July 12, 2022, 9:15 am ETThe telescope was named after NASA administrator James E. Webb.Credit…Scan by Mike Acs In 2002, Sean O’Keefe, then NASA administrator, announced that the agency’s next telescope would be named after James Webb, who led NASA in the 1960s as it prepared to land men on the moon. He was an ardent champion of space science. Some astronomers were disappointed that he would not be named for an astronomer, while others objected on more serious grounds, namely that Mr. Webb bore some responsibility for an event during the Truman administration known as the Lavender Scare that resulted in the purge of gay and lesbian State Department employees. At the time, Mr. Webb was Under Secretary of State. This matter came to light a year ago when four astronomers – Lucianne Walkowicz of the JustSpace Alliance and the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, Chanda Prescod-Weinstein of the University of New Hampshire, Brian Nord of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and the University of Chicago and Sarah Tuttle. of the University of Washington — published an article in Scientific American, “James Webb Space Telescope Must Be Renamed.” NASA said it would investigate the allegations and issue a report. Then, last September, Bill Nelson, the current NASA administrator and former Florida senator, announced that he saw no need to change the name. No report was ever released, angering critics. In March after the telescope was launched, the journal Nature reported through FOIA requests that NASA had taken quite seriously allegations that Paul Hertz, then NASA’s director of astrophysics, had written outside astronomers asking whether the name of the telescope should be changed. The answer was no, but he didn’t talk to any LGBTQ astronomers. The magazine also reported files from the Clifford Norton case. He had been fired from NASA in 1963 – during Mr Webb’s tenure – for being gay and archival material referred to “a custom in the service” to fire people for homosexual activity. Mr. Norton appealed and won a landmark case against such discrimination in 1969. In November 2021, NASA’s Astrophysics Advisory Board asked the agency for a fuller report. Mr. O’Keefe, the former administrator, defended his choice in an email. “Arguably, had it not been for James Webb’s determination to fulfill the boldest vision of his time, our ability to explore today would be very different,” Mr O’Keeffe said. But this was not enough for the critics. “If he’s not responsible for the bad things that happened while he was in charge, why is he responsible for the good?” said Dr. Prescott-Weinstein. “There seems to be a doublethink going on here, where people are holding him responsible for the things they like about his legacy and pretending he’s only responsible for the things they like.” “Our telescopes, if they are going to be named after people, should be named after people who inspire us to be our best selves,” added Dr Prescott-Weinstein. See more
