AUSTIN, Texas — A University of Texas at Austin professor now has his name written among the stars after an international union named an asteroid after him.
The newly named Maruthiakella asteroid was named after professor Maruthi Akella. It's located in the main asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars and takes about three years, nine months to orbit the sun.
The formal asteroid naming process is highly selective and began with a nomination for Akella's passion and leadership. Only two other UT professors share the rare honor.
"I was attending the International Astronautical Congress in Milan, Italy that week, and when I returned to my hotel room that night, I had an email saying this asteroid has been designated with my name," he said in a media release. "At first, I didn't believe it. I've known some extremely distinguished colleagues in the community that previously received this honor, but I never imagined in my wildest dreams that someday it would happen for me."
Akella works in the university’s Cockrell School in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics. According to UT, he is a world-renowned expert in learning and control for space systems.
He has made numerous breakthroughs in his field, and his expertise was critical to Intuitive Machines' IM-1 lunar lander guidance, the first U.S. craft to land on the moon in 50 years.
The Maruthiakella asteroid was discovered in 1990 and is 5.5 miles wide. Only around 2% of the nearly 1.4 million “small planets” cataloged in space have been named to date. That includes at least two other UT aerospace faculty members: Ivo Babuska and Raynor Duncombe.
