(9252) Goddard Main-belt Asteroid

Discovered on 17 October 1960 by van Houten, C. J., van Houten-Groeneveld, I., Gehrels, T. at Palomar.

Named in memory of the American rocket pioneer Robert H. Goddard (1882-1945). Beginning in 1906, Goddard combined theory and practice in a long career of building and testing rockets. While he dedicated himself to the development of rockets, including the first test of a liquid fuel rocket in 1926, Goddard never lost sight of its ultimate purpose---the exploration of space.Naming citation (19990402/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL

👶 Goddard as a baby name 🐶 Goddard as a dog name

Where Goddard is today

Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Goddard is 2.82 au from the Sun and 2.06 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.

Facts

Number	9252
Provisional designation	9058 P-L
Orbit class	Main-belt Asteroid
Diameter	11.8 km (#4,181 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size)
Albedo	0.0800
Absolute magnitude (H)	13.21
Orbital period	5.45 years
Semi-major axis	3.10 au
Perihelion – aphelion	2.60 – 3.60 au
Eccentricity	0.162
Inclination	3.20°
Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID)	1.59 au

Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.

Also discovered on 17 October 1960

More named asteroids discovered by van Houten, C. J., van Houten-Groeneveld, I., Gehrels, T.

All 958

← (9251) Harch · (9253) Oberth →