Ronald Greeley (August 25, 1939 – October 27, 2011) was a Regents’ Professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration (SESE) at
Arizona State University
Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the ...
(ASU), the Director of the
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
-ASU
Regional Planetary Image Facility
The Regional Planetary Image Facilities (RPIFs) are planetary image and data libraries located throughout the United States and abroad that are funded by the host institutions. They once had funding from NASA A network of these facilities was esta ...
(RPIF), and Principal Investigator of the Planetary Aeolian Laboratory at NASA-
Ames Research Center
The Ames Research Center (ARC), also known as NASA Ames, is a major NASA research center at Moffett Federal Airfield in California's Silicon Valley. It was founded in 1939 as the second National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) laborat ...
. He was involved with lunar and planetary studies since 1967 and most recently focused his research on understanding planetary surface processes and geologic histories.
Education
Greeley earned his B.S. degree in
Geology
Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ear ...
in 1962 and his M.S. degree in Geology in 1963 from
Mississippi State University
Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Unive ...
and earned his Ph.D. in Geology from the
University of Missouri at Rolla in 1966.
Career
After receiving his Ph.D. in Geology in 1966, Greeley worked for
Standard Oil Company of California
Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation. The second-largest direct descendant of Standard Oil, and originally known as the Standard Oil Company of California (shortened to Socal or CalSo), it is headquartered in S ...
. Through his military service, he was assigned to NASA's Ames Research Center in 1967 where he worked in a civilian capacity in preparation for the
Apollo missions
The Apollo program was a United States human spaceflight program carried out from 1961 to 1972 by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which landed the first astronauts on the Moon. The program used the Saturn IB and Saturn ...
to the
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
. He remained at NASA to conduct research in
planetary geology
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 ...
. With the results of the planetary missions in the early 1970s, attention shifted to
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...
and research on
volcanism
Volcanism, vulcanism or volcanicity is the phenomenon of eruption of molten rock (magma) onto the surface of the Earth or a solid-surface planet or moon, where lava, pyroclastics, and volcanic gases erupt through a break in the surface called ...
and
aeolian processes
Aeolian processes, also spelled eolian, pertain to wind activity in the study of geology and weather and specifically to the wind's ability to shape the surface of the Earth (or other planets). Winds may erode, transport, and deposit materials ...
through the analysis of
Mariner
A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship.
The profession of the s ...
6, 7, and 9 data. He became a science team member on the Mars
Viking
Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
mission from 1976 through 1980.
In 1977, Greeley joined the faculty at Arizona State University with a joint professorship in Geology and the
Center for Meteorite Studies
The Buseck Center for Meteorite Studies was founded in 1960, on the Tempe Campus of Arizona State University, and houses the world's largest university-based meteorite collection. The collection contains specimens from over 1,600 separate meteor ...
. His latest research focused on the wind processes on
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...
, Mars,
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...
, and
Titan, field studies of basaltic volcanism, and photogeological mapping of the planets and satellites including
Europa
Europa may refer to:
Places
* Europe
* Europa (Roman province), a province within the Diocese of Thrace
* Europa (Seville Metro), Seville, Spain; a station on the Seville Metro
* Europa City, Paris, France; a planned development
* Europa Cliff ...
. He was also a science team member on the
Mars Exploration Rover
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission was a robotic space mission involving two Mars rovers, ''Spirit (rover), Spirit'' and ''Opportunity (rover), Opportunity'', exploring the planet Mars. It began in 2003 with the launch of the two rover ...
program and the
European Space Agency's Mars Express
''Mars Express'' is a space exploration mission being conducted by the European Space Agency (ESA). The ''Mars Express'' mission is exploring the planet Mars, and is the first planetary mission attempted by the agency. "Express" originally ref ...
mission.
Greeley served on various NASA and
National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...
panels to assess
space science
Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider ...
and planetary geology activities. He chaired the NASA Planetary Geology and Geophysics Management Operations Working Group, the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Lunar and Planetary Exploration, and the NASA Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group. He was Co-chair of the NASA Science Definition Team for the Europa flagship mission, then the Planetary Science Subcommittee of the NASA Advisory Council and served in that capacity until his death in 2011.
Over the course of his career, Greeley wrote or co-wrote more than 400 papers and 16 books.
Awards and honors
Greeley received a number of awards and honors during his career, including the
G. K. Gilbert Award presented by the Planetary Geology Division of the
Geological Society of America
The Geological Society of America (GSA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences.
History
The society was founded in Ithaca, New York, in 1888 by Alexander Winchell, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hitchco ...
in 1997, and being named a Fellow of the
American Geophysical Union
The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization of Earth, atmospheric, ocean, hydrologic, space, and planetary scientists and enthusiasts that according to their website includes 130,000 people (not members). AGU's act ...
in 2007 and of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...
in 2008. At Arizona State University, he received a Distinguished Faculty Award in 2004 and was the recipient of the Best Field Trip of the Year award at the Arizona State University School of Earth and Space Exploration in 2007. Greeley was also the recipient of numerous NASA individual, group and leadership awards. An asteroid was named
30785 Greeley in his honor in 1988.
Greeley Crater, an
impact crater
An impact crater is a circular depression in the surface of a solid astronomical object formed by the hypervelocity impact of a smaller object. In contrast to volcanic craters, which result from explosion or internal collapse, impact craters ...
on Mars, was named in his honor in 2015.
Selected works
*''Geology on the Moon'', (1977)
*''Earthlike Planets: Surfaces of Mercury, Venus, Earth, Moon, Mars'', (co-author, 1981)
*''Wind as a Geological Process: On Earth, Mars, Venus and Titan'', (1987)
*''Planetary Landscapes'', (1994)
*''The Compact NASA Atlas of the Solar System'', (2002)
*''21st Century Astronomy'', (co-author, 2006)
*''Planetary Mapping'', (editor, 2007)
*''Introduction to Planetary Geomorphology'', (2013)
References
External links
Ronald Greeley’s ResumeJPL Small-Body Database Browser on 30785 GreeleyIn Memoriam: Ron Greeley, NASA Astrobiology
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greeley, Ronald
1939 births
2011 deaths
Planetary scientists
Mississippi State University alumni
Missouri University of Science and Technology alumni
Fellows of the American Geophysical Union