Asteroid named after Chinese scientist

An asteroid was today named after a Chinese scientist for his contributions to aerospace engineering.
A ceremony was held here to officially announce the naming of Song Jian Asteroid, which was discovered by Song Jian in August 2007, Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) in a statement said.
The asteroid, which is orbiting between Mars and Jupiter, was approved by the Small Bodies Naming Committee of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in October 2014, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Song, born in 1931, in Shandong Province, is an academician of both the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the CAE.
He is also known for his achievements in cybernetics and systems engineering, once served as president of the CAE and vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Over the course of his career, Song has led several technological initiatives, including the famous 863 high technology programme and the Torch Programme for commercialising high-tech research results.
Around 120 asteroids have been named after Chinese luminaries, institutions and places.