NASA worm returns as interest in space grows around the world

[EMMA STOLTZFUS]

First it was the meatball, then the worm, then back to the meatball. Now it’s both the meatball and the worm. We’re talking about the timeline of NASA’s logos from the fifties to today. In an era where more and more countries and companies are making the leap into space, the return of the worm comes at a time of space craze revival.

Richard Danne, former design director | NASA

It’s become a cult thing with a huge following.

[EMMA STOLTZFUS]

That’s Richard Danne, the man who designed the worm back in the seventies.

Richard Danne, former design director | NASA

We had a lot of wonderful products, you know, rockets and space shuttles and the Hubble telescope. You know, it’s sexy and exciting for people in that time. It was, but it’s still today. Why, aren’t people excited about manned space flight? Lunar missions coming up. I mean, you know, it’s just revved up again.

[EMMA STOLTZFUS]

The meatball is the classic round multicolored logo form with stars and a swoosh around the acronym. The worm is a smooth typeface in a warm red. Very different logos for different eras of space travel. The worm went out of fashion with the agency in the nineties, replaced by the chunkier meatball. 

But in 2017 the worm started cropping up on officially sanctioned t-shirts and merchandise. By 2022 it was emblazoned across the Artemis 1 rocket. It’s only increased in use in the years since then, the worm appearing on souvenirs, uniforms, and signs all over. In 2023 a large statue of the worm appeared in front of the new Earth Information Center. This coincided with NASA bestowing the Exceptional Public Achievement medal upon its creator, Danne.

Bert Ulrich, multimedia liaison | NASA

It’s really wonderful for NASA because we’re able to express our message of going back to the moon in really fun, interesting ways and they incorporate the elegance of the worm or the more wow factor of the meatball in really really wonderful ways.

[EMMA STOLTZFUS]

A change in look isn’t the only shift happening in recent years. A space craze comeback has also taken over the world, calling for a return to the classics as NASA plans its return to the moon.

Richard Danne, former design director | NASA

It’s more popular today in the world than it was back then. And that’s hard to explain I think, but it’s just what it is. So there’s something at the core of the whole thing and the fact that it was serious but inspirational in a way. It’s hard to do with very simple things but that’s the way I’ve lived my life and career with simplicity so it works.