14
NASA Internship Twitter Controversy

NASA Internship Twitter Controversy

PROTIP: Press 'i' to view the image gallery, 'v' to view the video gallery, or 'r' to view a random entry.

Overview

NASA Internship Twitter Controversy refers to an incident in which Twitter user @NaomiH_Official reportedly lost an internship with NASA after telling former NASA engineer Homer Hickam, a National Space Council member, "suck my dick and balls" on Twitter.

Background

On August 14th, 2018, Twitter user @NaomiH_Official tweeted the message "Everyone shut the fuck up / I got accepted for a NASA internship," to which Hickam replied "Language." After @NoamiH_Official replied with "Suck my dick and balls I'm working at NASA," Hickam informed her that he is "on the National Space Council that oversees NASA" (shown below). The tweets have since been removed.


Naomi H @NaomiH_official 22h EVERYONE SHUT THE F--- UP I GOT ACCEPTED FOR A NASA INTERNSHIP 158 19 3447 Homer Hickam @HomerHickam 3h Language Naomi H @NaomiH_official 2h Suck my d--- and balls lI'm working at NASA 91 65 Homer Hickam @HomerHickam 2h And I am on the National Space Council that oversees NASA. 28 3

Developments

Online Reactions

On August 20th, Twitter user @Saphykitten[6] posted a tweet claiming that @NaomiH_Official "lost her internship" and "delete her Twitter" (shown below).


Emperor Saphy @Saphykitten Replying to @YaiSor @NaomiH official @_Flinch Just a follow up for those who found this humorous, she lost her internship, and has deleted her twitter.

On August 21st, Twitter user @CaitlinNyaa[5] posted a screenshot of the Twitter exchange along with the message "A furry became an intern for NASA and got instantly fired after telling someone on their council to suck their dick because this is 2018." Over the next week, the tweet recieved upwards of 93,900 likes and 33,000 retweets. The same day, a post about the Twitter controversy was posted to the Encyclopedia Dramatica Forums.[7] Also on August 21st, Hickam published a blog post addressing the incident on his personal blog, noting that "after talking to her, I am certain she deserves a position in the aerospace industry" and that he was working to "secure her one that will be better than she lost" (shown below).[8]


Tuesday, August 21, 2018 Social Media Recently, it was called to my attention on Twitter that someone was being hired by NASA and that they were using the F-word in a tweet about it. I'm a Vietnam vet and not at all offended by the F-word. However, when I saw NASA and the word used together, it occurred to me that this young person might get in trouble if NASA saw it so I tweeted to her one word: "Language" and intended to leave it at that. Soon, her friends took umbrage and said a lot of unkind things but long after I was gone asI immediately deleted my comments and blocked all concerned. Later, I learned she had lost her offer for an internship with NASA. This I had nothing to do with nor could I since I do not hire and fire at the agency or have any say on employment whatsoever. As it turned out, it was due to the NASA hashtag her friends used that called the agency's attention to it long after my comments were gone She reached out to me with an unnecessary apology which I heartily accepted and returned with my own. After talking to her, 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. I have also talked to the folks that had to do with her internship and made absolutely certain that there will be no black mark on her record Homer Hickam --

Meanwhile, the Twitter exchange reached the front page of /r/instantkarma. On August 23rd, Twitter user @stillgray tweeted that Hickam "deactivated his Twitter after a sustained harassment campaign" and that he "deleted his blog defending the furry" (shown below).




External References

[1] USA Today – NASA internship reportedly lost after Twitter spat with Homer Hickam

[2] Twitter -@stillgray

[3] Space.com Would-Be NASA Intern Reportedly Loses Position Over Vulgar Tweets

[4] Twitter – moonlandia

[5] Twitter – @CatlinNyaa

[6] Twitter – @Saphykitten

[7] Encyclopedia Dramatica Forums – A furry walks into NASA

[8] Wayback Machine – Homer Hickam blog post

[9] Reddit – /r/instantkarma

Recent Videos

There are no videos currently available.

Recent Images 19 total


Top Comments

Bilbo Swaggins
Delete
NSFW
Bilbo Swaggins Moderator

in reply to Nedhitis

While you're 100% correct, I'd like to let you know that the debate is not only about this isolated incident, but the nuclear meltdown twitter's furry community went into afterward
here's some examples



while kym furries might be cool, the furry community on twitter has some serious issues it needs to work out

+103
Reply
Nedhitis
Delete
NSFW
Nedhitis

And no, her behavior had nothing to do with her being a furry, or we would otherwise deal with similar people daily here on KYM. She is just a prick by her own merit and got the consequences of her actions.

+91
Reply

+ Add a Comment

Comments (124)


Display Comments

Add a Comment


Hi! You must login or signup first!