NASA goes back to the future: the Worm is back

NASA is bringing the “worm” back from oblivion and the design community is literally screaming with joy. 

NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine announced the news on Twitter explaining that the use of the iconic symbol is part of the organization’s quest to “mark the return of human spaceflight on American rockets from American soil.”

NASA revives Wormits formerly forbidden logo for SpaceX’s upcoming Falcon 9 Crew Dragon launch.

“The original NASA insignia is one of the most powerful symbols in the world. A bold, patriotic red chevron wing piercing a blue sphere, representing a planet, with white stars, and an orbiting spacecraft. Today, we know it as ‘the meatball.’ However, with 1970’s technology, it was a difficult icon to reproduce, print, and many people considered it a complicated metaphor in what was considered, then, a modern aerospace era” notes NASA.

“Enter a cleaner, sleeker design born of the Federal Design Improvement Program and officially introduced in 1975. It featured a simple, red unique type style of the word NASA. The world knew it as ‘the worm.’ Created by the firm of Danne & Blackburn, the logo was honored in 1984 by President Reagan for its simplistic, yet innovative design. NASA was able to thrive with multiple graphic designs. There was a place for both the meatball and the worm. However, in 1992, the 1970s brand was retired - except on clothing and other souvenir items - in favor of the original late 1950s graphic.”

Until 2020 as the iconic symbol is having a comeback. 

Retro. Modern. Iconic. That’s the worm. #TheWormIsBack

Our beloved symbol of exploration will fly once again, just in time to mark the return of human spaceflight on American rockets from American soil: https://t.co/AKyJuby9if pic.twitter.com/NuvLttahod

— NASA (@NASA) April 2, 2020

“The retro, modern design of the agency’s logo will help capture the excitement of a new, modern era of human spaceflight on the side of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle that will ferry astronauts to the International Space Station as part of the Demo-2 flight, now scheduled for mid- to late May” announced NASA but we don’t think this is a one-off deal. 

“There’s a good chance you’ll see the logo featured in other official ways on this mission and in the future. The agency is still assessing how and where it will be used, exactly” reads the statement. 

“It seems the worm logo wasn’t really retired. It was just resting up for the next chapter of space exploration. And don’t worry, the meatball will remain NASA’s primary symbol.”

The worm and the meatball coexisted for 17 years, until the worm was buried in the early 1990s but now NASA is officially back to the future. 

Read more on NASA’s original 1976 Graphics Standards Manual here.