(2161) Grissom Main-belt Asteroid

Discovered on 17 October 1963 by Indiana University at Brooklyn.

Named in memory of Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom (1926-1967), one of the seven Mercury astronauts. On 1961 July 21, as pilot of the Mercury-Redstone 4 suborbital mission, he became the second American in space. In 1965 he commanded a three-orbit mission, the first manned Gemini flight. As command pilot of Apollo 1, he lost his life in the tragic fire in that spacecraft. Name proposed by D. Owings and F. K. Edmondson. Citation prepared by Muriel M. Thorne, NASA.Naming citation (MPC 5848), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL

🐶 Grissom as a dog name

Where Grissom is today

Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Grissom is 2.49 au from the Sun and 2.29 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.

Facts

Number	2161
Provisional designation	1963 UD
Orbit class	Main-belt Asteroid
Diameter	15.9 km (#2,927 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size)
Albedo	0.0740
Rotation period	5.06 hours
Spectral type	C
Absolute magnitude (H)	12.32
Orbital period	4.56 years
Semi-major axis	2.75 au
Perihelion – aphelion	2.30 – 3.19 au
Eccentricity	0.162
Inclination	7.30°
Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID)	1.31 au

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

More named asteroids discovered by Indiana University

All 119

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