Asteroids named for diverse neighborhood of 27 trailblazing astronauts

A neighborhood of astronauts who’re trailblazers for his or her respective ethnicities are in actuality actual “rock stars,” having asteroids named for them.

The Global Mountainous Union (IAU) Minor Planet Heart, which oversees the designation of minute bodies in the photograph voltaic system, lately released the listing of official asteroid names honoring 27 apartment travelers of African American, Hispanic and Native American descent. The namesakes consist of lively and inclined NASA astronauts, U.S. Air Power astronaut candidates and one Soviet-era cosmonaut.

All 27 astronaut-named asteroids fill been found in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter by Marc Buie, a Boulder, Colorado-basically based astronomer at the Southwest Look at Institute, which is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. Buie is moreover a co-investigator on NASA’s Lucy mission, which, after launching in October, will look Trojan asteroids that circle the Solar, main and following Jupiter in its orbit.

Connected: The Excellent Asteroid Encounters of All Time!

“It be an honor and a privilege to name these asteroids in recognition of fellow apartment explorers whereas moreover collectively with to the message of the strength and cost of fluctuate for all human endeavors,” talked about Buie in a assertion released by NASA.

The premise of naming the asteroids for astronauts used to be submitted to the IAU by a workers of scientists and students involved with the Lucy mission. The grief used to be led by Cathy Olkin, the deputy predominant investigator of the Lucy mission at Southwest Look at Institute, with give a capture to from Keith Noll, a planetary astronomer at the Goddard Dwelling Flight Heart in Maryland, who serves as Lucy project scientist.

“Last summer season a neighborhood of us got collectively to honor a various neighborhood of astronauts who fill traveled to accommodate and the pioneers who paved the plot in which for these explorers,” talked about Olkin. “But there are many extra, and we hope to add their names to the sky finally.”

The unique honorees consist of Joe Acabá and Stephanie Wilson, contributors of NASA’s Artemis workers who’re amongst the first U.S. astronauts preparing for a return to the moon, and Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez, a inclined cosmonaut who used to be the first Cuban and first person of African heritage to cruise into apartment.

Also amongst the unique namesakes is Michael Lopez-Alegria, who’s save to become the first retired NASA astronaut to start again to the Global Dwelling Dwelling as the commander of Axiom Dwelling’s first industrial spaceflight in 2022.

The 27 astronauts (and cosmonaut) join almost 40 completely different apartment explorers whose names fill been beforehand added to asteroids. The sooner namesakes consist of the contributors of the Apollo 11 moon touchdown crew; the fallen Soyuz 11, apartment shuttle Challenger (STS-51L) and apartment shuttle Columbia (STS-107) crews; and the first human to start into apartment practically 60 years previously, Yuri Gagarin.

The elephantine listing of newly-named asteroids and the astronauts they honor, as cited by the Minor Planets Heart, is as follows:

• (92579) Dwight
  
  
  Edward (Ed) Joseph Dwight Jr. (b. 1933) used to be the first African American astronaut candidate. He served in the Air Power, working as take a look at pilot sooner than serving in the Aerospace Look at Pilot Faculty. After leaving the Air Power he went on to become an influential sculptor and author.
• (92892) Robertlawrence
  
  
  Robert H. Lawrence Jr. (1935-1967) used to be chosen for the Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL) program. He used to be the first African American to be chosen as an astronaut and used to be the solely MOL astronaut with a doctorate. He perished in a aircraft rupture sooner than he had the chance to head to accommodate.
• (92894) Bluford
  
  
  Guion Steward Bluford Jr. (b. 1942) used to be the first African American astronaut in apartment. He used to be half of four apartment shuttle missions between 1983 and 1992, which included deploying satellites, attempting out robotic fingers, and conducting study. Bluford logged a total of 688 hours in apartment.
• (95449) Frederickgregory
  
  
  Frederick Drew Gregory (b. 1941) is a retired astronaut who used to be the pilot on one apartment shuttle mission and commander on two completely different missions. In 1989, he used to be the first African American to portray a apartment flight. He moreover served as deputy administrator of NASA.
• (97508) Bolden
  
  
  Charles Frank Bolden Jr. (b. 1946) is a inclined astronaut who flew on four apartment shuttle missions (two as the pilot and two as the commander). From 2009-2017, he used to be NASA’s administrator.
• (97512) Jemison
  
  
  Mae Carol Jemison (b. 1956) is a retired astronaut who flew on the apartment shuttle in 1992. There she performed scientific experiments. She used to be the first African American lady to dawdle back and forth to accommodate and the first African American lady admitted into the astronaut coaching program.
• (103733) Bernardharris
  
  
  Bernard Anthony Harris Jr. (b. 1956) is a inclined astronaut who flew on two apartment shuttle missions. In 1993, he used to be a mission specialist who utilized study as half of Spacelab D-2. As payload commander on the apartment shuttle Discovery in 1995, he grew to become the first African American to behavior a spacewalk.
• (103734) Winstonscott
  
  
  Winston Elliott Scott (b. 1950) is a inclined astronaut who flew two missions to accommodate. Scott performed three spacewalks to retrieve satellites and evaluate the assembly of the ISS. He moreover conducted experiments on the outcomes of zero gravity on the human physique.
• (103737) Curbeam
  
  
  Robert Lee Curbeam Jr. (b. 1962) is a retired astronaut and the first person to maintain four spacewalks on a single mission. Whereas in apartment, Curbeam helped repair a photograph voltaic panel and set up a novel truss in the ISS. He spent higher than 37 days in apartment and 45 hours on spacewalks.
• (103738) Stephaniewilson
  
