In November 2014, the Rosetta mission successfully landed Philae on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
On November 12, mission scientist Matt Taylor gave press interviews in a shirt covering in cartoon illustrations of sexualized women. He was criticised on Twitter by tech journalist Rose Eveleth and astrophysicist Dr Katie Mack. The comments received mass media attention and significant pushback followed.
Matt Taylor apologised on air November 15, saying he had "made a big mistake… offended many people and [was] very sorry about this."
Commentary
- Dr Jen Gunter: Mansplaining #shirtgate to women is meta misogyny
- Chris Plante and Arielle Duhaime-Rose at The Verge: I don't care if you landed a spacecraft on a comet, your shirt is sexist and ostracizing: "Taylor's personal apology doesn't make up for the fact that no one at ESA saw fit to stop him from representing the Space community with clothing that demeans 50 percent of the world's population. No one asked him to take it off, because presumably they didn't think about it."
- Article on Vice.com: Shirtgate was about more than a tacky shirt.
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