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Author
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Topic: Should NASA Ames be renamed after Sally Ride?
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Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 01-10-2014 04:12 PM
   
Should NASA's Ames Research Center in northern California be renamed to honor Sally Ride, America's first woman in space?The news that Congress has renamed NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center for Neil Armstrong got me thinking: if NASA were to name its centers today, who would the space agency honor? I think a clear case can be made that Kennedy and Johnson space centers would retain their names for the roles those two presidents played in Apollo. Goddard is a well enough known figure in early rocketry history to also continue serving as a center's namesake. Glenn and the newly-designated Armstrong research centers would also likely rank on any list drafted today (as evident by their being named such in recent years). I am not sure you can say the same for Ames, Marshall or Stennis. Do they deserve their honors? Absolutely. Would they make the short list if being decided today, the benefit of 50+ years of NASA history to consider? Probably not. I recognize and even agree with the sentiment that once a place is named it should keep its name. But it's clear by the Armstrong renaming that the majority do not feel the same way. Though anecdotal, most of the comments I have seen on Facebook and Twitter have applauded the decision. So that brings us back to Sally Ride. NASA has a handful of astronauts who have become household names, Glenn and Armstrong — and Ride — among them. NASA Ames was named after Joseph Sweetman Ames, a physics professor and former president of Johns Hopkins University. He served as the chairman of NACA, NASA's predecessor, from 1919 through 1939. He died in 1943, so didn't live to see or contribute directly to NASA's activities. NASA Glenn and NASA Armstrong already establish the case for a NASA Ride. Further, it would be the first NASA center named after a woman, advancing Sally Ride's own role in life inspiring young women to pursue careers in science, math, engineering and technology. Sally Ride has a connection to NASA Ames as well. The center would annually host Sally Ride Science Festivals organized by Ride and her company. To be clear, I am not necessarily advocating for this renaming but rather asking the question — if renaming centers is something that is going to be done (and Congress has opened that door with NASA Armstrong) doesn't Sally Ride merit that honor? |
chet
Member Posts: 1506
From: Beverly Hills, Calif.
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted 01-11-2014 01:58 AM
Sally Ride is certainly deserving of the honor of having something monumental named after her, but it shouldn't be by bumping anyone else's name off of same. That it just happened, with Dryden-Armstrong, doesn't lend merit to the practice, and it should be discouraged and resisted at every turn, in my opinion. |
moorouge
Member Posts: 2454
From: U.K.
Registered: Jul 2009
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posted 01-11-2014 03:03 AM
I tend to agree with Chet and can understand the desire to have memorials to more recent pioneers of astronautical achievements. But to rename establishments named for those from the past - never. These old-timers were just as important in their field as those from more recent times, perhaps more so in many cases. Any such naming for those from our age should be only for new facilities.One has only to go back to the sixties and remember the furore that prevailed over the renaming of Cape Canaveral as Cape Kennedy. Then, fortunately, commonsense prevailed and the name reverted to the estalished old one with Kennedy's name preserved as the space centre. |
Tykeanaut
Member Posts: 2212
From: Worcestershire, England, UK.
Registered: Apr 2008
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posted 01-11-2014 09:54 AM
I agree, it is disrepectful and wrong to replace already named places with a new one. |
Blackarrow
Member Posts: 3120
From: Belfast, United Kingdom
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 01-11-2014 10:18 AM
At the risk of sounding controversial, does that mean it was wrong to rename thousands of roads, buildings and other locations around the world after Nelson Mandela? |
moorouge
Member Posts: 2454
From: U.K.
Registered: Jul 2009
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posted 01-11-2014 10:40 AM
In very rare cases there's always the exception to the general rule, but to answer your specific question - maybe!
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canyon42
Member Posts: 238
From: Ohio
Registered: Mar 2006
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posted 01-11-2014 01:38 PM
Blackarrow, my answer to that would be that it depended on whether the previous name for any of those items or places honored a person. In that case, no, I would not agree with renaming it for anyone, unless the previous honoree had somehow disgraced themselves. However, with other types of names, no big deal — I don't think changing "Maple Avenue" or "First Street" is going to offend anyone.  |
chet
Member Posts: 1506
From: Beverly Hills, Calif.
