NASA’s ‘Worm’ Logo, Officially Killed in 1992, Will Rise Again on Falcon 9
When I read the first sentence in the article, I was really confused about what ‘meatball’ and ‘worm’ mean. Later on, I realized the meatball logo is what we are familiar with.
(The first one is the ‘meatball’ logo, the second one is the ‘worm’ logo. Images credit to NASA (Links to an external site.))
This article is about NASA’s decision to reusing the worm logo that was designed in the 1970s. The reason why NASA decided to relaunch this logo is that the meatball logo design is too complex to reproduce in prints, and the ‘worm’ logo is more simplistic and sleek. NASA announced that the meatball logo is not retired but will appear in more limited contexts.
The reason why this story is being told now is that NASA scheduled to launch the SpaceX-manufactured rocket in mid-to-late May, and it will be the first manned test of the Crew Dragon reusable spacecraft. Even though launching a spaceship isn’t as huge as it was back then, it is still crucial to humankind, and more importantly, it is a reusable spacecraft.
A part of the story that isn’t being told is that NASA denied the worm design in the 90s simply because one person thought ‘the typographic logo was unpopular’. I’m curious about the true reason why they decided to alter to meatball logo.
The MarCom professionals were hoping to create the buzz before the spacecraft is launched. First, they want to draw as much attention as possible and make it a hot topic on social media. Second, they want to tighten their connection with their audience. This can also mean a new era is coming but NASA still commemorates their past. Even though I am not a big fan of space, I’m still thrilled about this change!
News source: https://www.adweek.com/agencies/nasas-worm-logo-officially-killed-in-1992-will-rise-again-on-falcon-9/