  
  Stephanie Diana Wilson (b. 1966) is the second African American lady to cruise in apartment. She has flown on three missions, and as of 2020, logged basically the most time in apartment of any African American astronaut (42 days). She moreover served as the ground commander for the first all-females spacewalk in 2019.
• (103739) Higginbotham
  
  
  Joan Higginbotham (b. 1964) is an electrical engineer and inclined astronaut. As an engineer at NASA’s Kennedy Dwelling Heart, she participated in 53 apartment shuttle launches sooner than turning into and astronaut and the third African American lady to head to accommodate.
• (104698) Alvindrew
  
  
  Benjamin Alvin Drew (b. 1962) is an astronaut who flew two apartment shuttle missions to the ISS as a mission specialist. He logged higher than 25 days in apartment. He moreover performed two spacewalks.
• (108096) Melvin
  
  
  As an astronaut, Leland Devon Melvin (b. 1964) helped maintain the ISS, with flights aboard the apartment shuttle Atlantis in 2008 and 2009. Melvin is moreover an engineer with abilities utilizing sensors to assess damage of aerospace autos and used to be an NFL soccer player with the Detroit Lions.
• (108097) Satcher
  
  
  Robert Lee Satcher Jr. (b. 1965) is an orthopedic surgeon, chemical engineer and retired astronaut. He used to be the first orthopedic surgeon in apartment and participated in two spacewalks as half of a apartment shuttle flight to the ISS in 2009.
• (114705) Tamayo
  
  
  Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez (b. 1942) used to be the first person of African ancestry and the first Hispanic (Cuban) cosmonaut to dawdle back and forth into apartment with the crew of Soyuz 38 in September 1980. He got the first Hero of the Republic of Cuba medal and heaps completely different honors.
• (115015) Chang Díaz
  
  
  Franklin R. Chang Díaz (b. 1950) used to be an astronaut for 25 years and flew seven apartment shuttle missions from 1986 to 2002. He logged higher than 1,600 hours in apartment and helped to deploy the Galileo spacecraft to Jupiter. He is the first Costa Rican astronaut and is moreover of Chinese language descent.
• (116162) Sidneygutierrez
  
  
  Sidney M. Gutierrez (b. 1951) is a inclined astronaut. He used to be the pilot on the apartment shuttle Columbia in 1991. That mission used to be the first Spacelab mission dedicated to natural sciences. He used to be the commander of a apartment shuttle Endeavour mission in 1994 that inclined radar to appear the Earth.
• (117703) Ochoa
  
  
  Ellen Ochoa (b. 1958) is a inclined astronaut. In 1993, she used to be the first Hispanic lady to head to accommodate. She flew four apartment shuttle missions, logged almost 1,000 hours in apartment, and grew to become director of NASA’s Johnson Dwelling Heart in Houston.
• (117704) Lopez-Alegria
  
  
  Michael Lopez-Alegria (b. 1958) is a retired astronaut who flew on four NASA missions: three aboard the apartment shuttle, and one on the Soyuz spacecraft for a long-duration mission aboard the ISS. He has conducted 10 spacewalks all the plot through his 257 days in apartment. Whereas in apartment, he conducted experiments on materials, biotechnology and combustion.
• (118768) Carlosnoriega
  
  
  Carlos I. Noriega used to be born in 1959 in Peru and grew to become an astronaut in 1996. He used to be a mission specialist aboard the apartment shuttle Atlantis on NASA’s sixth mission to dock with the Russian Mir Dwelling Dwelling, and aboard the apartment shuttle Endeavour mission to bring and set up the first save of photograph voltaic arrays to the ISS.
• (118769) Olivas
  
  
  John D. Olivas (b. 1966) is a inclined astronaut. Olivas flew two apartment shuttle missions, in 2007 and 2009, to assemble the ISS. He performed 5 spacewalks all the plot through these two missions.
• (119890) Zamka
  
  
  George D. Zamka (b. 1962) is a retired astronaut. Zamka piloted the apartment shuttle Discovery in its October 2007 mission to the ISS. He used to be the commander of the apartment shuttle Endeavour mission in February 2010, an ISS assembly mission.
• (119993) Acabá
  
  
  Joseph Acabá (b. 1967) flew to the ISS in 2009, 2012 and 2018, aboard every the apartment shuttle and the Soyuz spacecraft. On his first flight, he participated in spacewalks to assemble the apartment save aside of abode. As of July 2020, he has spent 306 days in apartment.
• (122554) José M. Hernández
  
  
  José M. Hernández (b. 1962) used to be born actual into a migrant farming family. He grew to become an astronaut and used to be a mission specialist on apartment shuttle Discovery’s mission to the ISS in 2008. Sooner than his time as an astronaut, Hernández helped to create the first elephantine-discipline digital mammography imaging system.
• (122555) Auñón-Chancellor
  
  
  Serena M. Auñón-Chancellor (b. 1976) is an engineer, doctor, and astronaut. She has aloof meteorites in Antarctica, served as an aquanaut on an undersea study save aside of abode, and used to be a flight engineer on the ISS for six months in 2018.
• (126965) Neri
  
  
  Rodolfo Neri Vela (b. 1952) is the first Mexican person to dawdle back and forth to accommodate. In 1985, he used to be a payload specialist on the apartment shuttle Atlantis. Right throughout the flight, he performed experiments, collectively with many with regards to human physiology.
• (127030) Herrington
  
  
  John Herrington (b. 1958) is a inclined astronaut and a member of the Chickasaw Nation. Herrington used to be a mission specialist aboard apartment shuttle Endeavour for the 16th apartment shuttle flight to the ISS, performing three spacewalks all the plot throughout the mission.

Observe collectSPACE.com on Facebook and on Twitter at @collectSPACE. Copyright 2021 collectSPACE.com. All rights reserved.