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted 01-11-2014 02:40 PM
It should be kept in mind that name changes usually end up costing money (new signs, stationary, notices, etc... there's usually a pretty not-insignificant domino effect). That may be good for generating new economic activity, but only in the way deliberately breaking windows is good for glaziers.There are new facilities being built all the time, or others not already named for an individual, and so ample opportunities for honoring those deserving of recognition. It needn't be at the expense of those previously honored. |
p51
Member Posts: 1642
From: Olympia, WA
Registered: Sep 2011
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posted 01-11-2014 03:49 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Blackarrow:
At the risk of sounding controversial, does that mean it was wrong to rename thousands of roads, buildings and other locations around the world after Nelson Mandela?
I get what you mean, I think. In 100 or more years, who's going to really care about Mandela, or even know who he was? Not too many, if history has taught us anything on the 'all about the now' nature of humanity. Heck, people are now screaming to have school names changed from the founding fathers, because some of them held slaves (as did all land owners back then). People fall in and out of favor all the time. I'm reminded of the opening of the movie, "2010: the year we make contact": Dimitri Moisevitch: We know you are building the Discovery II to go back to Jupiter, to find out what happened to your men up there. You know we are building the Alexei Leonov to also go up there.Heywood Floyd: I thought you were going to call it the Titov? Dimitri Moisevitch: We changed last month; people fall out of favor. |
Blackarrow
Member Posts: 3120
From: Belfast, United Kingdom
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 01-11-2014 05:19 PM
Summing up, I suspect that the only rule is that there is no hard and fast rule. There is clearly no problem renaming "Maple Street" after a renowned international figure, or Idlewild Airport after a murdered President, but whether to rename a street or place which is already named after someone seems to depend on the political momentum that supporters of a recently-deceased hero(ine) or celebrity can build up. In the case of Neil Armstrong, his historical significance is so great that I can't help feeling that he deserved so much more of an accolade than to have a NASA base named after him. Re-naming the highest mountain in the world "Mount Armstrong" would achieve the level of appropriateness, but please don't fall over laughing - I know that's not going to happen. But is there something on a par with that perhaps? |
p51
Member Posts: 1642
From: Olympia, WA
Registered: Sep 2011
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posted 01-11-2014 06:05 PM
Ironically, I can think of nothing which would irritate the man more than naming something after him like this, were he around today to know it was happening... |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 42988
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 01-11-2014 07:10 PM
I don't want to make this thread yet another about Armstrong, but the effort to rename Dryden for him began in 2007 and so he was aware of it for a number of years, including seeing the legislation introduced in Congress. To the best of my knowledge, Armstrong never publicly commented on it, positively or negatively. |
David C
Member Posts: 1015
From: Lausanne
Registered: Apr 2012
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posted 01-11-2014 11:52 PM
In a word, no. Firstly, I'm afraid that I just don't view being the third woman in space as that big a deal. Now if she'd been the first person to do x or y then maybe it would be worth considering.Secondly, at least in the case of Dryden, Armstrong had a significant professional connection with the place. quote:
Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
Sally Ride has a connection to NASA Ames as well. The center would annually host Sally Ride Science Festivals organized by Ride and her company.
I'm afraid, that the above doesn't sound to me like a significant contribution to the work carried out over many decades at Ames. |
chet
Member Posts: 1506
From: Beverly Hills, Calif.
Registered: Nov 2000
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posted 01-12-2014 09:06 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
To the best of my knowledge, Armstrong never publicly commented on it, positively or negatively.
That Armstrong was silent on the matter shouldn't at all be taken as some kind of passive endorsement on his part. If he outspokenly or even quietly nodded approval of the move he'd have come off as a bit egotistical (which he certainly was not), and if he went public with his disapproval he likely would have ended up being criticized for seeming ungrateful or for embarrassing those officials who brought up the idea to start with. I think his saying nothing was probably the most wise and prudent thing he could do under the circumstances. |
Hart Sastrowardoyo
Member Posts: 3445
From: Toms River, NJ
Registered: Aug 2000
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posted 01-13-2014 01:14 AM
What's to say that in 10 (or sooner, or later) years the NASA Sally Ride Research Center won't be named for someone else who is felt deserving to have the facility named after? When does it stop? |
mikepf
Member Posts: 441
From: San Jose, California, USA
Registered: Mar 2002
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posted 01-13-2014 10:32 AM
With all due respect to Sally Ride, I vote to keep Ames namaed Ames. My sense of history and continuity objects to these name changes. It has been named Ames for it's entire history. All it's achievements have been acomplished under that name. Armstrong once said something to the effect that what he did was stand on the shoulders of giants. Dryden and Ames provided some of those shoulders he stood on. Please leave these names alone and find another way to honor Ride and Armstrong. |
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