NASA originally planned to announce that it was bringing its iconic "worm" logo back on Wednesday, but the agency was afraid people would take it as an April Fools' Day joke.
Happily, it most certainly is not. The worm has returned, and that's no joke.
The space agency said the retro-looking logo will be stamped on the side of the Falcon 9 rocket that will carry astronauts to the International Space Station as part of SpaceX's Demo-2 flight, presently scheduled for mid to late May. NASA says there’s a good chance you’ll see the logo featured in other missions, too.
The change was driven by the space agency's administrator, Jim Bridenstine, who told Ars he is a "huge fan" of the worm symbol.
"I thought marking the achievement of returning human spaceflight to American soil by bringing back the worm would be a fitting tribute to a historic achievement," he said. "I’m very appreciative of the partnership with SpaceX and their willingness to work overtime to make this happen."
NASA has only ever had two logos. There is the original "meatball," which was designed by an employee named James Modarelli in the space agency's second year, 1959. The iconic logo's round shape represents a planet, the stars represent space, the red v-shaped wing represents aeronautics, and circular orbit around NASA represents space travel.
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First came the meatball, in 1959.NASA
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Then came the worm, from 1976 to 1992.NASA
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NASA also has a seal used for formal agency events.NASA
In 1976, as the agency sought to move beyond Apollo into the "modern" era with its nascent space shuttle, it created a new logo with NASA spelled out in a unique type style. With this update, NASA sought to express a "feeling of unity, technological precision, thrust and orientation toward the future." However, this "worm" logo was nevertheless retired in 1992, as NASA reverted to the meatball under the leadership of then-administrator Dan Goldin.
Now, apparently, the space agency will use both logos going forward. NASA will continue to employ the meatball as its primary symbol, but the agency says it is assessing how and where the worm will be used.
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