Earthrise. Legacy. Serenity. Venture.
Those are the names NASA offered up for its new space station module, which it asked online users to vote on before its scheduled addition in December.
Colbert.
That is the name most people suggested, after Stephen Colbert urged them to do so on “The Colbert Report.” Voting in that poll closed in March.
So will NASA buckle to Comedy Central’s pressure and name its apparatus — or node as they sometimes call it — after a comedian? Hard to say at this point. All we know is that the space agency has chosen Colbert’s program to announce its decision. Astronaut Sunita Williams is a scheduled guest on the show airing at 10:30 p.m. Tuesday.
If Colbert gets his way, it will be a coup for the comedian, who has tried several times in the past to promote his show’s character through various public stunts. Here now, a look back at his hits and misses.
Getting his picture
– Last year, the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington agreed to hang Colbert’s portrait in a place they deemed appropriate to his stature — between the bathrooms near the “America’s Presidents” exhibit. The portrait featured Colbert standing in front of a fireplace holding a portrait of himself with a similar portrait of himself on the mantel.
Verdict: Publicity win
Running for president in South Carolina
More Top Picks Best Premium Thermoses For Hot Drinks
– Colbert filed to get on the ballot as a presidential candidate in 2007, but the state’s Democrats quashed his hopes when they voted to keep him off the ballot. Colbert had announced that he would run only in that key primary state.
Verdict: Publicity win
White House correspondents’ dinner
– Colbert hosted the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in 2006 and became a YouTube sensation for dropping heavy-handed jokes on the influential crowd — which included then-President Bush and top correspondents from the nation’s largest news outlets.
Verdict: Publicity win
Changing Wikipedia
– In an episode of “The Colbert Report” that aired in 2006, Colbert went on a rant on the reliability of Wikipedia while typing away at his laptop. Viewers came to find out that the changes he joked about making to his show’s page on-air actually were made by a user with the handle “StephenColbert.” That user was blocked from making edits after the broadcast, in which Colbert also encouraged users to edit the page on elephants.
Verdict: Publicity fail