Asteroid will be named after a talented Muslim woman with achievements in botany

The US space agency NASA named one of its asteroids after a young female researcher from Saudi Arabia for her scientific contribution in the field of botany.

During the past year 2016 the Muslim female Fatima bint Abdel Moneim Al Sheikh took second place on the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair where she presented her scientific research. The achieved success brought her 1500 $ cash prize as well as the honor asteroid to be named after her name - “Al-Sheikh 33535″. She was invited to participate in the international fair after winning the National Olympiad for Scientific Creativity in Saudi Arabia, a yearly event hosted by the King Abdulaziz and his Companions Foundation for Giftedness & Creativity along with the Ministry of Education in Saudi Arabia.

The success of Fatima Al-Sheikh was even greater taking into consideration her young age – she is just 19 years old and already has recognitions in the field of science both on national and on international level. The girl plans to continue her study at Brown University in the US state of Rhode Island.

This is not the first time the National Aeronautics and Space Administration named an asteroid after a young scientist from a Muslim country. The past years other young scientists under 20 years old from Jordan and Saudi Arabia received such recognitions.