EXPLORATION

106 CHAPTER 6 Back to the Future, 1992–Today
of today and tomorrow … The can-do spirit of
the past is alive and well. The magic is back …
The old NASA insignia is back because the men
and women of NASA ordered it to be back. A
classic, it never goes out of style! 4
FIGURE 6-1.
The Langley flight hangar displayed both the NASA logotype and the meatball insignia
during Administrator Goldin’s visit in 1992. Although taken 2 years later, the photo
shows the markings at the time of the visit. (NASA 1994-L-04816)
our future. I know you feel this way too, because
large numbers of you have stopped and told me
so as I’ve been visiting all the Centers around the
country … This does not mean that as of today
we will throw out all the stationary and repaint
every building and vehicle—although we’d love
to do it … Over time, the NASA symbol of old,
the affectionate Meatball, will replace the slick
NASA logo and slowly it will die into the horizon
and never be seen again… Take pride in the
symbol that stood for NASA excellence in the
past—and now—looks to the world-class NASA
Goldin had arrived on a Thursday, and by Friday
morning NASA’s worm was officially gone, and the
meatball was back. The Administrator wore a borrowed
meatball pin during his visit, and a meatball
sign was hastily affixed to the podium during his presentation
to the employees and media. 5
Many of the “old-time” managers at Langley—
including Holloway—had been reluctant to follow
the Headquarters directives for implementing the new
logotype emblem and, as a result, the Langley hangar
had not displayed the new insignia from 1975 until late
1991. Instead, the hangar retained the meatball insignia
painted on the facility’s “tail door.” As an additional
affront to the worm, in 1973 the Center had received a
Boeing B737 transport that it subsequently converted
into one of the world’s most productive research airplanes.
When the airplane was scheduled for painting
with NASA livery after arrival, the flight operations
organization proposed putting a meatball insignia
on the nose, despite the existing Agency directive to
remove meatballs from aircraft markings. Langley
management turned a blind eye to the directive; the
4 “Administrator Goldin Brings ‘New NASA’ Message to
Langley,” The Researcher News, in-house Langley newsletter,
Volume 6 Issue 9, 5 June 1992, p. 1.
5 Goldin borrowed the meatball pin from Cam Martin of
the Office of Public Affairs at Langley. At the time, the
pins were “illegal” and no longer sold in Langley gift shops.
Martin had bought the pin years before and hurried to his
nearby home to retrieve it in time for Goldin’s briefing.
Communication with Cam Martin, 9 January 2013.