Asminor planet discoveries are confirmed, they are given a permanent number by theIAU'sMinor Planet Center (MPC), and the discoverers can then submit names for them, following the IAU'snaming conventions. The list below concerns those minor planets in the specified number-range that have received names, and explains the meanings of those names.
Based onPaul Herget'sThe Names of the Minor Planets,[6] Schmadel also researched the unclear origin of numerous asteroids, most of which had been named prior to World War II. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain: SBDB New namings may only beadded to this list below after official publication as the preannouncement of names is condemned.[7] The WGSBN publishes a comprehensive guideline for the naming rules of non-cometary small Solar System bodies.[8]
As an astronaut, Leland Devon Melvin (born 1964) helped to build the International Space Station with flights aboard the space shuttle Atlantis in 2008 and 2009. Melvin is also an engineer with experience using sensors to assess damage of aerospace vehicles and was an NFL football player with the Detroit Lions.
Robert Lee Satcher Jr (born 1965) is an orthopedic surgeon, chemical engineer and retired NASA Astronaut. He was the first orthopedic surgeon in space and participated in two EVAs as part of a space shuttle flight to the International Space Station in 2009.
José Maza Sancho (born 1948) has discovered 100 supernovae in 30 years of searching.From 1990 to 1996 he participated in the Calán-Tololo project calibrating type Ia supernovae for cosmological applications.
Chesley Sullenberger (born 1951), a former US Airways airline captain, is celebrated for successfully landing his disabled airliner on the Hudson River off Manhattan without loss of life on 15 January 2009.
Godfried Thomas Pieraerts [nl] (1908–1984), a Flemish Norbertine Father at the Norbertine Abbey of Park Louvain (Belgium) and founder of the Mira observatory in Belgium