3 ms·
> Former NASA administrator Sean O’Keefe named the JWST after Webb in 2002, when the telescope was in the early stages of development. It was a unilateral decis
by lovecg 5y ago
> Former NASA administrator Sean O’Keefe named the JWST after Webb in 2002, when the telescope was in the early stages of development. It was a unilateral decision that took many by surprise, because NASA’s telescopes are typically named after scientists. Webb, who died in 1992, was a bureaucrat who held several administrative roles in the US government.
I actually had no idea who Webb was, I always assumed he was an astronomer or something. Maybe it’s not a bad idea to change it and honor an actual scientist regardless?
- tptacek 5y agoIf this article had been written about the "controversy over naming a space telescope over a bureaucrat rather than a scientist", every comment here would be advocating for the name change. The framing is everything, which is why people click on stuff like this.