Update on the Colbert Node of the International Space Station

Things are really heating up re: the naming of Node 3. I've written before that Stephen Colbert's show does more to promote science and space to its demographic than any show out there not specifically tailored to promote science and space, and since he won the poll there's no reason not to name it after him. And besides, as one poster put it:

if the navy has the uss jimmy carter and the uss george h w bush, there is a precedent for naming ships after living people.

apollo 9's command module was "gumdrop".
apollo 10 had "snoopy" and "charlie brown".
apollo 16 had "casper".
how is "colbert" really better or worse?

I mean, come on. Gumdrop is okay, Snoopy is okay, but Colbert is not?

This event has brought NASA a TON of PR over the past few weeks. What's the chance it would have gotten any attention at all if the only choices were Serenity and the rest? Even I probably wouldn't have noticed.

I love how House members are even getting into the debate:

In a March 26 statement, Congressman Chaka Fattah (D-PA) urged NASA to respect the results of the agency's online poll.

"NASA decided to hold an election to name its new room at the International Space Station and the clear winner is Stephen Colbert," Fattah said in the statement. "The people have spoken, and Stephen Colbert won it fair and square — even if his campaign was a bit over the top."

Fattah pointed out that NASA's top choice Serenity finished well behind Colbert's name.

And besides:

"Serenity? That's not a space station, that's an adult diaper," Colbert said.

Edit: here's one more comment that I like.

EVERYONE pays for NASA so EVERYONE should have some say in what it does. Case closed.