NASA faces more pressure to rename James Webb Space Telescope; know all about it

The issue around renaming the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has not been settled yet as new revelations claim NASA was completely aware of the alleged homophobia exhibited by the telescope's namesake ex-NASA Chief James Webb. A report by Scientific American revealed that NASA's stance on the matter came to light after 400 pages of e-mails were posted online by the journal Nature last month. James Webb had served NASA as the head from 1961 to 1968, during the Apollo era, however, many accused him of being discriminatory towards homosexual employees in the agency. 

(James Webb; Image: NASA)

'NASA's decision is painful and wrong'

In NASA’s Astrophysics Advisory Committee meeting held in late March, officials had said that investigations on Webb's alleged discriminatory behaviour are still being carried out which might lead to significant development. NASA’s astrophysics director Paul Hertz even went on to say that the agency's decision to name the telescope after Webb is painful to some and wrong for many. Astronomer Johanna Teske, from the Carnegie Institution for Science told Scientific American that renaming JWST is "a simple but very impactful thing that NASA can do, both for astronomers and the wider public. Why would they not take the opportunity to do that and fulfill one of their core values?".

Webb has been accused of some serious discriminatory behaviour towards his queer employees as the latest evidence revealed that he conducted an investigation on such employees in the US State Department. Reports say, Webb even fired some of the employees from the State Department after his meeting with then US President Harry Truman. Ohio State University Scott Gaudi said as per Scientific American, "It’s almost amusing how incompetent the whole thing was and how little they stopped to think of how important an issue this was to the queer astronomical community and how important NASA is for young queer kids trying to find aspirational reasons to just keep going". 

Before JWST's launch on December 25, 2021, many astronomers had started a petition to change the telescope's name but NASA Administrator Bill Nelson had rejected it saying there is no evidence to prove Webb's discriminatory behaviour. Many believe that the option to change the name is still available if it wants to save face. 

Image: NASA