Twitter users asked to name Uranus probe – and it went pretty much how you’d expect

In what might take the title of Low Hanging Fruit of the Year, someone recently asked Twitter users to come up a new name for a probe headed to Uranus, and, well, what happened next will not be shocking to anyone – but it is hilarious.

Before we get into the enthusiastic and viral responses, let’s backtrack for a moment.

ExploreIGO is a Twitter fan account devoted to hyping up our solar system’s Ice Giant planets, namely Neptune and Uranus. The account often posts pictures and memes about the two planets and their pinned tweet is a plea to the space community to send missions to the icy masses in the name of exploration.

It should be noted that there are no scheduled probes headed for Uranus as of now, but scientists with NASA voted last year to make the blue planet NASA’s top priority in the next decade by developing a mission to Uranus, with spacecraft that could include an orbiter and a probe.

Which brings us to the tweet in question.

Last Saturday, ExploreIGO asked its community “what would YOU name the #Uranus Orbiter & Probe Mission?”

We all know what comes next…

“How about the Planetary Orbital Observation Probe? AKA The P.O.O.P,” suggested one respondent. “Beginning Uranus Mission … Amazing Spectacle in Space,” offered another.

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In all, the original post has received thousands of suggestions – some silly, but some are actually very thoughtful and based in science or mythology. You know, names NASA might actually consider.

Many recommended naming the Uranus probe Olympus, Odin, or even M.U.S.E. for Mission Uranus Science Expedition. Some suggested the names of historical figures in the space community, like Lassel, Kuiper, and Earhart.

While it might seem immature for the science community to bandy about jokes poking fun at the planets they explore, some scientists say it’s actually helpful in getting their work in front of a wider audience.