![]() They add that NASA's stance may be seen as implying that managers are not responsible for homophobia or other forms of discrimination that happen on their watch. ![]() "It is hypocritical of NASA to insist on giving Webb credit for the exciting things that happened under his leadership - activities that were actually conducted by other people - but refuse to accept his culpability for the problems," they write. Noting that "all evidence points to the suggestion that Webb continued to be in positions of power specifically because he was highly competent," these astronomers say it's likely that Webb knew much about the security practices at his agency during the Cold War, when being gay was perceived as being a national security risk. The four astronomers who authored the Scientific American article sent NPR a joint statement which says that "NASA's statement relies on a practice of selective historical reading: where there is not a piece of paper that explicitly says 'James Webb knew about this,' they assume it means he did not." Nor does Webb, in the aftermath of the June 28 meeting, follow up on the matter – whether via memoranda or correspondence," NASA's report says.Ĭritics of the telescope's name say NASA's approach to this whole issue is sorely lacking. ![]() "None of the evidence found links Webb to actions emerging from this discussion. "Based upon the available evidence, Webb's main involvement was in attempting to limit Congressional access to the personnel records of the Department of State," the new NASA report states, adding that Webb did apparently pass along some materials on homosexuality provided by another federal employee. The report also examines an episode during Webb's time at the State Department, in 1950, when he met with Senator Clyde Hoey, who led a congressional inquiry into homosexuals in the federal government. Norton was a NASA budget analyst who lost his job after being arrested by the police for having made a "homosexual advance," and later sued the government. He found no evidence that Webb was ever aware of the firing of Clifford J. In Webb's communications about personnel issues at NASA, homosexuality just doesn't come up, says Odom. "We really still don't really know how he felt about any of these issues," says Odom, saying that Webb's main concern seemed to be understanding the administration's policies and putting them into effect while also fulfilling other priorities, like going to the moon. For example, Webb was very concerned that NASA centers comply with new equal employment opportunity practices related to race and gender. ![]() This broad review turned up nothing about Webb's own opinions on the federal government's employment policies, says Odom, other than his intention to implement the policies set by his superiors. This 1965 photo shows NASA head James Webb (center) with Alabama Governor George Wallace (left), and rocket expert Wernher von Braun. "COVID presented a huge challenge to that." "A critically important part of this whole investigation was getting access to records," says Brian Odom, NASA's chief historian. In 2021, NASA started to investigate records related to Webb's time in government, but the coronavirus pandemic meant that access to some archival collections was restricted. The American Astronomical Society even reminded its members this month that they don't need to use the telescope's full name when submitting scientific papers to the society's journals. Many astronomy researchers signed on to a petition urging NASA to change the name, and some pointedly refer to the telescope only by its initials. They argued that Webb's leadership role during a time when the federal government was investigating and purging gay employees meant he effectively had to have been complicit. Last year, before the $10 billion telescope was launched into space, several astronomers wrote an article for Scientific American calling for this observatory to be renamed. Science Who gets to use NASA's James Webb Space Telescope? Astronomers work to fight bias
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