(24654) Fossett Mars-crossing Asteroid
Discovered on 29 May 1987 by Shoemaker, C. S., Shoemaker, E. M. at Palomar.
On his sixth attempt, Steve Fossett (b. 1944) became the first person to fly a balloon solo around the world. He took two weeks in his Spirit of Freedom to cover about 31~268 km at southern latitudes. Fossett sails, flies airplanes, and has swum the English Channel, run the Iditarod dog sled race and car-raced successfully.Naming citation (20020921/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Fossett is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Fossett is 1.91 au from the Sun and 2.21 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 24654 |
| Provisional designation | 1987 KL |
| Orbit class | Mars-crossing Asteroid |
| Rotation period | 6.00 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 14.52 |
| Orbital period | 2.61 years |
| Semi-major axis | 1.89 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 1.58 – 2.21 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.164 |
| Inclination | 27.3° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 0.677 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Steve
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- (11666) Bracker
- (11728) Einer
- (13822) Stevedodson
- (14277) Parsa
- (14942) Stevebaker
- (19379) Labrecque
- (19833) Wickwar
- (22852) Kinney
- (25521) Stevemorgan
- (32120) Stevezheng
- (38640) Rau
All asteroids named after someone called Steve