Who would have guessed that behind NASA’s iconic logo—the emblem of America’s leap to the Moon—was the creative mind of a man with unexpected ties to Italy? From “meatball,” the affectionate nickname NASA employees gave it, to a global pop culture icon, the logo still embodies the essence of the American Dream and rekindles the emotion of the Moon landing on July 20, 1969. But let’s take a step back.
It all began on November 20, 1849, in Colobraro, a small town in the province of Matera, where Lucia Di Marco, wife of Nicola Modarelli, gave birth to their son Domenico.
Like many others of his generation, Domenico emigrated to the United States. He settled in Ohio, home to the largest Colobraro community abroad. On Christmas Eve, December 24, 1879, he married Maria Concetta Agnone, a young woman from Quadrelle (Avellino), and the couple made their home in Girard, Trumbull County, Ohio. In May 1886, their son James Joseph Modarelli was born. He later married Clarice Ragaini, and the Modarelli family line in America continued with the birth of James “Jim” Joseph Modarelli Jr., born in Youngstown on October 25, 1915.
Jim cultivated his artistic talent at the Cleveland Institute of Art, beginning his career as a technical illustrator. He worked as a graphic designer at the Lewis Research Center, and when the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) was reorganized to form the new National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Modarelli was tasked with creating the official seal for the new agency—a design that would soon travel far beyond Earth. It was 1959, ten years before the historic Apollo 11 mission.
Inspired by the shape of a supersonic aircraft and using the red, white, and blue of the American flag, Modarelli designed stylized red wings in a “V” shape across a blue sphere dotted with stars, with an orbiting ellipse symbolizing space travel weaving through the four white letters of NASA. Jim Modarelli’s “meatball” logo has since flown on astronauts’ suits, marked spacecraft launched into orbit, and watched over the International Space Station. It even appears in the legendary photo of Neil Armstrong taking humanity’s first steps on the Moon.
Even today, that logo—which symbolized an era of transformation for America and embodied the Space Race—lives on in popular culture, printed on mugs and T-shirts worn by those who see themselves in an ideal of innovation and human achievement. NASA’s official website recognizes Jim Modarelli as “the creator of NASA’s first exhibit program, laying the groundwork for the agency’s public outreach and inspiring a generation through community engagement.”
The story of Jim Modarelli and the “meatball” is a fascinating chapter of the American Dream—a dream that, for many like his grandfather Domenico Modarelli and the people of Colobraro, meant leaving their homeland for the unknown. It’s a reminder that creativity can emerge from the most unexpected places—and an inspiration to keep pushing the boundaries of exploration while carrying the strength of one’s roots.
