It was discovered on 16 December 1971, by Russian astronomer Tamara Smirnova at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnyj, on the Crimean peninsula[7] and named in honor of Yekaterina Zelenko, the only woman to credited with conducting an aerial ramming.

[2] Katyusha is a member of the Flora family, one of the largest groups of stony asteroids in the inner main-belt.

[3] It orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 1.9–2.5 AU once every 3 years and 3 months (1,200 days).

[1] This minor planet was named in honor of Ukrainian Yekaterina Zelenko (1916–1941), a war pilot and Hero of the Soviet Union, known for being the only woman who had ever executed an aerial ramming.

[2] It rotates around its axis with a period of 9.4999 hours and with a brightness variation of 0.72 magnitude, indicating a non-spheroidal shape.