(27320) Vellinga Main-belt Asteroid
Discovered on 30 January 2000 by CSS at Catalina.
Joseph Vellinga (b. 1938) is the Flight System Manager for the OSIRIS-REx Asteroid Sample Return Mission. He was also the Systems Engineer and Program Manager for the Hubble Space Telescope Faint Object Spectrograph, the Genesis Sample Return Mission, and the Stardust Sample Return Mission.Naming citation (MPC batch dated 2013-07-22), IAU / Minor Planet Center, via NASA/JPL
Where Vellinga is today
Seen from above the solar system on 2026-10-14: Vellinga is 2.09 au from the Sun and 2.92 au from Earth. Computed from JPL's orbital elements.
Facts
| Number | 27320 |
| Provisional designation | 2000 BF23 |
| Orbit class | Main-belt Asteroid |
| Absolute magnitude (H) | 15.72 |
| Orbital period | 3.69 years |
| Semi-major axis | 2.39 au |
| Perihelion – aphelion | 2.07 – 2.70 au |
| Eccentricity | 0.132 |
| Inclination | 0.636° |
| Closest distance between its orbit and Earth's (MOID) | 1.07 au |
Data: NASA/JPL Small-Body Database and the IAU Minor Planet Center.
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