This story was updated April 15 at 12:27 a.m. EDT.
Displaying
both a sense of history and humor, NASA on Tuesday revealed
"Tranquility" as the name of its newest space station module, while christening
a new astronaut exercise device after comedian Stephen Colbert, whose name led
their public opinion poll for what to name the orbiting outpost's new room.
Appearing
on Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report", the late night satirical
news show hosted by Colbert, astronaut Sunita "Suni" Williams broke the
news that the space agency would not be naming the new Node 3 module
after the comedian. Instead, the space agency gave him the consolatory honor as
the namesake for the International Space Station's (ISS) upgraded treadmill.
"We've
decided that the Node 3 will be called 'Tranquility,'" Williams told a shocked-looking
Colbert as the audience booed in protest.
"Wait a second!"
Colbert exclaimed. "I was assured that my name would be in space. Are you
saying that NASA's going back on that?"
Williams
assured Colbert his name would fly in space attached to the Tranquility
node's new treadmill, the Combined Operational Load Bearing External
Resistance Treadmill, or COLBERT. Click here to see
the COLBERT patch that will carry Colbert's likeness to the space station.
"I think a
treadmill is better than a node, you know why? Because the node is just a box
for the treadmill," Colbert said. "Nobody says 'Hey, my mom bought me a Nike box.'
They want the shoes that are inside."
Node 3
name game
Node 3, the
space agency proved that its poll was not
a popularity contest while still choosing one of the many names suggested
by visitors to its website. Although it is
impossible to know why so many chose "Tranquility", the name is
related to one of the most notable events in NASA's 50 year history.
Tranquility
Base was the touchdown site for Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing, 40
years ago this July. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to
walk on the Moon, exploring part of the geographical
area known as Mare Tranquillitatis, or the Sea of Tranquility.
The
Tranquility node will join similar modules "Unity" and
"Harmony", which are already part of the ISS, when it is launched in
February 2010 by space shuttle Endeavour. Tranquility will be used to
house the outpost's life support systems, including facilities for producing
the oxygen that the crew breathes and recycling their urine into drinkable
water.
Its star
attraction however, is the Cupola. Literally a room with a view, this
six-windowed dome will offer the station's six-person crew a place to control
robotic arm operations, as well as afford them unparalleled vistas of the Earth
rotating below, if not perhaps the moon above.
With the Node
named Tranquility, NASA needed a way to let Colbert down easy after he
encouraged his fans - members of the "Colbert Nation" - to
suggest his name instead. True to form, NASA adapted the comedian's surname to
be used for the space station's second treadmill, launching in August.
Previously referred to simply as Treadmill-2, it has now been redubbed COLBERT.
Williams
said that every day when astronauts exercise on the new treadmill, they'll see
his face on the patch and have to tell Mission Control "it's time to jump on
COLBERT."
NASA received more than 230,000 write-in votes to name the
node "Colbert", surpassing the next runner-up, Serenity by 40,000
ballots. The results grabbed headlines and gave rise to the rumor that NASA
might name the module's toilet for the TV host.
William Gerstenmaier, NASA's space operations chief, said
the space agency has invited Colbert to its Florida spaceport to watch the
COLBERT treadmill launch into space in August. Colbert has also been invited to
NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston to try out a version of the treadmill
which astronauts use for training.
"And
however far the space station goes, my treadmill will always have gone a few
miles more," Colbert said.
For more about Tranquility and the COLBERT, as well as
NASA's decision and Stephen Colbert's reaction, continue
reading at collectSPACE.com.
Copyright 2009 collectSPACE.com. All rights
reserved.
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