Stephen Colbert — Next In Space?
Secondly, Earthrise. Now, while this is the renowned title of one of the most beautiful pieces of space photography ever taken, it’s also already the designation of an upcoming MMORPG (which may become my replacement Tabula Rasa…) being released later this year and which was already announced more than a year ago. This is one of those potentially subjective phenomenon where a forebearer could be all but forgotten based on the popularity/success of its namesakes. Could go either way but the point is that people are arguing the commercial implications of naming a space station module after Colbert when they could be naming it after a PC game that will launch before the module does.
Now, Legacy. This one is just ridiculous, really. First of all, none of the options provided by NASA even tie into the naming conventions used on the current two ISS modules, Unity and Harmony. No, Serenity does not fit. Grab a thesaurus, I’ll wait. See? And in the age in which we live now the word “legacy” has specifcally come to mean out-moded technology and the support thereof. Ever notice how your system’s BIOS might contain a “legacy” option for IDE and USB devices? Of course not, because you’re not a proper geek or you’re a Mac-weenie. In which case get off my site. Nevertheless, considering the ISS Node 3 sports what are purported to be the most advanced life support systems ever engineered, Legacy becomes an even less suitable label. Commercial entanglements? But of course! Take your pick. Personally, I’d likely associated it with the flopped Star Trek PC game with that subtitle but there are plenty of less-favourable connotations.
Tags: COLBERT REPORT, CONTEST, EARTHRISE, ISS, MMORPG, NASA, NODE 3, RANT, SERENITY, SPACE, STAR TREK, STEPHEN COLBERT, TL;DNR