(25143) Itokawa Apollo

Discovered on 26 September 1998 by LINEAR at Socorro.

Hideo Itokawa (1912-1999) is regarded as the Father of Japanese rocketry. An aerospace engineer, Itokawa initiated Japan's first launch tests of the solid rocket series called “Pencil” in 1955. Under his unique vision and strong leadership, his rockets reached space by 1960 and put Japan's first satellite into orbit in 1970.Naming citation (20030806/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL

Where Itokawa is today

Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Itokawa is 1.51 au from the Sun and 1.62 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.

Facts

Number	25143
Provisional designation	1998 SF36
Orbit class	Apollo · near-Earth · potentially hazardous
Diameter	0.330 km (#17,437 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size)
Rotation period	12.1 hours
Spectral type	S(IV)
Absolute magnitude (H)	19.26
Orbital period	1.52 years
Semi-major axis	1.32 au
Perihelion – aphelion	0.953 – 1.70 au
Eccentricity	0.280
Inclination	1.62°
Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID)	0.0130 au

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

Also named after someone called Hideo

All asteroids named after someone called Hideo

Also discovered on 26 September 1998

More named asteroids discovered by LINEAR

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