I'm not sold on using Nebula as a human name. Bit on the nose for me. More suitable for a pet. But there are plenty of astronomers and space travelers with names I like, not to mention various non-English stellar names
*
Nicolaus Copernicus, the Polish astronomer who said, "maybe the
Sun is the center of the universe, not the Earth." Really shook up the astronomical world of the Renaissance.
*
Tycho Brahe, the last major non-telescope using astronomer in the West, was born
Tyge (
Tycho being a nickname). It's a rather
Danish name, but his sister
Sophia's name is a bit more palatable for English use.
*
Isaac Newton has a very timeless Biblical name. Has a definite gravity to it. Yes, that joke was intentional. Sorry, not sorry.
*
Annie Jump
Cannon helped develop modern stellar classification.
*
Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, has an awesome name. I don't like that she appears to have become a Putin supporter in her post-Soviet political career.
*I actually like
Buzz Aldrin's birth name of
Edwin.
*No offense to
Sally Ride, but I just like
Mae Jemison's (first African-American woman in space) name more. Plus,
Sally was my first dog's name, so I don't automatically think of space with it.
*
Chiaki Mukai (first Japanese woman in space) has a lovely name.
*The late
Kalpana Chawla (first Indian woman in space and victim of the Columbia disaster) had a gorgeous name. So does the recently back on-Earth
Sunita "
Suni" Williams.
*Liu
Yang, first Chinese woman in space. The character used for
Yang means "vast," which is rather appropriate for someone who's been to space.
A learning experience is one of those things that say, "You know that thing you just did? Don't do that." -
Douglas Adams