NASA Advisor Quits Over Space Telescope Named for Homophobic Administrator

Astronomer Lucianne Walkowicz has resigned from a NASA advisory committee on account of the area company’s perceived mishandling of a request to rename the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope. Webb was a NASA administrator in the course of the 19060s who aided within the persecution of LGBTQ staff.

It’s honest to say that Lucianne Walkowicz, an astronomer from the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, is severely upset proper now—and for good motive. On September 28, the identical day Walkowicz was struck by a automobile, they discovered that NASA had determined, for causes not made clear, that there was inadequate motive to rename the soon-to-be-launched James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). In response, Walkowicz penned a caustic open letter to NASA saying their resignation from the NASA Astrophysics Advisory Committee (APAC), a resignation that took impact October 12.

For NASA, this represents a critical loss. As a scientist, Walkowicz has contributed to our understanding of stellar exercise and the way it impacts the atmospheres of probably liveable exoplanets and the potential for human exercise on Mars. Walkowicz has even had an asteroid named after them.

That Walkowicz desires to maneuver on from NASA is wholly comprehensible. James Webb (1906-1992) enforced anti-gay insurance policies on the U.S. State Department and at NASA, the place he served as administrator from 1961 to 1968. Former NASA administrator Sean O’Keefe got here up with the thought of naming the telescope after Webb almost 20 years in the past. Earlier this 12 months, a petition requested that NASA rename the next-gen telescope given Webb’s involvement within the Lavender Scare—a time when queer authorities staff had been dismissed or compelled to resign.

NASA responded by launching an investigation into the matter. APAC had been asking NASA for updates, however the committee was informed to attend for the outcomes of the investigation, which the area company described as being “thorough.” Abruptly and with minimal element, NASA introduced on September 28 that no additional actions can be taken, saying the investigators “found no evidence at this time that warrants changing the name.”

NASA was very subdued in regards to the matter, talking solely to reporters at NPR (as finest I can inform) and refraining from issuing a proper assertion. Writing of their open letter, Walkowicz described NASA’s determination to “quietly email just a few selected journalists” as being “flippant” and “pathetic.” Walkowicz writes that the tepid response speaks to bigger points on the area company:

It is clear from this alternative that any guarantees of transparency and thoroughness had been, in truth, lies. It additionally appears clear that NASA would like a committee of Yes Men, a committee that co-signs issues that NASA had already deliberate to do, or maybe chides them about reasonable course corrections that don’t really problem NASA in any respect. It can be clear that whereas Sean O’Keefe can simply recommend James Webb as a telescope namesake as a result of he thinks it’s a pleasant concept, queer individuals are required to justify their opinions through an investigation.

Walkowicz stated they weren’t optimistic in regards to the identify change, particularly on condition that present NASA administrator Bill Nelson was opposed to same-sex marriage till 2013.

NASA’s response “sends a clear message” in regards to the area company’s place on the “rights of queer astronomers,” wrote Walkowicz, and “it also speaks clearly to me that NASA does not deserve my time.” They’re vexed that “NASA has so little insight into its own participation in systematic oppression,” citing the racial injustices portrayed within the movie Hidden Figures.

“Of course, I am not the first queer person to be actively discouraged from NASA service,” wrote Walkowicz, “But I’m not the first and won’t be the last driven out of a NASA space, where evidently straight people’s opinions are valued and taken more seriously than queer people’s experiences.”

Looking forward, Walkowicz stated they may chorus from referring to the area telescope by its official identify, they usually’re encouraging others to do the identical. Meanwhile, the battle to rename the telescope after Harriet Tubman continues.

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