NASA has not finished reviewing the operation of the telescope namesake James Webb, officials said after a dispute over the name of the flag tower continued since last summer.
James Webb is the second superintendent of NASA. From 1961 to 1968, he oversaw the Apollo project that landed humans on the moon and supported NASA’s science program. That was the sentiment expressed in 2002, when director Sean O’Keefe decided to name the so -called Next Generation Space Telescope in Webb’s honor.
of the The James Webb Space Telescope He was released about two years later, leaving the world this past December. But that escalation came amid calls to change the program as a result of criticism, that during Webb’s time in the federal government, he fostered discrimination against LGBTQ people known as by Lavender Scare. At the end of September, NASA Director Bill Nelson stood by the name of the telescopeBut officials said the case had not been settled.
“The official said at the time, there was no evidence to lead us to change the name,” Paul Hertz, head of NASA’s astrophysics division, told the Advisory Committee meeting. Astrophysics on Wednesday (March 30). “The investigation isn’t over … and we don’t think it’s over.”
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Hertz also admitted that it was difficult to dispute the excitement of scientists for the information provided by the high -powered telescope. “I know NASA’s decision was hurtful to some, and it was wrong for most of us,” he said.
Old and new documents
NASA historian Brian Odom also attended the meeting and said he was planning an April trip to the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library in Missouri, where documents from the Webb’s tenure as secretary for Truman, from 1949 to 1952. This period began with the Lavender Scare, a persecution of LGBTQ federal workers that resulted in thousands of people being fired and forced to leave. , as a place Article published by the National Archives.
“NASA’s leadership has been very critical of whether to rename the James Webb Space Telescope,” Hertz said. “We recognize that discrimination against LGBTQ + federal workers has not only been allowed for many years, it is embarrassed by federal policies.”
The question is whether Webb is responsible for those policies. “I’m going to go out there and dive into the stories,” Odom said, trying to “recreate the context” of these events. “When Webb arrived at the State Department, what was going on in this room that started? The work was done right,” he said. [or] ‘Did you do something wrong’? Is there a report where he said, ‘I want to see this increase’?
In addition to Odom’s research trip, the office hired an outside contractor to go over similar records maintained by the National Archives and Records Administration in Maryland; The contractor visited the factory often and is still working, and Odom can visit too, he said. “There are stories out there that we really want to get into, and that’s why we spend a lot of time there,” he said of the company.
Both buildings were closed to researchers in September due to the COVID-19 virus but were reopened.
The meeting came on Wednesday a few days later it is only Nature published on about 400 pages of local NASA documents. The documentsobtained through a public history request, which first included emails from employees, providing an overview of open conversations about Webb’s legacy.
Perhaps in part of the emails, a non -NASA employee wrote about a legal case from Webb’s NASA in which an employee sought a “common practice in the office” of firing employees for declaring immorality.
Hertz and Odom have written or received numerous emails, although edited to protect personal information and NASA’s consultation process, providing an overview of the industry leader’s attempts to navigate. in controversy.
In a March 2021 email, Odom wrote, “From the beginning, I would say there is no clear answer to separate Webb from homophobia. He did not encourage that process.”
He summed up his thoughts on the matter by writing, “Opinion: Don’t change the name now. Don’t change the name after people. [he says half joking]. “
The way forward
During the March 30 meeting, Hertz and Odom gave their first remarks to the public since the documents were published. And unlike the industry in the fall, when NASA refused to share the historical documents discussed during its review of Webb, Hertz and Odom now say that the research is published.
“We’ll make sure people see the evidence we have before us that is asking this question,” Odom said. “That’s the plan now; it was my intention from the beginning to do that.”
He hoped that by the end of April, he hoped the archives would have a clearer picture to see if they were in a position to hold the business to this day. The information is shared with the public based on what the researchers found. “If we see new reports, it really changes the timeline,” he said.
Hertz said the power to record or edit the name of the James Webb Space Telescope rested solely with Nelson. “The name of the telescope is the power of the director,” he told the committee.
He said the decision would not be discussed for any last name of the tower. “I’ll make some honest statements,” Hertz said. “The administrator hasn’t talked to the newspaper about this decision; I don’t think he’ll talk to this committee about this decision.”
Email Meghan Bartels at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @meghanbartels. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and above Facebook.
