Harold (Hal) Masursky (December 23, 1922* – August 24, 1990) was an American

astrogeologist Planetary geology, alternatively known as astrogeology or exogeology, is a planetary science discipline concerned with the geology of the celestial bodies such as the planets and their moons, asteroids, comets, and meteorites. Although the geo ...

. After leaving Yale University without defending his dissertation, he started his career in the early 1950s as a field geologist in Wyoming and Colorado working for the United States Geological Survey (USGS). In the early 1960s, he moved to the Astrogeology division of the USGS and began working at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. In the mid 1960s, he moved to Flagstaff, Arizona as a founding

planetary geologist Planetary geology, alternatively known as astrogeology or exogeology, is a planetary science discipline concerned with the geology of the celestial bodies such as the planets and their moons, asteroids, comets, and meteorites. Although the geo ...

at the newly-constructed USGS Astrogeology Science Center. Throughout his professional career with the USGS, his work contributed to the mission of NASA in the areas of economic, structural, and planetary geology. He was responsible for the investigation of planetary and lunar surfaces, especially in finding scientifically valuable landing places. This included for the Apollo program, where, in the 1960s, he played a major role in choosing landing sites and assisted in training astronauts in the basics of geology so they would know what to look for on the surface of the moon. In the 1970s, he headed the team that mapped the surface of Mars and was once again involved in choosing landing sites, this time for the Mars Viking missions. In the 1980s, he worked with the Voyager program to explore the surfaces of Jupiter,

Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with an average radius of about nine and a half times that of Earth. It has only one-eighth the average density of Earth; h ...

, Uranus, and

Neptune Neptune is the eighth planet from the Sun and the farthest known planet in the Solar System. It is the fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 times ...

. Masursky was a strong advocate for the exploration of Venus and he was a key member of Pioneer Venus Orbiter team. He worked on numerous other space missions and programs, including, for moon exploration, Ranger,

Surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...

, the Lunar Orbiter, and the mapping of Mars by

Mariner 9 Mariner 9 (Mariner Mars '71 / Mariner-I) was a robotic spacecraft that contributed greatly to the exploration of Mars and was part of the NASA Mariner program. Mariner 9 was launched toward Mars on May 30, 1971 from LC-36B at Cape Canaveral Air ...

, as well as contributing to the missions of the ''

Galileo Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Commonly referred to as Galileo, his name was pronounced (, ). He was ...

'' and '' Magellan'' spacecraft. He was often interviewed on television as his enthusiasm for the planetary discoveries of the space missions was both edifying and infectious An especially key role was his work as the president of the Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). He created a small stir in 1986, when he was required to reject a popular suggestion that new moons of Uranus, discovered earlier that year, be named for the 7 astronauts lost in the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion - the IAU has strict guidlines that prohibit major bodies being named in honor of persons from a particular country. In 1985, Masursky was the recipient of the Distinguished Service Award, which is the highest honorary recognition an employee can receive within the

Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the mana ...

. Quoting from the award, the 1985 USGS Yearbook states: “Harold Masursky, Geologist, for his imaginative leadership in the field of astrogeology which has influenced almost every facet of lunar and planetary exploration since the beginning of the nation's space program.” The Masursky crater on Mars was chosen because it is effluvial, meaning "flow" (it looks like water ran through it), to honor his fervent belief that Mars once had flowing water on the surface. In 1981, the

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...

2685 Masursky 2685 Masursky, provisional designation , is a stony Eunomian asteroid from the central regions of the asteroid belt, approximately in diameter. It was discovered on 3 May 1981, by American astronomer Edward Bowell at the Anderson Mesa Station ...

was discovered and named in his honor. The Masursky Award for Meritorius Service to Planetary Science, first awarded to

Carl Sagan Carl Edward Sagan (; ; November 9, 1934December 20, 1996) was an American astronomer, planetary scientist, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist, author, and science communicator. His best known scientific contribution is research on ext ...

in 1991, and the Masursky Lecture, originating in 1992 and given during the annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC), are named for him as well. *Note there is some confusion about the year of Harold Masursky's birth; in some places it is reported as 1922 and in some places is reported as 1923.

