Meatball mishap: SpaceX Crew-5 launch marked by distorted NASA logo
Space
12/10/2022
© NASA/Joel Kowsky
null
With crewed launches, Starlink missions, reusing rockets and attempting to get Starship ready for launch, SpaceX can be forgiven for feeling a bit stretched. So too was the NASA meatball logo on SpaceX's recent Crew-5 launch to the ISS, eagle-eyed observers discovered.
The historic mission launched successfully on Oct. 5 and saw a Russian launched to orbit with SpaceX for the first time, despite severe geopolitical tensions in the wake of the ongong Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Yet the rocket sitting on the pad drew attention for other reasons too. NASA's iconic round red, white and blue insignia, nicknamed the "meatball," appeared to be oddly out of proportion and distorted on the side of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that launched Crew-5 to the International Space Station (ISS). Naturally, the internet jumped at the opportunity to poke fun at it.
Related: SpaceX astronaut missions for NASA: Crew-5 live updates
-
Earth
Space -
James Webb Space Telescope detects
Space -
NASA and DARPA-developed nuclear thermal rocket engine could be tested in few years
Space -
Asteroid 2023 BU to buzz Earth on January 26 | Orbit animation
Space -
James Webb Space Telescope will search for biosignatures from alien worlds
Space -
China
Space -
Watch SpaceX
Space -
Space lasers used to discover new lakes under Antarctica
Space -
Chinese New Year celebrated by Tiangong space station crew
Space -
See Earth
Space -
China
Space -
Earth has an
Space -
Listen!
Space -
See early Mars in new visualization
Space -
Large and Small Magellanic Clouds in most detailed imagery yet
Space -
Planets, winter stars and a comet in January 2023 NASA skywatching guide
Space
](http://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA16H5g0.img?h=96&w=170&m=6&q=60&o=t&l=f "James Webb Space Telescope detects - Provided by Space")
 [Best night sky events this month - stargazing maps](https://www.space.com/33974-best-night-sky-events.html) Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech](http://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA15Qmlj.img?h=96&w=170&m=6&q=60&o=t&l=f "Planets, winter stars and a comet in January 2023 NASA skywatching guide - Provided by Space")
-
Earth New evidence suggests the planet
Space
-
James Webb Space Telescope detects The James Webb Space Telescope captured amazing imagery of the Chameleon I dark molecular cloud. It harbors the "deepest, coldest ices measured to date in a molecular cloud," according to ESA. Credit: Space.com | footage courtesy: ESA/Webb, NASA, CSA, STScI, M. K. McClure, F. Sun, Z. Smith, the Ice Age ERS team, N. Bartmann (ESA/Webb) and M. Zamani (ESA/Webb) | edited by [Steve Spaleta](https://twitter.com/stevespaleta)
-
NASA and DARPA-developed nuclear thermal rocket engine could be tested in few years NASA administrator Bill Nelson announces that NASA and DARPA will collaborate to develop and demonstrate the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO) spacecraft, which will employ a nuclear thermal rocket engine. Credit: NASA
](http://img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AA16H5g0.img?h=70&w=94&m=6&q=60&o=t&l=f "James Webb Space Telescope detects - Provided by Space")
"Wait … what … what happened to Crew-5's meatball?" tweeted Florida Today space reporter Emre Kelly, noted Creative Bloq.
Creative Bloq picked up a flurry of tweets on the matter, with users poking fun at the apparently hand-painted NASA logo which, unlike the launch itself, seemed to have veered off course.
The "meatball" logo first appeared in 1959 and served as NASA's official logo until 1975 when the red "worm" became NASA's emblem. According to the agency, the logo's overall round shape represents a planet, while the stars obviously represent space. Meanwhile, the red v-shaped wing design represents aeronautics, and the circular orbit around the agency's name is meant to stand for space travel.
Perhaps the Crew-5 logo was a subtle nod to the fact our planet is an oblate spheroid, slightly flattened at the poles due to Earth's rotation, but likely not. It's unknown what caused the logo to appear so out of sorts.
It's not the only recent space-related logo fiasco, however, as a flying saucer-shape turned up on a National Intelligence Manager for Aviation logo. (That logo has since been taken down, and a spokesperson there stated that a staffer had "erroneously posted an unofficial and incorrect logo.")
Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or on Facebook.
Space
