NASA to remove offensive names from planets, stars and other heavenly bodies

originally posted by: igloo
Thai Twin Nebula will have a different kind of apeall to a different kind of person.

When I was in Bangkok that cost extra...

I think the name Earth is very offensive, so they need to change that too.

a reply to: bigsnowman

Imagine being so triggered and offended by NASA's pre-emptive actions that you'd go online to complain about it

I don’t think anyone’s “triggered” by this nonsense, they’re disgusted by it. Are your here to defend NASA’s idiocy?

As long as they leave, "Large Breasted Hawt Babe Nebula" alone, I'm cool.

a reply to: DBCowboy

They did get your request to change the Crab Nebula and said, 'No. It's not our fault, must have been the European Space Agency'.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
a reply to: DBCowboy

They did get your request to change the Crab Nebula and said, 'No. It's not our fault, must have been the European Space Agency'.

No worries.

there are a Brazilian stars in the sky.

Reminds me of a joke from my youth (which is light years away), although like many jokes it also offers a back-handed critique of NASA's lack of diversity back then: "Why don't black people become astronauts? Because they don't like saying 'Yes NASA; no NASA".

And then there was the ongoing gender issue about the 1972 and 1973 Pioneer plaques, which were supposed to show the prospective aliens facets of humanity, including our supposed biologically sexed bodies:

The woman's genitals are not depicted in detail; only the Mons pubis is shown. It has been claimed that Sagan, having little time to complete the plaque, suspected that NASA would have rejected a more intricate drawing and therefore made a compromise just to be safe.[8] Carl Sagan said that the decision to not include the vertical line on the woman's genitalia (pudendal cleft) which would be caused by the intersection of the labia majora was due to two reasons. First, Greek sculptures of women do not include that line. Second, Carl Sagan believed that a design with such an explicit depiction of a woman's genitalia would be considered too obscene to be approved by NASA.[9] According to the memoirs of Robert S. Kraemer, however, the original design that was presented to NASA headquarters included a line which indicated the woman's vulva,[10] and this line was erased as a condition for approval of the design by John Naugle, former head of NASA's Office of Space Science and the agency's former chief scientist.

But the confusing message gets worse:

Carl Sagan regretted that the figures in the finished engraving failed to look panracial. Although this was the intent, the final figures appeared Caucasian.[13] In the original drawing, the man was drawn with an "Afro" haircut, so an additional African physical trait would be included in the man to make the figures look more panracial, but that detail was changed to a "non-African Mediterranean-curly haircut" in the finished engraving.[14] Furthermore, Carl Sagan said that Linda Sagan intended to portray both the man and woman as having brown hair, but the hair being only outlined rather than being both outlined and shaded made the hair appear blonde instead.[15] Other people had different interpretations of the race of people depicted by the figures. Whites, blacks and Asians each tended to think that the figures resembled their own racial group, so, although some people were proud that their race appeared to have been selected to represent all of humankind, others viewed the figures as "terribly racist" for "the apparently blatant exclusion" of other races.[16]

en.wikipedia.org...

Well, anyway, no use arguing over spilled milk.
It's going round the Milky Way now.
Nobody ever went to get it back, or at least to go and correct it.
Whatever ET race finds that will think, we're a Caucasian species with "space balls".

Although in all honesty, considering our ever changing fashions and hairstyles, I'm not sure how an "Afro-hairstyle" would have made the male seem more "panracial".
Neither is it clear what Linda Sagan's (evidently failed) intent to make both figures brunettes was supposed to convey.
Hey man it was the 1970's - it all made sense at the time.

But, isn't the very notion of "heavenly" bodies already infused with a kind of earthly, quasi-religious chauvinism? "Up" denoting the "heavens", but there's no up and down in space.

Maybe one could say (with less loaded "body fascism"), the "celestial" versus the "terrestrial" bodies?

Perhaps, we should also forgo gendered pronouns and metaphors, when it comes to the " father sun" and "mother moon", or indeed, the "man in the moon".
How can we just assume that's a man?
He doesn't even have a beard.
And metaphorically in respect to the vegans, perhaps it's not made of cheese, but a big lump of tofu?
The Mayans, for example, saw a big bunny rabbit in the full-moon, which is nicely gender neutral.

a reply to: Riffrafter

Maybe NASA just realizes that names don't make any difference to their work, so they are just getting ahead of it to save headaches later when people would have started kicking up a stink

but no matter what, some people will find a way to be offended, like you very clearly are.

Oh jeepers if only I had a Dollar (hey that's R20 in our currency), for every time I've been the butt of a homophobic joke that includes "Uranus".

To prevent such further leg-pulling, I suggest we remove the "Ur" from "Uranus" and simply call it "Anus".

Or, in the spirit of collectivity (and one that considers the feelings of some yet undiscovered life-form that dwells there, who may come to hear of it some day) ... "Ouranus".

When I was a kid NASA was the pinnacle.

Now they are rubbish.

What I want to know is what NASA PR found so offensive with alternative name 'Clown Face Nebula' (as used since 2007) not to even mention it - even though the name 'Clown Face Nebula' was used by one of NASA's own people?

Given Herschel was German British, it may have been polite to use Caldwell 39 - a classification named after Patrick Moore (full name Caldwell-Moore) a British mature astrologer, in use since 1995.

They can't even fake a PR heist, never mind a Moon landing.

Wikipedia refs and notes -

NGC 2392, also known as the Clownface Nebula,[5] or Caldwell 39 and formerly known as the Eskimo Nebula[6], is a bipolar[7] double-shell[8] planetary nebula (PN). It was discovered by astronomer William Herschel in 1787. The formation resembles a person's head surrounded by a parka hood.

Note 5 - This is the Eskimo Nebula also known as Clownface Nebula which has an unusually bright central star.
Jeff Hester (Arizona State University) and NASA

Luckily the OP article is rather short, signifying that we haven't left a trail of regrettable sign-posts across the universe yet.

Such as "The Martians' Last Stand Canyon", for example.

A perfectly cheerful spot to go space-camping.

originally posted by: wheresthebody
a reply to: Riffrafter

This has literally no impact on anything, you are just easily hurt, like all of the other people who get offended by what names and words other people use.

Hurt?

Hell, I'm laughing my ass off here.

This is pure comedy GOLD!

If that offends you, you can go stuff it up your Big Dipper!

originally posted by: Xtrozero

originally posted by: igloo
Thai Twin Nebula will have a different kind of apeall to a different kind of person.

When I was in Bangkok that cost extra...

Not if you know the code word.

Although that too may have to be changed as it's the name of a celestial body.

[whispers] - Big-Bang

Carry on.

originally posted by: wheresthebody
a reply to: Riffrafter

Maybe NASA just realizes that names don't make any difference to their work, so they are just getting ahead of it to save headaches later when people would have started kicking up a stink

but no matter what, some people will find a way to be offended, like you very clearly are.

See my previous reply about same.

originally posted by: Xtrozero
I think the name Earth is very offensive, so they need to change that too.

How about..Happy Fun Ball!!

a reply to: Riffrafter

Quite subjective.
Who decides what is offensive?
Is each "name" up for a vote?

Or, is this judgement arbitrarily decided
by some "Trendy Wendy" kooks in
the back cubicle.

Trendy Wendy...heard it here 1st on ATS folks.

S&F

originally posted by: TheSkunk
Is Siamese Offensive?

Not to my Siamese cat.

Leftists are pathetic

originally posted by: Breakthestreak
Leftists are pathetic

There it is.