Awards

* 1972 NASA Honor Award:

Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal The NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal (abbreviated ESAM) was established by NASA on September 15, 1961, when the original ESM was divided into three separate awards. Under the current guidelines, the ESAM is awarded for unusually sign ...

;

Johnson Space Center The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) is NASA's center for human spaceflight (originally named the Manned Spacecraft Center), where human spaceflight training, research, and flight control are conducted. It was renamed in honor of the late U ...

* 1973 NASA Honor Award:

;

* 1977 NASA Honor Award:

;

* 1980 NASA Honor Award:

;

* 1981 Honorary D.Sc. degree conferred by

Northern Arizona University Northern Arizona University (NAU) is a public research university based in Flagstaff, Arizona. It was founded in 1899 as the final public university established in the Arizona Territory, 13 years before Arizona was admitted as the 48th state. ...

* 1985 (gold medal). * 1988 Smithsonian Air and Space Museum Trophy for Lifetime Achievements in Lunar and Planetary Exploration (in 2020 renamed “The Michael Collins Trophy”) * 1990

G. K. Gilbert Award The G. K. Gilbert Award is presented annually by the Planetary Geology Division of the Geological Society of America for outstanding contributions to the solution of fundamental problems in planetary geology in the broadest sense, which includes ge ...

from the Geological Society of America for outstanding contributions to the solution of fundamental problems in planetary geology * 1990

JPL The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center in the City of La Cañada Flintridge, California, United States. Founded in the 1930s by Caltech researchers, JPL is owned by NASA an ...

- NASA Magellan Mission Award Plaque For Exceptional Contributions in the Exploration of Venus (posthumous award presented by Jet Propulsion Lab)

Legacy

* Harold Masursky Award for Meritorious Service to Planetary Science, usually called the Masursky Award, is awarded annually by the Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) of the

American Astronomical Society The American Astronomical Society (AAS, sometimes spoken as "double-A-S") is an American society of professional astronomers and other interested individuals, headquartered in Washington, DC. The primary objective of the AAS is to promote the adv ...

.Copied content from Masursky Award;see that page history for attribution * The Harold Masursky Lecture Series began in 1992, as a tribute to his work, and is sponsored by the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference.

Selected publications

* Masursky, Harold, J. M. Boyce, A. L. Dial, G. G. Schaber, and M. E. Strobell
"Classification and time of formation of Martian channels based on Viking data."
Journal of Geophysical Research 82, no. 28 (1977): 4016–4038. * Masursky, Harold, George Willis Colton, and Farouk El-Baz
"Apollo over the Moon: a view from orbit"
Vol. 362. Scientific and Technical Information Office, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1978. * Masursky, Harold, Eric Eliason, Peter G. Ford, George E. McGill, Gordon H. Pettengill, Gerald G. Schaber, and Gerald Schubert
"Pioneer Venus radar results: Geology from images and altimetry."
Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics 85, no. A13 (1980): 8232–8260. * Smith, Bradford A., Laurence Soderblom, Reta Beebe, Joseph Boyce, Geoffery Briggs, Anne Bunker, Stewart A. Collins et al
"Encounter with Saturn: Voyager 1 imaging science results.
Science 212, no. 4491 (1981): 163–191. * Smith, Bradford A., Laurence Soderblom, Raymond Batson, Patricia Bridges, J. A. Y. Inge, Harold Masursky, Eugene Shoemaker et al.
A new look at the Saturn system: The Voyager 2 images.
Science 215, no. 4532 (1982): 504–537.

External links

Three-part Oral History Interview
19 June 1987
The Work of Harold 'Hal' Masursky
A YouTube short documentary, 2003.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Masursky, Harold 1922 births 1990 deaths American astronomers Planetary scientists People from Flagstaff, Arizona Yale University alumni Recipients of the Department of the Interior's Distinguished Service Award