Meet NASA’s Colbert Treadmill

Earlier this year, NASA announced an online contest to name a room (A.K.A. a "node") at the I.S.S. (International Space Station).

With a strong effort from his fans,  the name "Colbert" pummeled NASA's suggested names: Serenity, Earthrise, Legacy, and Venture.

On Tuesday's edition of  "The Colbert Report," astronaut Sunita Williams stated that NASA had decided NOT to name the node after Stephen Colbert.  NASA had always maintained the right to choose the most appropriate name, it seems.

Node 3 will instead be named Tranquility, which was the 8th most popular vote in the poll.  The name is a nod to the Sea of Tranquility, the site of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

NASA did compromise slightly, however, by naming a space exercise treadmill after Colbert.  NASA will call the treadmill the Combined Operational Load Bearing External Resistance Treadmill, or the COLBERT.

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