Shadowed By Controversy, NASA Won't Rename New Space Telescope
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NASA has no plans to change the name of its $10 billion technological marvel, James Webb Space Telescope. This despite concerns that James Webb, former NASA administrator, was complicit in government discrimination against lesbian and gay employees in the 1950s, 1960s.
NPR is told by the space agency that it has investigated the matter, and decided to keep the name of the telescope the same. This will allow for the December launch, which was long awaited.
NASA administrator Bill Nelson says that "we have not found any evidence at the moment that warrants changing name of the James Webb Space Telescope."
This powerful telescope is often seen as the successor to Hubble. It will be able see light from the earliest galaxies and analyze the atmospheres distant planets.
Some people are excited about the scientific potential of the telescope but have reservations about naming it after Webb who was the head of the agency in the crucial years it was trying to launch astronauts onto the moon.
Controversy erupts
Over 1,200 people signed a petition asking NASA to rename their telescope. They stated that Webb appears to have been complicit with the expulsion of homosexuals from government jobs, especially when he was in a high-ranking position at the U.S. State Department.
They point to evidence like Clifford Norton's interrogation, a former NASA employee who was fired while Webb was in charge of the agency. The letter states that "the historical record is already evident: under Webb’s leadership, queer persons were persecuted."
Chanda Prescod Weinstein, a University of New Hampshire cosmologist, says Webb's record "is complicated at best." She co-authored an article that called for the telescope's renaming. "And at the worst, we're just sending this amazing instrument into the sky bearing the name of an homophobe on, in my view."
She mentions that Norton was initially arrested for homosexual activity. He was then interrogated by police and then taken to NASA's head security. The agency then questioned Norton.
She says that she hasn't seen any evidence Webb knew about the incident. "But we have two options: Either Webb was an incompetent administrator who didn't know his head of security was interrogating NASA employees, or he knew everything and was involved in the interrogation and interrogation of gay people."
NASA launched an investigation to investigate Webb's government role, but it has not provided any other information about the review or the evaluation of its findings. It did mention that historians were involved.
NPR's senior science communications officer Karen Fox said that she had done all the research possible and exhausted her efforts to find evidence. She sent an email on Wednesday to NPR. "Those efforts haven't uncovered any evidence that warrants a name change."
Prescod Weinstein finds the lack of transparency all the more concerning.
She says, "I must tell you that this is concerning. They have chosen to keep it secret."
She says that she is a Black queer person and wishes the agency would clarify its reasoning, especially considering the facts already openly discussed.
Prescod Weinstein says that she is "basically a NASA fangirl", and adds that she was part of several NASA collaborations. She also said that she was in a NASA postdoctoral programme. "And this is especially hard for me, because it feels like I'm being gaslit at the agency that my entire career has been dedicated to and looking up to."
How Webb ended-up on a telescope
Names of space telescopes are often after notable scientists. Edwin Hubble, an American astronomer, was honored by the Hubble Space Telescope. The Spitzer Space Telescope is named after Lyman Spitzer, Jr., an American theoretical physicist and astronomer. Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, an Indian-American Nobel laureate, is the name of Chandra X-ray Observatory.
Sean O'Keefe (now at Syracuse University) made the decision to name the telescope Webb. O'Keefe, like Webb, didn't have any science background before joining NASA. He was more interested in professional management and administration.
Webb is a respected figure in his field. He helped to establish the National Academy of Public Administration, and was a thought leader when it came to developing ways of bringing together people from different fields in pursuit of ambitious goals.
O'Keefe claims that everyone was talking about the exciting new space telescope in development at NASA when he took over as NASA's top executive.
O'Keefe said, "That's about the most illuminating, exciting as, you know whatever," referring to his previous role as Secretary of Navy. This involves naming ships.
After casual conversations with NASA colleagues, he decided to name the telescope Webb after himself. O'Keefe says that there was no designated group of commissioners who could come up with a name. However, everyone he spoke to seemed to love the idea.
O'Keefe was told by an astronaut that NASA wouldn't exist without Webb's establishment of the agency. The New York Times reported in 2002 that the new name for the telescope was not well received by astronomers. They were happy that the agency had given the project their support and attention.
Relive history
However, in 2015, Dan Savage, a sex columnist and relationship advice columnist, wrote an article entitled "Should NASA Name a Telescope after a Dead Guy who Persecuted Gay People In the 1950s?" Webb has been the subject of much debate online, including in blogs and Twitter. As historians and astronomers weigh in, the December launch date is near, the debate has intensified.
Lucianne Walkowicz (an astronomer who is based at the Adler Planetarium, Chicago) wrote that it was unpleasant to think that NASA’s new telescope, whose amazing capabilities underpin so much current and future careers.
O'Keefe says that all this controversy was completely unplanned. He understands the concern.
O'Keefe says, "This is an important historical matter. To understand how it was we could have tolerated the purging talented professionals on the basis their personal preferences." "That is so unacceptable. It's obvious, there is no question. I applaud the efforts to increase awareness and visibility of it."
He hasn't yet seen any evidence that Webb was involved in requesting or carrying out a purge on gay government officials. O'Keefe says, "To suggest that he'd have to be held responsible for that activity when there's not even a hint that it is wrong,"
John Logsdon, a historian at George Washington University, knew Webb during his leadership of NASA. He said that Webb was an "insider" who was well-informed about Washington and "a product the value system of his day."
Logsdon says that he didn't take any actions that were considered unacceptable at the time. They probably wouldn't be accepted in this new world of 'woken'.
Prescod-Weinstein believes names for major scientific instruments such as this one should reflect the best of humanity.
All of this for her brings up the "fight that I have to have to feel OK with myself as queer" That shouldn't be equated with the amazing thing that is the universe.
