'UGA-1785'

NASA and a Franklin alumnus have made a very magnanimous gesture toward the College and UGA:

The University of Georgia and its Franklin College of Arts and Sciences received the honor after the Kepler mission, NASA's first mission capable of finding earth-size planets, confirmed in 2012 the existence of three new planets in the system known as Kepler-37. This year, NASA authorized the nickname designation of this planetary system as UGA-1785.

The announcement was made in a letter from NASA Ames Research Center Director S. Pete Worden to Franklin College Dean Alan T. Dorsey in March 2013. Roger C. Hunter, a Franklin College alumnus, presented the letter to Dorsey during a recent visit to campus.

It has been a very big week for NASA and Kepler Mission and we are proud to be a small part of it. This is a great story, and one we will tell often in the years to come. Our thanks to Roger Hunter for this terrific honor. Let us continue to boldly go.

Image: NASA illustration of 'UGA-1785'