Minor Planet Discovered by CAS Scientists Named After CWDF Charity Project

U.S.-based Minor Planet Center (MPC) has announced in its journal on July 2 that it has officially named minor planet number 207715 as “Muqin Shuijiao,” (“Water Cellar for Mothers” in English) in the International Minor Planet Table.

The celestial body, whose name will be in the permanent record, was discovered by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) on Sept. 11, 2007.

The report said that MPC named the minor planet after Water Cellar for Mothers, a charity project implemented by the China Women's Development Foundation (CWDF). The project helps people in northwest China, especially women, to build underground tanks used to collect rain water.

According to the report, the project has become instrumental in solving the problem of water shortage, lessened poverty in many areas, and benefited more than 2.5 million people in the past 15 years.

MPC said that they named the minor planet after Water Cellar for Mothers in recognition of CWDF's extraordinary achievements and in honor of all the compassionate people who have played a role in the great cause.

Being bestowed a title on a minor planet is universally acknowledged as an honor, due to the uniqueness, solemnity and permanency of the name.

Qin Guoying, vice president and secretary-general of CWDF, said that the naming of the minor planet as "Muqin Shuijiao" will encourage more people to support the foundation and its charity work and provide further benefit to women and children in the future.

It was not the first time that a celestial body was named after a person or organization from China. In March, an asteroid was named after Song Jian, a scientist known for his contributions to aerospace engineering, a statement from the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) said.

The asteroid, which is orbiting between Mars and Jupiter, was discovered by a Chinese researcher in Aug. 2007.

The scientist is known for his achievements in cybernetics and systems engineering.