The James Webb Telescope is worth about $10 billion
in view of the disclosure of The first images taken by the James Webb Telescope
In space, astronomers from several countries once again asked NASA to rename the instrument.
That’s because there are allegations that the former NASA administrator and US Undersecretary of State, who names the telescope, was an ally in persecution against the LGBTQIA+ community in the country in the 1950s and 1960s.
The persecution became known as the Lavender Scare, and there was widespread sacking of LGBTQIA+ people working in the US government at the time in the mid-20th century.
A petition was created and signed by more than 1,700 people in the astronomical community to change the name of the telescope.
“We demand that NASA’s next generation space telescope, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), be renamed. This new mission reflects the rainbow of possible universes our community imagines, dreams, and works for, and its The name should reflect your future legacy”, say those who signed document
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On her official Twitter account, Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, a professor of physics at the University of New Hampshire and one of the four researchers leading the naming petition, said she had a double feeling about using the James Webb telescope.
“As one of the people leading the name change effort, today feels bitter. I’m very excited about the new images and very angry at NASA Headquarters,” she said.
In September 2021, NASA took a stand against renaming the space instrument. The agency said it found no evidence to justify the renaming of the telescope.
Renowned American astronomer and author Phil Platt wrote on Twitter that despite the importance of the instrument, which costs $10 billion, it carries a negative impression.
“The observatory will produce incredible science and astonishing images, certainly more than anything Hubble has ever done. But it is named after someone who is associated with bigotry and homosexuality, and on top of that NASA Found it wrong in the way the situation was handled.” , They said.
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