Remember when I teased you with the title that Serenity Will See Space Once More? And the article simply talked about Nasa offering a contest to name Node 3’s module on the space station? Well the overwhelming 86% vote got trumped by a “write in” and the contest winner is Colbert.
NASA’s mistake was allowing write-ins. 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.
The “write in” option in a contest is just a courtesy flush to those who do not like any of the options offered. The likelihood of any write in vote getting higher numbers than an existing poll entry is very slim.
Stephen Colbert, a comedian and political pundit I do respect needs to learn to use his powers for good. He managed to over ride nearly 200,000 votes to immortalize the name Serenity on the space station with a gag presented on his show. I agree that he is proving that his viewership is a force to be reckoned with, and it scares me that his whims would be so effective.
Nasa reps have suggestively stated that despite the contest winner, at the end of the day Nasa will choose their own name and the online contest will simply be a consideration. I hope that the more fittingly inspirational name Serenity would be used if not to tribute the show, but at least to give a more suitable name that would reflect the quiet and peace of space.
