This is a replay of the discussion with Hakeem Oluseyi on the controversy surrounding the naming of the James Webb Space Telescope. It continues! Today the New York Time published an opinion piece entitled: How Naming the James Webb Telescope Turned Into a Fight Over Homophobia: Did the former head of NASA discriminate against gay people? One physicist tried to rebut the accusation, only to find himself the target of attacks. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/19/us/james-webb-telescope-gay-rights.html?

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is NASA’s next great flagship observatory. It’s set to continue — and extend — the illustrious scientific tradition established by the Hubble Space Telescope, while peering deeper into the universe and observing what Hubble could not. But who was James Webb? Considering the controversy surrounding his legacy, I wanted to explore the allegations against him with my friend Hakeem Oluseyi and answer the question: Why was the James Webb Space Telescope named after him? Hakeem claims that some allegations wrongly accused an innocent man who was, among more well-known achievements, a hero of diversity and inclusion in American government. He worked with Lyndon Johnson and John F. Kennedy to use NASA facilities in America’s southern states to promote racial integration and equal opportunity in employment Hakeem Oluseyi is an American astrophysicist, cosmologist, inventor, educator, science communicator, author, actor, veteran, and humanitarian. Oluseyi was named a Visiting Robinson Professor at George Mason University in 2021, a distinction by which the university recognizes outstanding faculty. In 2021, he published an autobiography titled: A Quantum Life: My Unlikely Journey from the Street to the Stars co-authored with Joshua Horwitz. His memoir tells the inspiring unlikely hero’s journey story from dealing drugs to dishing out the hardest of hardcore science communication and inspiration! Hakeem’s best known scientific contributions are research on the transfer of mass and energy through the Sun’s atmosphere; the development of space-borne observatories for studying astrophysical plasmas and dark energy; and the development of transformative technologies in ultraviolet optics, detectors, computer chips, and ion propulsion.

Hakeem Is the president-elect of the National Society of Black Physicists

Get Hakeem’s Book: A Quantum Life:

Follow Hakeem on Twitter https://twitter.com/hakeemoluseyi

Find Hakeem’s article on Medium

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