52246 Donaldjohanson

52246 Donald Johanson
52246 Donald Johanson
Designation
Name	52246 Donald Johanson
Reference body	Sun
Number of satellites	0
Planetary mean orbits
Epoch	2025.29911019849
Semimajor axis (a)	356523424080.977 km (2.38321188954213 AU)
Eccentricity (e)	0.186953925681262
Inclination (i)	0.0772404869632425 radian (4.42555391052905°)
Longitude of the ascending node (LAN, ☊)	4.58632414953965 radian 262.777017247549°
Longitude of periapsis (ϖ)	8.30030705074768 radian 475.572562670522°
Mean longitude (L)	8.94231332449522 radian 512.356812577176°
Rotational Elements
Sidereal Rotation Period	903600 seconds (251 hours)
Sidereal Rotation Offset	0
Obliquity	0.0772404869632425 radians 4.42555391070562°
LAN	4.58632414953965 radians 262.777017247549°
Selected physical parameters
Mean radius	1947.5 m
Mass	6.19×1013 kg
Surface gravity	0.0011 m/s2
Orbital speed at surface	1.4555 m/s
Escape velocity	2.059 m/s
Gravity at surface	Donaldjohanson 43% Sun 57%
Note	*Elements given are from 52246Donaldjohanson.cfg (lucy 230315.zip)

52246 Donaldjohanson is a small body orbiting in the main asteroid belt named for Donald Johanson, a paleoanthropologist who discovered the fossil of a hominid known as Lucy in Africa. Donaldjohanson was discovered by Schelte Bus in 1981 and was visited by the Lucy mission in 2025.

Donaldjohanson in Orbiter

52246 Donaldjohanson appears as a peanut shaped body about 8 km long and 3.5 km wide, and is believed to be a contact binary. Donaldjohanson was the second body visited by the Lucy mission.

52246 Donaldjohanson was made available by BrianJ in the add-on lucy.5506 in March of 2023, two years before the visit by the Lucy mission, therefore, the visual of the asteroid does not represent its actual appearance. The hard landing surface may be above or below the visual surface, so if you land you may see the backside of the skin and may be able to see the sun through the skin. The landing light of the Delta-glider works on the surface of Donaldjohanson.

Landed on Donaldjohanson, the gravity field is weak so that on the surface, the body is providing only about 40% of the gravity, the Sun the other 58%. It may be way to easy to leave the surface without trying. Orbital speed at the surface is only about 1.45 m/s.

Orbiter versions and add-ons which include 433 Eros
Add-on	Source	Version	Author	Type	Release Date	Compatibility	Wiki article
Lucy v..230315	O-F Resources	v.230315	BrianJ	Scenery	16 March 2023

Gallery

• 
  52246 Donald Johanson from lucy 230915.zip in Orbiter 2016
• 
  52246 Donaldjohanson imaged by the Lucy mission in 2025
  from Wikimedia Commons
• 
  Orbit of 52246 Donaldjohanson from JPL Horizons