PLAY Top Vote Getter for Space Station Module Name: Colbert!

[FarmerJohn]

Oops: Colbert wins NASA space station name contest

WASHINGTON (AP) — NASA's online contest to name a new room at the international space station went awry. Comedian Stephen Colbert won.
The name "Colbert" beat out NASA's four suggested options in the space agency's effort to have the public help name the addition. The new room will be launched later this year.

NASA's mistake was allowing write-ins. Colbert urged viewers of his Comedy Central show, "The Colbert Report" to write in his name. And they complied, with 230,539 votes. That clobbered Serenity, one of the NASA choices, by more than 40,000 votes. Nearly 1.2 million votes were cast by the time the contest ended Friday.

NASA reserves the right to choose an appropriate name. Agency spokesman John Yembrick said NASA will decide in April, but will give top vote-getters "the most consideration."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hVxsBGs7scxZSkcCE1cL2B4BlECAD973UR9G0

 

[Cardinal]

 

[Kronos]

SO, I am curious as to what the "runners up" names were?

As an aside: Colbert for Prez! (LOL!)

 

[SIRR1]

I voted for Colbert last month.

How funny!

I will bet NASA will name it something else.

Final Voting Results:

Earthrise9%
Legacy13%
Serenity70%
Venture8%


Top 10 Suggestions

COLBERT

MYYEARBOOK
GAIA
XENU
SOCIALVIBE
BUDDY
UBUNTU
TRANQUILITY
SYNERGY
SIRR1
Vision

1190437 users voted or submitted a name

http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/name_ISS/index.html

 

[fruit loop]

NASA always picks corny, smarmy names, like Freedom, Pioneer.......

 

[Oilpatch Hand]

I was really rooting for "TB2K."

 

[FarmerJohn]

Colbert demands 'democracy in orbit' after winning poll

updated 2 hours, 50 minutes ago

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Colbert demands 'democracy in orbit' after winning poll

* Story Highlights
* TV host's name topped poll seeking new name for space station wing
* NASA says no decision will be made until next week
* Pennsylvania lawmaker has thrown backing behind Colbert
* Some media outlets say NASA may put Colbert's name on toilet
* Next Article in Entertainment »

By Alan Duke

(CNN) -- Comedian and TV host Stephen Colbert has warned NASA to name a new wing of the international space station after him or he would "seize power as space's evil tyrant overlord."
Stephen Colbert threatened NASA that he might become "space's evil tyrant overlord."

Stephen Colbert threatened NASA that he might become "space's evil tyrant overlord."

A NASA spokesman said the U.S. space agency is aware of Colbert's threat, issued Monday night on Comedy Central's "Colbert Report," but no decision will be made on the node's name until next week.

Colbert topped NASA's online poll soliciting names for the wing, with 230,539 of the more than 1.1 million votes cast, according to NASA spokesman John Yembrick.

The runner-up was Serenity, which Colbert said is not an appropriate name.

"That's not a space station," Colbert said. "That's an adult diaper."

Serenity was the name of a spaceship in the television series "Firefly," which spawned a 2005 movie.

The contest rules spelled out that NASA reserves the right to "ultimately select a name in accordance with the best interests of the agency. ... Such name may not necessarily be one which is on the list of voted-on candidate names."

NASA's hedging prompted a Pennsylvania congressman to urge the agency to name the node after the comedian.
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* Colbert tops poll to name NASA space module

"The people have spoken, and Stephen Colbert won it fair and square, even if his campaign was a bit over the top," Rep. Chaka Fattah said.

Fattah sits on the congressional committee that oversees NASA's funding.

"NASA, I urge you to heed Congressman Fattah's call for democracy in orbit," Colbert said. "Either name that node after me, or I, too, will reject democracy and seize power as space's evil tyrant overlord."

NASA's Yembrick said he watched Colbert's show Monday, but he would not directly respond to his "evil tyrant overlord" threat.

"We think it's great that he and his audience are taking an interest," Yembrick said.

Several media outlets have reported that NASA is working on a compromise in which it would slap the droll Colbert's name on a piece of "mission essential" equipment in the new wing: the toilet.

Colbert's loyal fans, lovingly called the Colbert Nation, have in the past bombarded polls to have things named after their idol.

Thanks to them, the comedian out-polled every other name in a bridge-naming contest in Hungary. The country's government later said it cannot name the bridge after him because he does not speak Hungarian and is not deceased.

Colbert also tried to get himself on Democratic and Republican primary ballots in his home state of South Carolina in 2007. The Democratic Party's executive council voted against his inclusion, and he did not qualify for the Republican primary because he missed the deadline.

But ice-cream maker Ben and Jerry named a flavor in honor of him, Colbert's AmeriCone Dream. And Virgin America named one of its planes Air Colbert.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/TV/03/31/colbert.nasa/index.html