When the 10 billion dollar space telescope, named after James Webb, the former director of NASA, is handed over in December 2021, it will be the largest and most powerful astronomical telescope ever built in the world, writes 888.hu. But the news is not only interesting for that reason.
Four astronomers have launched a petition to name the telescope because, they claim James Webb was involved in anti-LGBTQ purges in the 1960s.
"We, the future users of NASA's newest space telescope and those who will inherit our space, demand that this telescope be given a name worthy of its discoveries. It should be given a name that represents a future in which we are all free," the petition said.
After the petition received 1,250 signatures , NASA historian Brian Odom
Bill Nelson, the current director of NASA, stated: "no evidence has been found to justify renaming the James Webb Space Telescope."
During Webb's administration, the "Lavender Scare" movement erupted, which he believed had "infiltrated" the federal government by homosexuals, resulting in widespread layoffs of the LGBTQ community working with NASA. The astronomers claimed in their petition that, in their opinion, James Webb was responsible for removing the gays.
Prescod-Weinstein , a queer astronomer who participated in NASA's postdoctoral program, criticized NASA's investigation into the name change and said she wants the agency to make the evidence it examines more transparent.
Come on, we understand that too! LGBTQ activists are no longer willing to look at the stars, only if the telescope is proven to have a rainbow...
Source: 888.hu
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