There’s No Serenity When Colbert’s Around

Firefly fans favoring the name “Serenity” weren’t the only tv viewers campaigning to name the International Space Station’s new habitat node. And in the end, their choice finished behind Stephen Colbert in NASA’s poll.

Colbert urged viewers of his Comedy Central show, “The Colbert Report,” to write in his name. And they complied, with 230,539 votes. That clobbered Serenity, one of the NASA choices, by more than 40,000 votes. Nearly 1.2 million votes were cast by the time the contest ended Friday.

NASA’s online voting site listed four suggested options, including Serenity, and also accepted write-ins. A bar graph shows Serenity captured 70% of the vote given to the four main options, but there were more write-ins for Colbert. NASA had always reserved the right to choose an appropriate name, so don’t bet the farm on the two existing nodes Unity and Harmony being joined by one named Colbert.


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