Retro Yakking

What does NASA stand for? The experts will have you believe it’s short for National Aeronautics and Space Administration, but of course that’s rather boring and plain, much like a non-chocolate digestive.

Naturally, the conspiracists have a theory that NASA actually stands for something far more exotic, and there’s a huge cover-up involving aliens and the American government.

I wouldn’t know much about that, but I do know that the guys at the NASA Naming Association missed a trick when it came to adopting a memorable moniker.

Alternative NASAs

• Nasty, Aggressive Sand Aardvarks - a home for unwanted desert anteaters from the Nevada Desert, because there’s nobody else that even remotely gives a monkey’s.
• Not A Silly Alien - namely the Roswell alien, or perhaps ET after passing his maths GCSE. Mind you, you could write your name on the paper and get a B these days.
• National Association of Stencil Acquisition - the stencil collectors’ club of America.
• Not Actually Space Ass - proof that donkeys will never visit space, or at least none from the US. I hear Blackpool are thinking of it though, when Colin Pillinger invents Beagle 3.
• Now Advertising Skunk Accessories - a high end exotic pet shop 100 miles from the surface of the Earth
• Naff And Slightly Annoying - BBC Radio Four?
• Nostradamus Ants See All - beware, you never know what they’re working on in those high security bases.
• Narcoleptic Anthropomorphic Sinister Anteaters - invented by the Russians in the late eighties to combat the ant prophets. Naturally, they failed.
• Noctambulistic Affable Spam ‘Aters - open source anti-spyware software that works even when the computer is switched off.

Special Thanks

• Factacular - interesting words - certainly worth a gander
• Colin Pillinger for being such a good sport
• All the skunks, donkeys and anteaters out there, but not the ants. I hate them.

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