Stephen Colbert asked his fans to share his passion for space by donating to NASA to support its work with the International Space Station.
Colbert rallied behind NASA’s efforts to create alternative vaccines to fight diseases — including salmonella and pneumonia — that have become increasingly resistant to antibiotics.
“I love looking up at the stars and wondering what distant planets are still out there and to be discovered and can we frack them for methane,” Colbert joked in his public service announcement released on NASA’s website on Thursday.
NASA has long enjoyed Colbert’s support. In 2009, Colbert urged his viewers to nominate his last name when NASA asked the public to suggest names for the Node 3, a room in the space station. Colbert won the majority of votes, but NASA didn’t want to name the space module after him. The space station chose the name Tranquility instead.
“We don’t typically name U.S. space station hardware after living people and this is no exception,” said Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations in a NASA statement.
NASA did name the treadmill the astronauts train on after Colbert. It’s called COLBERT, which is an acronym for “combined operational load bearing external resistance treadmill.” But the treadmill isn’t enough for Colbert — he wants the space station to create caramel space chip swirl ice cream. Doesn’t that sound tasty?
Colbert has become a sort of spokesperson for the space agency. Does his love for NASA motivate you to donate to space research?
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