The Care and Feeding of the NASA Worm Logo
$79 for an Out-of-Date Book About a Modern NASA Logo, NY Times
“For $79 plus shipping, you can buy a reprint of a long-obsolete federal government publication. The captivating title? “National Aeronautics and Space Administration Graphics Standards Manual.” It may not be a page turner, but among certain design and space aficionados, it is a cherished piece of history. A Kickstarter campaign begun on Tuesday aims to raise $158,000 to finance a high-quality hardcover printing of this bureaucratic relic.”
LOST IN SPACE; Meatballs Devour Worms!!, NY Times (1999)
“Keith Cowing, an ex-NASA payload manager who documents worm sightings on the NASA Watch Web site, raps Goldin’s subordinates for obsessively hiding the worm from the boss. A NASA spokesman protests, saying the agency is worming itself — harmlessly — over time (old letterhead will be used up, etc.): ”If someone decides they better go and eradicate this, that or the other thing, it’s not because of Goldin.”
From Worms to Meatballs — NASA Talk Traces Emblematic History, 2013
Reissue of the 1975 NASA Graphics Standards Manual, Kickstarter
Keith’s note: Alas, my old NASAWatch “Worm Watch” feature fell offline a long time ago when we did a website update. I always thought that my “wormball” would have been the perfect compromise. Oh well. Truth be known, the whole impetus behind the meatball Vs worm logo change speaks much more to Goldin’s interest in getting NASA to change than an actual obsession with the logo – even if it seemed that way at the time. Indeed, it was emblematic of the issue of resistance to change with NASA. If someone could not follow a simple concept and managerial direction of replacing a logo then how could they be expected to do more the complex things needed to transform the agency?
Hm, I know that fried worms are delicious, and fried meatballs are also delicious. I don’t know if putting them together will produce the same delicious result. I like the meatballs more because it is more food for the value, but worms are nice on their own.
“If someone could not follow a simple concept and managerial direction of replacing a logo then how could they be expected to do more the complex things needed to transform the agency?” Um, it was Dan Goldin who was resistant to change, and who replaced an award-wining, integrated graphic program that had such strong public identification that movie directors were using it years later with his father’s Oldsmobile of a 1950’s logo. And by so doing, he was violating a standing Presidential directive for agencies to improve their use of graphics.
Goldin wanted to recreate the attitude of Apollo. So now we will go boldly to the Moon (or Mars) without regard to cost or sustainability.
In some ways the worm looks very dated even though in 1970s it was futuristic looking along with fashions shown in “Logan’s Run.” Yes, I thought the worm watch was amusing (hey, I have the Sunnyvale/Mountain View phone book showing Shuttle model on stand at ARC sporting the worm during the Goldin administration).
Other than that, who cares except those who modified orbiters to replace with meatball which was not a trivial task. And then all the facilities had rid the worm during the extensive TQM and downsizing campaign including many facilities personnel and resources being laid off.