NASA Has Specific Rules For Naming Its Spacecraft (2024)
The names that NASA gives its spacecraft are often inspirational, borrowing names from Greco-Roman mythology and ships from the Age of Exploration. But as dramatic and on-point as a Mars probe named “Curiosity” may be, NASA is still a government institution and is governed by bureaucratic rules relating to every detail of every space–going mission. It shouldn’t be surprising then that the organization has had naming guidelines since its earliest days.
From the technical to the poetic, all early NASA mission names were first cleared by the Project Designation Committee, Daniel Oberhaus reports for Vice Motherboard. Originally known as the Ad-Hoc Committee to Name Space Projects and Objects, the committee was tasked with developing NASA's first naming protocol for all spacecraft, probes and missions. The protocol includes rules like the following:
Each project name will be a simple euphonic word that will not duplicate or be confused with other NASA or non-NASA project titles. When possible and if appropriate, names will be chosen to reflect NASA's mission. Project names will be serialized when appropriate, thus limiting the number of different names in use at any one time; however, serialization will be used only after successful flight or accomplishment has been achieved.
While this protocol was designed to keep NASA’s project names simple and streamlined, the Project Designation Committee only lasted for two years. As Oberhaus writes, many of NASA’s early missions were pushed back, outright canceled, or continued as part of a mission series, such as the Apollo spacecraft. In the meantime, beginning with Apollo 9, the lunar landers and command modules were given informal codenames by the crewmembers. The two Apollo 9’s were nicknamed “Spider” and “Gumdrop," respectively, while the sections of the Apollo 10 spacecraft were called “Snoopy” and Charlie Brown.”
Even though the Project Designation Committee no longer exists, NASA still uses a similar protocol, although the organization made a few additions in 2000 that specify that mission names should be easy to pronounce and mostly avoid acronyms. These days, it’s up to whoever's in charge of that particularNASA unit to decide whether a name is appropriate or not, Oberhaus writes.
However, in keeping with some of the organization’s inspirational ideals, NASA often reaches out to the public for help naming everything from Mars rovers to planetary features. The last four rovers to explore the Red Planet were all named by students who submitted entries to essay contests, picking the names “Sojourner,” “Spirit,” “Opportunity” and “Curiosity.” More recently, NASA held a public vote in April to choose a naming scheme for any new features or formations identified on Pluto by the New Horizons probe. Following Pluto’s lead, the vote settledon a themerelated tothe afterlife and underworld, leaving scientists with a list of names from “Meng-p’o” (a Buddhist underworld goddess who helps reincarnated souls forget their past lives) to “Cthulu” (a monstrous, tentacle–faced god from the writings of H.P. Lovecraft) to “Balrog” (a demon cloaked in fire and shadow from J.R.R. Tolkein’s The Lord of the Rings), Mika McKinnon writes for io9. While some of these names might have ominous overtones, at least NASA can still have some fun with naming things.
Danny Lewis is a multimedia journalist working in print, radio, and illustration. He focuses on stories with a health/science bent and has reported some of his favorite pieces from the prow of a canoe. Danny is based in Brooklyn, NY.
The space Shuttles were named after famous vessels of early exploration NASA still uses a similar protocol, although the organization made a few additions in 2000 that specify that mission names should be easy to pronounce and mostly avoid acronyms.
From Project Mercury to Space Shuttle Atlantis. The names that NASA gives its spacecraft are often inspirational, borrowing names from Greco-Roman mythology and ships from the Age of Exploration.
NASA's mission names draw inspiration from gods and goddesses of Greek mythology, reflecting the recognition of the profound cosmic wonders that stirred the human imagination in ancient times.
How did NASA collect the names? NASA's "Send Your Name to Mars" campaign invited people around the globe to submit their names to ride along on the rover. And people did – with a grand total of 10,932,295 names submitted.
Silverstein chose the name at home one evening, early in 1960, because he felt "Apollo riding his chariot across the Sun was appropriate to the grand scale of the proposed program".
Where Did The Name Artemis Come From? Artemis is the twin sister of Apollo and goddess of the Moon in Greek mythology. Now, she personifies our path to the Moon as the name of NASA's efforts to return astronauts and a new wave of science payloads and technology demonstrations to the lunar surface.
The backdrop: In 1960, NASA director of space flight development Abe Silverstein proposed the name "Apollo" for the first crewed U.S. mission to the Moon after reading through a mythology book. An image of Apollo riding his chariot across the sun inspired him, because it matched the ambition of the program.
NASA met that challenge with the Apollo program, landing the first man on the Moon on July 20, 1969. That program was named after a god of Greek mythology, Apollo. Artemis was Apollo's twin sister and the goddess of the Moon in Greek mythology.
Now, in 2024, the federal space agency is inviting people to send their names to the surface of the Moon aboard VIPER, which stands for Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, as they gear up for the mission to learn more about water on the Moon.
As documented in "Space Shuttle Disaster," the Columbia Accident Investigation Board's report makes a strong case for the shuttle's retirement, based on the design and safety issues laid bare by the loss of both Columbia, in 2003, and Challenger, 17 years earlier. Fourteen astronauts died in those accidents.
Sign up by 11:59 p.m. EST, March 15 and get the satisfaction of knowing a device with your name on it is rumbling over the lunar surface where no one has gone before by going to nasa.gov/send-your-name-with-viper. It's free!
Origins of NASA names Names are selected for NASA spaceflight projects and programs from various sources. Some have their foundations in mythology and astrology or legend and folklore. Some have historic connotations; others are based on a description of their mission, often resulting in an acronym.
The term "spacecraft" is mainly used to refer to spacecraft that are real or conceived using present technology. The terms "spaceship" and "starship" are generally applied only to fictional space vehicles, usually those capable of transporting people.
Italicize the names given to individual ships, spacecraft, aircraft and trains but not abbreviations, articles, etc. , preceding them: HMCS Brunswicker. the Spirit of St.Louis.
The procedure is as follows: When the first images of the surface of a planet or satellite are obtained, themes for naming features are chosen and names of a few important features are proposed, usually by members of the appropriate IAU task group.
I typically find sentimental names are the ones I rely on the most. For example, a favorite song ("St. Pepper", with the crew calling themselves "The Lonely Hearts Club Band"), something mythological ("The Thunderbird" or "Olympus"), or a simple-declaration that describes an aspect the ship ("Ol'Rustbucket", etc).
Shuttle History Each space shuttle is named after influential ships of science and exploration. All were built in Palmdale, Calif., by Rockwell International. Enterprise was the first space shuttle, although it never flew in space.
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