Of Meatballs and Worms
Published on Apr 13, 2006 at 6:55 pm.
4 Comments.
Filed under NASA.
Oh, now doesn’t that sound like a wonderful title? Well, it’s got nothing to do with food and animals. Rather, this has to do with NASA insignia. I thought that it might interest a few of y’all to hear something about them.
During the 1950’s, both the United States and the Soviet Union were working to put the first artificial satellite into orbit around the Earth. The Soviet Union beat us with Sputnik. Eventually, the United States joined in with Explorer 1. Part of the delay seems to be that President Eisenhower wanted the American space effort to be civilian in nature rather than military. The Soviet agency that put Sputnik into orbit was the same agency designing and building ballistic missiles to loft thermonuclear warheads at us. However, our best rocket scientists, under the leadership of Werher von Braun, worked at the Army Ballistic Missile Agency in Huntsville, Alabama. The Vanguard rockets, funded by the NSF, kept blowing up when we tried to launch them. Finally, von Braun’s team was given the go-ahead to launch a satellite designed by the Army’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. It was clear that our best rockets were military, just as in the Soviet Union. It also became clear that we were also in a race to put a man in space. Again, the military had oversight of the Soviet space program, and we wanted to be different. We wanted a civilian space program. So, in 1958, President Eisenhower signed a bill into law creating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This new agency was given the assets of the old National Advisory Committee of Aeronautics (NACA) together with most of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency (which became the Marshall Spaceflight Center) and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (whose name being less militaristic was kept). NASA also got the Ames Research Center, the Langley Research Center, the Lewis Research Center, and a couple of flight stations.
Now, the only thing needed was a logo for this new civilian space agency. The old seal used by NACA simply wouldn’t do. It was really cool, after all, with a picture of the Wright brothers’ airplane on it, but a primative biplane was not really the symbol that they wanted for an agency that was going to be sending men into space. So, a new symbol was clearly in order. A formal seal was produced at Lewis showing the Earth and Moon System, with a satellite orbiting the Earth, and a large red chevron around the Earth symbolizing the aeronautics part of NASA (that being the latest thing in high speed aircraft wings at the time). Around the outside of the seal the words “National Aeronatics and Space Administration” and “U.S.A.” are written. However, the seal was complicated and quite involved. So, James Modarelli, of Lewis Research Center, was asked to design a somewhat less formal emblem. What he came up with is the most familiar symbol that people associate with NASA. It is a blue sphere (symbolic of Earth) with stars in it (symbolic of space), the letters NASA in the center, with a stylized orbiting body going around the letters. Across the face of the blue ball, in front and back of the “NASA” is the red airfoil from the NASA seal. This is the symbol at the entrance to NASA centers, the symbol of the Apollo days, and the symblol that most associate with NASA. The official seal is only used on formal documents and such.
Following Apollo, though, NASA began to wonder about updating its image. They wanted a more modern symbol. They wanted something with a bit more of a flair to it, and not something that calls to mind engineers with white shirts, narrow black ties, thick glasses, and pocket protectors. So, they came up with a thoroughly 70’s symbol: the word NASA written in smooth, curvy red letters. At once the new logo drew criticism and praise. It was modern, sure, but for the more conservative folks it looked silly. The new logo got the nickname “worms” from its appearance. However, the new logo’s supporters liked the stylistic flair, and they called the old logo the “meatball.” Also, the old round logo was difficult to place letterhead, and block lettering looked out of place too near it. The meatball logo also could not be sized too small. If the size were reduced below about half an inch, then the stars disappeared. Two colors to the logo also made it much more expensive to reproduce. The single colored, somewhat rectangular worms seemed an easier fit. So, for some time, the worms began to displace the meatball. However, in 1992, the then NASA administrator Dan Golden decided that the agency should return to the meatball. NASA had attempted in the 70’s to make spaceflight routine with the Space Shuttle. They almost succeeded, too, until the Challenger accident showed that space travel is never routine. Goldin thought that the meatball logo would recall the glory of the early days of spaceflight. So, the worms are now back out. They are not to be any longer used on any NASA equipment or publication. About the only place that you see worms are in the gift shops on NASA related items, or on old hardware that hasn’t been repainted.
Now, there were a lot of things that Goldin did that I think could have been done better, and some things that he did that I disagree with. However, I rather like the meatball logo. It is easy to identify, and it instantly is recognizable as NASA. Also, it does bring to mind the heady days of Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo. I can see a place for the worms, too, though. I rather disagree with the decision to ban worms altogether. A mix of the logos might be OK. Individual centers, programs, and projects often have their own logos, too. I also agree that all external correspondance should include the official NASA emblem rather than the local logo. That makes it clear that the program is a NASA program. Since NASA is publically funded, it is important for people to see and immediately recognize NASA’s involvement. That way, they can see what NASA is doing for them. However, the worms are pretty unique, too. I don’t think that anyone can mistake what they represent.
That’s my two cents.
-Astroprof
geno modarelli on February 6, 2007 at 8:43 pm: 1
if you have a picture of james modarelli the designer of the nasa emblem please e mail me @genojanet@yahoo.com i am amodarelli from youngstown ohio and would like to know where james modarelli is from. thank you geno modarelli
James D. Rankin on May 2, 2007 at 1:50 pm: 2
Does anyone know the name of the font for the N-A-S-A letters in the “meatball” logo — if there is such a font? I’ve been trying to find this for years, without success.
Astroprof on May 2, 2007 at 2:59 pm: 3
Good question. I am not sure that there really is an official name. I thought those letters were hand drawn. But, perhaps they were modeled on a real font.
A_Nonamus on November 22, 2011 at 4:42 am: 4
A well-known computer font designer has created custom fonts based on the hand-drawn letters in NASA’s “meatball” insignia and “worm” logo. They are called “Nasal” and “Nasalization”.