<p>I would suggest reading some articles such as this somewhat recent <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/09/30/1041707730/shadowed-by-controversy-nasa-wont-rename-new-space-telescope" rel="nofollow noreferrer">NPR one</a> or <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/17/science/a-manager-immortalized.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this NYT one</a> from back in 2002, when the fromer NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe made this decision.</p>
<p>This paragraph from the first article should give a good summery:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The decision to name this telescope after Webb was made by a different
NASA administrator, Sean O'Keefe, who is now at Syracuse University.
Like Webb, O'Keefe didn't have a background in science before coming
to NASA, but rather he had one in professional management and
administration.</p>
<p>He says in his field, Webb was a towering figure, who helped establish
the National Academy of Public Administration and was a thought leader
in developing the best ways of bringing people from diverse fields
together to pursue ambitious goals.</p>
<p>When O'Keefe took over the top job at NASA, he says, everyone was
referring to an exciting new space telescope that was in development
as the &quot;Next Generation Space Telescope.&quot;</p>
<p>&quot;That's about as illuminating and exciting as, you know, whatever,&quot;
says O'Keefe, who previously served as secretary of the Navy, a role
that involves deciding on the name of ships.</p>
<p>He decided, after casual conversations with others at NASA, to name
the new telescope after Webb. &quot;There was no appointed group of
commissioners to come up with a name,&quot; says O'Keefe, who said everyone
he spoke with seemed to like the idea.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So back then the decision was made without a vote, and it seems almost impossible to tell whether O'Keefe considered other names as well. Although, keeping the name &quot;Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST)&quot; until close to the launch and renaming it then, as done e.g. for the <a href="https://www.phys.lsu.edu/mog/mog13/node8.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Chandra</a> telescope, would have been an alternative.</p>
<p>Now there are, of course, a few suggestions for alternative names, such as e.g. the <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/nasa-needs-to-rename-the-james-webb-space-telescope/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Harriet Tubman Space Telescope (HTST)</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-07-14T12:21:40.933Z
2022-07-14T17:12:09.913Z
2022-07-14T17:12:09.913Z
SpaceCore
<p>How did NASA decide to name the telescope &quot;James Webb&quot; and not some other name like Copernicus or Ptolemy? The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Webb_Space_Telescope#Controversy_over_name" rel="nofollow noreferrer">wiki page</a> mentions controversy over the name in the past couple of years but nothing on how the name was chosen in the first place. I.e. was there some sort of a vote to choose the name? If so, were there other candidates for what name to choose?</p>

<space-telescope><james-webb-space-telescope><nasa>
How did NASA choose "James Webb" as the name of the telescope?
JonathanReez
# How did NASA choose "James Webb" as the name of the telescope?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-07-13)

How did NASA decide to name the telescope "James Webb" and not some other name like Copernicus or Ptolemy? The [wiki page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Webb_Space_Telescope#Controversy_over_name) mentions controversy over the name in the past couple of years but nothing on how the name was chosen in the first place. I.e. was there some sort of a vote to choose the name? If so, were there other candidates for what name to choose?

**Tags:** space-telescope, james-webb-space-telescope, nasa


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2022-07-14. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

I would suggest reading some articles such as this somewhat recent [NPR one](https://www.npr.org/2021/09/30/1041707730/shadowed-by-controversy-nasa-wont-rename-new-space-telescope) or [this NYT one](https://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/17/science/a-manager-immortalized.html) from back in 2002, when the fromer NASA administrator Sean O'Keefe made this decision.

This paragraph from the first article should give a good summery:

> The decision to name this telescope after Webb was made by a different
> NASA administrator, Sean O'Keefe, who is now at Syracuse University.
> Like Webb, O'Keefe didn't have a background in science before coming
> to NASA, but rather he had one in professional management and
> administration.
>
> He says in his field, Webb was a towering figure, who helped establish
> the National Academy of Public Administration and was a thought leader
> in developing the best ways of bringing people from diverse fields
> together to pursue ambitious goals.
>
> When O'Keefe took over the top job at NASA, he says, everyone was
> referring to an exciting new space telescope that was in development
> as the "Next Generation Space Telescope."
>
> "That's about as illuminating and exciting as, you know, whatever,"
> says O'Keefe, who previously served as secretary of the Navy, a role
> that involves deciding on the name of ships.
>
> He decided, after casual conversations with others at NASA, to name
> the new telescope after Webb. "There was no appointed group of
> commissioners to come up with a name," says O'Keefe, who said everyone
> he spoke with seemed to like the idea.

So back then the decision was made without a vote, and it seems almost impossible to tell whether O'Keefe considered other names as well. Although, keeping the name "Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST)" until close to the launch and renaming it then, as done e.g. for the [Chandra](https://www.phys.lsu.edu/mog/mog13/node8.html) telescope, would have been an alternative.

Now there are, of course, a few suggestions for alternative names, such as e.g. the [Harriet Tubman Space Telescope (HTST)](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/nasa-needs-to-rename-the-james-webb-space-telescope/)


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