Online Hot Buzz Watch

Stephen Colbert

NASA decided to hold a public vote on their web site for the naming of the newest ISS module, and in his usual manner Stephen Colbert prompted his viewers, the Colbert Nation, to vote for the module to be named after him. And in an unstunning upset, Colbert did become the number one vote getter.

However, NASA executed their right to be the final arbiter over the naming of the module contest, and decided to reject Colbert.

This was disappointing to fans of the Colbert Report, but NASA had been hinting for some time that they weren’t going to accept the Colbert name so the rejection was not a surprise.

In addition, NASA attempted to appease by naming the new ISS treadmill the “Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill”, or COLBERT.

What did surprise many people though is that NASA didn’t just defer to the second runner up from the contest, “Serenity“, which many browncoat Sci-Fi fans may recognize from the series Firefly and following movie, Serenity.

Instead, NASA went with the #8 choice in the public voting, “Tranquility”, which has many people–not just Colbert and Sci-Fi fans–asking NASA “why ask us to vote if you don’t care what we think?”

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• NASA names treadmill after Stephen Colbert (cnn.com)