Description
While there are a number of iconic brand emblems that are known far and wide across the globe, such as McDonald’s golden arches and the Nike swoosh, one logo rises above them all, quite literally, reaching into the depths of out space- that of the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration AKA NASA, examples of which are currently 25.8 billion kilometres or 16 billion miles from earth aboard the Voyager 1 probe, rocketing into interstellar space at a blistering speed of 61,000 kilometres or 38,000 miles per hour.
In both its original circular “meatball” and 1970s/1980s “worm” logotype forms, the NASA emblem ranks among the most recognizable in history, appearing on t-shirts, coffee mugs, keychains and hundreds of other pieces of merchandise the world over - not bad for a government agency!
But can you draw it from memory? Easy, right? There’s a blue disk, of course…some stars?….an orbiting satellite…maybe some kind of red swoosh…? And, oof, despite its iconic status, the NASA logo is admittedly busy and inelegant, breaking many of the rules of modern graphic design.
But what do those elements all mean? Why were they chosen - and by whom? Who actually designed the NASA logo?
Well, let’s find out as we dive into the fascinating history of what has become humanity’s de facto logo to the universe.
Author: Gilles Messier
Host/Editor: Daven Hiskey
Producer: Samuel Avila
0:00 Intro
1:25 The Forgotten NACA and Founding of NASA
5:50 NASA's New Logo, Meaning, an Update, and Fighting Over It All
10:35 The Truth About NASA Mission Patches
15:30 How NASA Decided What to Call Their Ships