Yay for George Takei! The actor who played Hikaru Sulu on the epic TV series Star Trek has just gotten an asteroid named after him!
An asteroid between Mars and Jupiter has been renamed 7307 Takei in honor of the actor, best known for his role as Hikaru Sulu in the original "Star Trek" series and movies.
"I am now a heavenly body," Takei, 70, said Tuesday, laughing. "I found out about it yesterday. ... I was blown away. It came out of the clear, blue sky -- just like an asteroid."
The celestial rock, discovered by two Japanese astronomers in 1994, was formerly known as 1994 GT9. It joins the 4659 Roddenberry (named for the show's creator, Gene Roddenberry) and the 68410 Nichols (for co-star Nichelle Nichols, who played Lt. Uhura). Other main-belt asteroids have been named for science fiction luminaries Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/space/10/03/takei.asteroid.ap/index.html
Where's the Neatorama asteroid?
Just kidding, Takei is one of my favorite actors from the originals ST, so good for him :-)