NASA has created an uproar in the whole world by continuously publishing pictures of the universe from 13 billion years ago. But why is the telescope called the James Webb Space Telescope with which these bright pictures were taken? Sean O'Keefe was the administrator of NASA in 2002. He announced at the time that NASA's next telescope would be named after James Webb. NASA was headed by James E. Webb from 1960 to 1968. At that time the world saw the moon landing of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in the Apollo missions.
The New York Times wrote that James Webb was a genius in astronomy. However, some of his activities are still controversial.
In the 1950s, the regime of the Truman government came to be known as the 'Lavender Scare'. From the late 1940s to the 1960s, thousands of civil servants were fired or forced to leave their jobs for identifying as gay. LGBTQ historian David K. Johnson's book 'The Lavender Scare' was published in 2004.
James Webb worked with Truman and the Senate Committee at that time. Their duty was to list gay employees in government service. In March 2021, an article by four astronomers citing Johnson's book was published in Scientific American magazine. James Webb has done anti-LGBTQ work, so the telescope should be renamed—that's what they said. In the editorial, James Webb was described as having a complex nature and its worst manifestation was the discrimination against homosexuals in the federal government.
James Webb fired NASA employee Clifford Norton for being gay. After the incident in 1963, Norton sued and was convicted in 1969.
Chanda Prescott-Weinstein, an assistant professor of physics at the University of New Hampshire, had mixed reactions after the NASA James Webb Space Telescope image was released. He is one of the four authors of the article published in Scientific American magazine.
Chanda Prescod-Weinstein said in a tweet, describing the matter as 'bittersweet', I am really excited to see these new pictures. But I'm also angry at NASA headquarters.
NASA has repeatedly avoided the issue. Everyone knows about the web. Such a magnificent observatory would be named after him—not that he deserves it. A 40-minute documentary from the consultancy Just Space Alliance was released after the new NASA images emerged; There is evidence of James Webb's anti-LGBTQ activities.
Meanwhile, the article, written by Lucian Wakowicz, Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, Brian Nord and Sarah Turtle, was titled 'James Webb Space Telescope to be renamed.'
A group of scientists led by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein also launched a petition last year. 1 thousand 700 people signed the petition requesting to change the name of the telescope. Most of them are involved in astronomy or related work. According to a report in India Times, many even within NASA think James Webb's name should be removed from the telescope.
In the wake of constant attention, NASA promised to look into the matter last September. Bill Nelson, the company's manager, later said they saw no need to change the name. In March of this year, the science journal Nature presented extensive evidence of mail circulation within NASA about whether the name would be changed or not.
NASA Astrophysics Division chief Paul Herz contacted more than 10 astronomers in April last year to get their opinion on the name change. "They're going to be upset if we don't change the name," says Paul Herz, "none of them told me that."
In the email, Herz also wrote to her manager that none of the people who made the comments were from the LGBT community. But when Herz was questioned by Nature magazine, he said that he had discussed the matter with members of various organizations, including those from the LGBTQ community.
A full report was requested from NASA's Astrophysics Advisory Committee in November 2021. Former NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe argued in an email at the time that what happened at the time was not James Webb's decision alone. However, the critics did not stop. According to them, if James Webb is not responsible for mistakes, why should he be praised for good deeds?
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