Named in memory of Wallace J. Eckert (1902–1971), Director of the U.S. Nautical Almanac Office from 1940 to 1945 and a pioneer in the use of automatic computing machines. On two occasions he dedicated the most powerful computing machine ever built (SSEC in 1948 and the NORC {see planet  (1625)} in 1954). With Brouwer and Clemence {see planets  (1746) and  (1919)} he produced the integration of the orbits of the five outer planets. By use of sophisticated computing techniques he was able to check and extend Brown’s {see planet  (1643)} lunar theory. He was president of the IAU Commission 7 from 1967 to 1970. (M 3934) _ _.