Named in honor of S. Alan Stern (1957– ) of the Boulder, Colorado, office of Southwest Research Institute. Stern’s research has focused on both observational and theoretical studies of the satellites of the outer planets, Pluto, comets, the Oort Cloud and the Kuiper Belt {see, respectively, planets  (1691) and  (1776)}. He is also active in instrument development, with a strong concentration in ultraviolet and imaging technologies. He has participated in ten planetary sounding-rocket missions, two Space Shuttle mid-deck experiments and a Shuttle-deployable satellite. He was chair of NASA’s Outer Planets Science Working Group during 1991–1994. (M 27462) _ _.