all people.

Webb's compliance helped the government purge many LGBTQ employees from government service. As I was reading the article the line from Clue where Mr Greene reveals he's a gay government employee now makes more sense considering the era. It's not as though Webb was the driving force behind these policies but there seems to be evidence he was involved in discussions that led to them.

Take a read and post your thoughts.

The James Webb Space Telescope Needs to Be Renamed

The successor to the Hubble currently honors a man who acquiesced to homophobic government policies during the 1950s and 1960s

www.scientificamerican.com

 

[Ubik]

I never liked the name to begin with. These types of things shouldn't be named after politicians (that's all NASA administrators are). I am sure there are plenty of actual scientists or cool ass exploration words like how they name ships and probes that could be used.

 

[Dr. Mario]

As I understand it, it's mostly guilt by association, that no one involved in government in that time period should get recognition. I dunno that's an awfully wide net to cast. Would that include the astronauts themselves in that time period? Government scientists? Anyway I do agree with Ubik that it should be named after a scientist or scientific principle in the first place and not a politician.

 

[Officer Big Mac]

As I understand it, it's mostly guilt by association, that no one involved in government in that time period should get recognition. I dunno that's an awfully wide net to cast. Would that include the astronauts themselves in that time period? Government scientists? Anyway I do agree with Ubik that it should be named after a scientist or scientific principle in the first place and not a politician.

Click to shrink...

Unless the astronauts were responsible for setting and enforcement then I'd guess not. Going along to get along doesn't seem to be an acceptable excuse when there are perfectly fine alternatives.

 

[Qwark]

I didn't know about any of this stuff. Ugh, this is gross. Yes, take every namesake away from him.

 

[Atolm]

To be honest I always thought such a ginormous project deserved the name of a much bigger scientist. The Paul Dirac telescope , to make an unknown titan of science known to a wider public.

Or I don't know, I think even astronauts deserve it more. The Armstrong telescope or something.

 

[Gernau Morat Gurgeh]

Didn't know this about James Webb. It probably should be named after someone else, but I highly doubt that will happen

 

[John Dunbar]

wernher von braun telescope