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SmeagoltheRegal t1_itv9y14 wrote

Ahh news.yahoo.com my favorite nonsensationalized news network, they really deliver without bias or exaggeration. Always.

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Oldleggrunt t1_itvcpx1 wrote

Really? That's something the Royal Astronomical Society worries about?

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Bewaretheicespiders t1_itvmqjm wrote

Another proof that career scientists arent always smart or informed.

The most we can blame James Webb for sure is being part of the USA government in the 1950s. Nothing else has been substanciated despite investigations to do so and many of the hearsay have been proved to be fabrications.

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testing_water3290 t1_itvn58g wrote

Here we go again. This kind of meaningless change pisses me off.

For example US Congress came in and did some stuff and a telescope I work on had to change its name from Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) which was used for at least a decade to Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). While it was done for a good cause ( the actual telescope was named after a famous woman physicist) , I doubt if common people will ever care enough. LSST is unlikely to generate as much hype as JWST. On the other hand it pissed off a lot of astronomers who really care about the project.

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Ape_Togetha_Strong t1_itvop7u wrote

Replying to Bewaretheicespiders (#241,096)

Sorry, but this is dumb as fuck. You might have a point if there wasn't a telescope named after him, but there is. That's not just "the default". That's a very specific honor above and beyond "the default". So if you just act homophobic because it's the default if you're part of government in the 50s, you should not get honored above the default.

The argument for not honoring him is so much stronger than the one for it that it shouldn't even be a debate.

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p38-lightning t1_itvya28 wrote

You can't project today's values back to the people of the past. We should just look at them warts and all. Acknowledge whatever contributions they made to civilization without putting them on a pedestal.

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kayfabemebrother t1_itw1ol8 wrote

Should have just slapped a rainbow sticker on the telescope and kept it moving.

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SpaceInMyBrain t1_itx13rs wrote

Replying to p38-lightning (#242,569)

>You can't project today's values back to the people of the past.

Indeed. This is actually a principle subject in the field of historiography - the study of how historians present history. This can differ by generation or another demographic. The term for it is modernism, the application of the worldview of one's (academic) generation to the history of previous decades or centuries.

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andthenthedawn t1_itxkcxs wrote

Yes, because that’s clearly what matters when it comes to the Webb telescope. Gender has become the greatest distraction and scapegoat device of the 21st century.

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FLINDINGUS t1_itxu0mr wrote

> Royal Astronomical Society rebukes Nasa over alleged homophobic roots of Webb Telescope name

The "Royal Astronomical Society" has lost all credibility in my book. Space is about space, not politics.

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Michaelbirks t1_ityvzpr wrote

Are they going to ban their Astronomers from using JWST data?

Apparently not - just force them to use the acronym.

Oh No! Anyway.

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ocelder t1_iu0ee92 wrote

Complaints were heard. Investigation made. Received as insufficient. Some people resigned, and there was a rebuke. Presumably NASA will continue to partner with the Royal Society.

NASA should probably have made the results of the investigation public.

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