Named in honor of John D. Rather (1938– ), astrophysicist, on the completion of his 60th revolution around the sun on 1998 Jan. 25. Long associated with special projects at NASA and in industry, he served in the early 1990s as chair of the Near-Earth Object Interception Committee, which examined possible mitigation processes against the threat of minor planets and comets on collision courses with the earth. As a direct consequence of his urging the use of an aggressive treatment that allowed his wife to triumph over cancer, he has in recent years transferred his interest in mitigation to a new career in leading-edge research to fight this scourge. (M 31297) _ _.