For nearly three years, we’ve had a petition on MoveOn.org calling on SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk to name his company’s first manned spacecraft after Joss Whedon’s Serenity. In that time, the petition amassed a little over 2,200 signatures, a number that was somewhat lower than we had initially hoped to achieve. As you may recall, we already discussed a number of possible reasons for that in our June 17 blog entry about the petition. In the end, however, we decided that perhaps it was time to close the MoveOn.org petition down and send its signatures on their way to SpaceX. On August 30, we did just that.
Before anyone gets the wrong impression, this doesn’t mean we’re giving up on convincing Elon Musk and SpaceX to name their first Dragon V2 Serenity. In fact, quite the opposite is true. We are pleased to announce that we shut the old petition down to make way for a newer petition that is hosted on a newer platform and more accurately reflects what we currently know about the state of SpaceX’s involvement in NASA’s Commercial Crew Project. And what’s more, this new petition raises the stakes in what is likely to be the final year in the development of SpaceX’s manned Dragon– a year that should culminate in the naming of the ship.
Our new online petition, which you can find at Change.org, not only asks Elon Musk and SpaceX to name their first Dragon V2 Serenity, but also calls upon Elon Musk to announce to the world that the ship will indeed have that name in person at next year’s Comic-Con International in San Diego, California!
SpaceX has had an annual presence at San Diego Comic-Con for the past few years. It would be the perfect place for Elon Musk to announce a manned Dragon named “Serenity.”
You may think this challenge is rather bold on our part, but when you think about it, it really makes a lot of sense. What better way for Elon Musk to announce the name of the SpaceX ship that will take American astronauts into the black than live at one of the biggest pop-culture events of the year, and what better place than a convention hall packed with thousands of Browncoats and space enthusiasts eager to learn first-hand that the ship will bear the name of what is arguably the most iconic science-fiction ship of the 21st century?
You can help us make that a reality by signing our new petition, and doing that has never been easier. Simply click on the text under the words “SIGN OUR PETITION NOW” in the upper right corner of our home page, and you’ll be taken straight to our new petition at Change.org. Then, just type in your information and submit it. It’s as simple as that.
And once you’ve signed, make sure to tell as many people as possible about it, especially if you know they’re Browncoats or interested in space. Whether you post something about the petition on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, or simply e-mail your friends to encourage them to sign, every time you boost the signal you help us come one step closer to that historic announcement in July of 2016.
And if you plan on attending next year’s San Diego Comic-Con, you should also be sure to write Elon Musk a letter and let him know how much it would mean to you to hear him announce in person that SpaceX’s first manned Dragon will be called Serenity. Tell him if he does, he can be certain there will more than enough love to keep her in the air.
