Song Jian, a Chinese scientist known for his contributions to aerospace engineering, has finally got the chance to have an asteroid named after him.

The celestial object, which will now be called "Song Jian," is located between Mars and Jupiter.

It was discovered by a Chinese researcher orbiting the solar system in August 2007.

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The agency called the Small Bodies Naming Committee of the International Astronomical Union recognized the asteroid in October last year.

The Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE) says the naming of Song Jian Asteroid was held in a ceremony on March 16.

Song is an academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the CAE. He once served as president of the CAE and Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

He's known for his accomplishments in cybernetics and systems engineering.

Xu Kuangdi, honorary chairman of the presidium of the UAE, notes Song's works have played a key role in promoting China's technological and scientific advancement.

Song has led several technological projects, including the famous 863 high technology program. He's also behind the success of the Torch Program for commercializing high-tech research results.

Early this month, China revealed it's been conducting research on the technical feasibility of exploring Mars and the asteroids.

Top Chinese space scientist Ye Pejian says, Chinese space researchers have studied some of the technical difficulties being encountered in their explorations. He said it will take some time before the results of the feasibility studies will be revealed, because the space researchers are still in the preparation stage. Ye is at the helm of China's lunar probe mission.

In November 2014, a model of Mars rover prototype was displayed at the Airshow China 2014.

TagsScience, song jian, asteroid