MOSCOW, September 24. /TASS/. The leader of Space group, Didier Marouani, popular French musician and founder of Space, will obtain a certificate in Moscow confirming that his name has been awarded to a small planet. The ceremony will be held at the Cosmonautics Museum, the museum's press service told TASS on Friday.
"At 16:00 on September 26, the Moscow Cosmonautics Museum will host a meeting with electronic music pioneer Didier Marouani. Many know him as the leader of Space. His music is inseparably linked with the history of cosmonautics and flights by international crews. In 2021, Didier Marouani's name was awarded to a small planet. The musician will be presented with an official certificate in confirmation thereof," the museum said.
The small planet is located in the Main Asteroid Belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Moscow astronomer Timur Kryachko discovered it on November 23, 2008. The planet was then given a temporary name, 2009 WL184. Later, when the orbit of the newly-discovered celestial body was specified, the planet was given a permanent number - 275215, but still had no proper name of its own.
"According to the rules of the International Astronomical Union, whose responsibilities include the naming of newly-discovered celestial bodies, the choice of a name is the prerogative of its discoverer. Timur made a decision to name the new asteroid after a person whose life and work are closely associated with space exploration - French composer and musician, leader of the legendary Space Didier Marouani," the museum' press service said.
The museum recalls that Didier for the first time visited Russia in 1983. In 1988, an LP record with Marouani's second solo album, Space Opera, was taken to the orbital station Mir. And in 2011 Marouani gave a concert at Star City - the cosmonauts' training center near Moscow on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the first manned space flight.