(10217) Richardcook Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 27 September 1997 by NEAT at Haleakala.
Richard Cook (b. 1965) was the Mars Pathfinder Flight Operations Manager and was responsible for running the day-to-day operations of the Mars Pathfinder spacecraft during launch, the landing phase and surface operations on Mars.Naming citation (20020526/MPCPages.arc), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Richardcook is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Richardcook is 2.43 au from the Sun and 2.91 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 10217 |
| Provisional designation | 1997 SN4 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Diameter | 7.71 km (#6,858 largest of 17,440 named asteroids with a measured size) |
| Albedo | 0.357 |
| Rotation period | 23.3 hours |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 12.49 |
| Orbital period | 4.23 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.62 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 1.94 – 3.29 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.257 |
| Inclination | 13.2° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 0.939 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
Also named after someone called Richard
- (4143) Huziak
- (4252) Godwin
- (5391) Emmons
- (5567) Durisen
- (6368) Richardmenendez
- (6893) Sanderson
- (7392) Kowalski
- (7845) Mckim
- (7966) Richardbaum
- (8331) Dawkins
- (8717) Richviktorov
- (9725) Wainscoat
All asteroids named after someone called Richard
Also discovered on 27 September 1997
- (9807) Rhene
- (13227) Poor
- (14976) Josefcapek
- (15388) Coelum
- (15905) Berthier
- (16804) Bonini
- (18567) Segenthau
- (31134) Zurria
- (33035) Pareschi
- (35358) Lorifini
- (37785) Nougaro
- (69556) Felixdelafuente