Good subject for Engineer’s Week. Engineers aren’t the dry humorless nerds we’re usually depicted to be; forty years in the space business saw plenty of laughs. Earliest that comes to mind was an Air Force satellite in the '70s that developed issues with its attitude control system. Lieutenant Knight came up with a workaround which saved the mission; it was dubbed “Fly By Knight.”
One pair of satellites received in-house names in honor of one of the engineers who had developed breast cancer and underwent a double mastectomy. Her plastic surgeon had given her two options of “styles” for her breast reconstruction. “Perky,” “Sporty,” and the lady are all doing fine.