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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1968. Planetary Astronomy; an Appraisal of Ground-Based Opportunities. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18715.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1968. Planetary Astronomy; an Appraisal of Ground-Based Opportunities. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18715.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1968. Planetary Astronomy; an Appraisal of Ground-Based Opportunities. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18715.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1968. Planetary Astronomy; an Appraisal of Ground-Based Opportunities. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18715.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1968. Planetary Astronomy; an Appraisal of Ground-Based Opportunities. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18715.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1968. Planetary Astronomy; an Appraisal of Ground-Based Opportunities. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18715.
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Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

o/ //>e >W^r reflectivity at 3.8-cm wavelength for the region surrounding the lunar crater Tycho, made by the Haystack Microwave Facility. Surface resolution is approximately I km. (Courtesy MIT Lincoln Laboratory}

PLANETARY ASTRONOMY - An Appraisal of Ground-Based Opportunities PANEL ON PLANETARY ASTRONOMY *• SPACE SCIENCE BOARD NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES-NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL NAS-NRC SEP 19 1968 LIBRARY Publication 1688 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES WASHINGTON, D.C. 1968

.f Available from PRINTING AND PUBLISHING OFFICE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 2101 CONSTITUTION AVENUE WASHINGTON, D.C. 20418 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 68—62079

Foreword This volume presents the report of the Space Science Board's Panel on Plane- tary Astronomy convened to survey the present status and future needs of ground-based planetary astronomy. Studies on space research conducted by the Board in 1962 and 1965 under- lined the importance of ground-based planetary astronomy to complement and support planetary exploration with space vehicles and indicated the need for a thorough examination of the contributions that ground-based techniques can make to knowledge of our planetary system and the great questions of the origin and development of the solar system and life. In response to recom- mendations made at these studies, an ad hoc panel was formed in 1966 under the chairmanship of John S. Hall, Director of Lowell Observatory. Panel members were chosen to represent all pertinent scientific disciplines—astron- omy, physical chemistry and biochemistry, geology, physics, geophysics, meteoritics, meteorology—and the observational, theoretical, and laboratory viewpoints. The Panel was asked to evaluate the current state of knowledge in planetary astronomy; to indicate fields of ground-based astronomy likely to be particu- larly productive in the future; to assess and compare investigative techniques now in use or under development; and to make specific recommendations on present and projected requirements for personnel, personnel training, and new or improved facilities. Individual panel members were assigned responsibility for preparing specific

sections of the report; their papers were reviewed and incorporated at work sessions during the course of 1967. Consultants were called in to advise on some specialized topics; for example, a meeting of fifteen radio astronomers was held to advise on the potentialities of radio astronomy applied to study of the planets. The Space Science Board is grateful to the panel members and specialists who contributed to this study. The Board acknowledges with appreciation the support of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which helped to make this study possible. H. H. HESS, Chairman Space Science Board

/A r&Mn'iin pfi (j/vy)pwl~ r JLJLl' rC A^l/^i/^C/ W il ///£/ //A' J O A principal objective of the authors of this report has been to present their material briefly, in perspective, yet without oversimplification. The approach used here differs from that commonly employed in planetary surveys. To bring out more clearly the relationships within the system, the discussion, following a suggestion by Ann Wagoner of the Space Science Board staff, is organized according to the physical properties of interest to planetary astronomy rather than in an object-by-object sequence. This approach required far more effort and coordination than would otherwise have been the case. The chairman wishes to thank each member of the panel and every con- tributor to this report. Each has exhibited a fine spirit of cooperation and a willingness to accept gracefully, and to carry out effectively, the tasks he was most competent to perform. Several panel members contributed especially generously to the report. For example, Chapter 2 was written almost entirely by Elizabeth Roemer and Gordon H. Pettengill, and Chapter 4 is the work of Tobias C. Owen. The statistics in Chapter 7 were gathered by Bruce C. Murray. Cornell H. Mayer not only convened the conference of fifteen radio astronomers to discuss appli- cations of the technique to planetary science but wrote nearly all the material pertinent to this field. Similarly, Pettengill contributed most of the material on radar, and Brian Mason is responsible for the sections on meteorites. The advice and assistance given in the formative stage of this project by

Urner Liddel and William E. Brunk of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration were most helpful. The chairman wishes to acknowledge gratefully the extensive assistance and advice rendered by Bruce N. Gregory of the Space Service Board staff in coordinating the project and in editing much of the report. JOHN S. HALL, Chairman Panel on Planetary Astronomy Space Science Board

SPACE SCIENCE BOARD H. H. HESS, Chairman Luis W. ALVAREZ G. J. F. MACDONALD ALLAN H. BROWN NICHOLAS U. MAYALL LOREN D. CARLSON COURTLAND D. PERKINS JOHN W. FINDLAY RICHARD W. PORTER HERBERT FRIEDMAN LEONARD I. SCHIFF JOHN S. HALL JAMES A. VAN ALLEN FRANCIS S. JOHNSON DONALD U. WISE WILLIAM M. KAULA GEORGE P. WOOLLARD DONALD B. LINDSLEY MARTIN A. POMERANTZ (ex officio) G. A. DERBYSHIRE, Executive Secretary Panel on Planetary Astronomy JOHN S. HALL, Lowell Observatory, Chairman J. W. CHAMBERLAIN, Kitt Peak National Observatory WENDELL C. DEMARCUS, University of Kentucky RAYMOND HIDE, Massachusetts Institute of Technology GERARD P. KUIPER, University of Arizona BRIAN MASON, United States National Museum CORNELL H. MAYER, United States Naval Research Laboratory BRUCE C. MURRAY, California Institute of Technology W. ALBERT NOYES, JR., University of Texas JOHN OR6, University of Houston TOBIAS C. OWEN, Illinois Institute of Technology Research Institute GORDON H. PETTENGILL, Massachusetts Institute of Technology DAVID H. RANK, Pennsylvania State University ELIZABETH ROEMER, University of Arizona R. L. WILDEY, United States Geological Survey NOEL W. HINNERS, Bellcomm, Inc., Consultant WILLIAM E. BRUNK, URNER LIDDEL, NASA, Contributors BRUCE N. GREGORY, Space Science Board Secretariat, Study Director

Contents 1 Perspectives \ 2 Dynamics of the Planetary System 7 3 Planetary Surfaces 14 4 Atmospheres: Planets and Comets 26 5 Interiors and Magnetic Fields 39 6 Observational Techniques and Facilities 46 7 Graduate Training in the Planetary Sciences 64 8 Recommendations

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