NASA DON’T DO SWEARING

A newly hired NASA intern lost her golden opportunity after mistakenly insulting a famous NASA engineer and member of the National Space Council.

A Twitter user identified as Naomi H tweeted:

This seems fair enough. After all, any normal person would be ecstatic after learning they had been accepted to work for NASA. I mean, it’s NASA. This wasn’t the tweet that caused such controversy though. It’s the tweet that came after that really landed Naomi H in hot water.

If you’re into science and space, you may recognise the name Homer Hickam. He’s a Vietnam veteran and former NASA engineer who trained the first ever Japanese astronauts and wrote the best selling memoir entitled Rocket Boys. He’s kind of a big deal in the space research community which makes it slightly awkward that a future NASA intern wouldn’t know the name.

Hickam replied: “And I am on the National Space Council that oversees NASA.”

Soon after the little spat, Naomi was contacted by NASA and informed that her internship was being revoked.

If you’ve jumped to the conclusion that Hickam had her fired, you’re not alone but you’re wrong. Hickam posted on his blog that he wasn’t offended by the swearing in the initial tweet but he just wanted to warn Naomi to be careful using the words ‘NASA’ and ‘f*ck’ in the same tweet.

He clarified that he has nothing to do with the hiring and firing post and he’s even trying to find her a better engineering job than the one NASA offered. She reportedly contacted him to apologise which Hickam said was “unnecessary”. He posted: “After talking to her and looking at her resume, I am certain she deserves a position in the aerospace industry and I’m doing all I can to secure her one that will be better than she lost.”

Even though things might work out alright for Naomi, this whole situation shows just why you shouldn’t swear too much on the internet or tell famous NASA engineers to suck your genitalia.