EXPLORATION

108 CHAPTER 6 Back to the Future, 1992–Today
worm-infested stationary or by repainting worm-covered
space vehicles. 8 NASA employees took his comment
to heart—Langley’s hangar would retain the
NASA logotype insignia until late 1999, and many
research aircraft across the Agency would retain their
logotype tail markings for several years thereafter. The
Space Shuttles flew with the emblem well into the
1990s. Eliminating the worm significantly impacted
costs and schedules. As will be discussed, the overlap of
NASA insignias during the transition led to confusion
among observers.
The “Wormball”
Following Administrator Goldin’s decision to bring
back the meatball, the magazine Quest: The History
of Spaceflight Quarterly published articles on the turmoil
between the supporters of the worm insignia and
those of the meatball insignia. In the first article, a
Quest artist created a composite logo in which he combined
both the worm and meatball into one design,
with the worm replacing the standard NASA letters
of the meatball. 9 Calling the design “The best of both
worlds?” was a humorous comment on the logo situation
within NASA.
In its next issue, Quest reported that Modarelli
had read the article and wrote, “It was interesting …
since I submitted an almost identical design to NASA
Headquarters shortly after the NASA worm logo was
adopted in 1975. Naturally it was turned down ….”
8 Ibid.
9 Quest: The History of Spaceflight Quarterly, Summer 1992,
Volume 1, number 2, p. 29. The artist was Dan Gauthier.
Others advocated the concept; see Keith Cowing, “New
NASA Logo Designs,” NASA Watch, 25 April 2010, http://
nasawatch.com/archives/2010/04/new-nasa-logo-d.html
(accessed 20 September 2014).
FIGURE 6-4.
The unofficial “wormball” was proposed as a “make
everyone happy” design for the NASA insignia. (Quest:
The History of Spaceflight Quarterly)
Interest in the “wormball” inspired a movement to
have NASA adopt it as the logo. In response to the
issue, NASA Headquarters quickly made it clear that
the “wormball” would never be adopted. 10
Overdue Recognition
By the 1960s, Modarelli had still not received proper
recognition for his design of the meatball. This situation
was brought to the attention of Abe Silverstein,
Director of the Lewis Research Center, who pointed
out the grievous oversight in a forceful letter to NASA
Headquarters in 1967.
10 Quest: The History of Spaceflight Quarterly, Fall 1992,
Volume 1, Number 3, p. 45.