For Minnesota Vikings fans, the emergence of 28-year-old journeyman quarterback Joshua Dobbs these past few weeks has been exciting to watch, not to mention fodder for a fresh round of memes, the appearance of space-suit-themed outfits in the stands and the craze over the coolest new nickname in football: «The Passtronaut.» But for NASA, Dobbs' meteoric rise has created a different kind of buzz.
And while «The Joshua Dobbs Effect» might not be an actual scientific finding, there is some evidence that Dobbs, a quarterback and aerospace engineer who is now 2-1 with the Vikings heading into Monday night's game against the Chicago Bears, has generated a wave of new excitement — in science.
When NASA's Glenn Research Center in Ohio posted about Dobbs on X in early November, user engagement soared. The post received more than 3 million views, and the account's followers increased by 216% compared to the previous week's gain.
In 2022, the center said, the average number of engagements per post was 176. And since Nov. 5, when Dobbs stepped in for injured rookie backup Jaren Hall and guided the Vikings to a 31-28 win at Atlanta, U.S.