(78577) JPL Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 10 September 2002 by J. W. Young at Wrightwood.
The NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is managed by the California Institute of Technology. JPL is the hub of U.S. unmanned spacecraft solar system exploration, with visits to the sun, eight planets and their satellites, four minor planets and two comets. It has also established a permanent presence around Mars.Naming citation (20050407/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where JPL is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: JPL is 3.22 au from the Sun and 3.73 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 78577 |
| Provisional designation | 2002 RG232 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 4.16 km (#12,362 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.0540 |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 16.05 |
| Orbital period | 5.05 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.94 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.66 – 3.22 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.0962 |
| Inclination | 0.725° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.67 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Jet
All asteroids named after someone called Jet