Don Edward Wilhelms (born July 5, 1930) is a former

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

who contributed to geologic mapping of the Earth's

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 ...

and to the geologic training of the

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

astronauts An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

. He is the author of '' To a Rocky Moon: A Geologist's History of Lunar Exploration'' (1993), ''The geologic history of the Moon'' (1987), and he co-authored the ''Geologic Map of the Near Side of the Moon'' (1971) with John F. McCauley. Wilhelms also contributed to ''Apollo Over the Moon: A View from Orbit'' (NASA SP-362). He has also contributed to the study of

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...

(including

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 A ...

), Mercury, and Ganymede.

Biography

He was born July 5, 1930. Wilhelms was the recipient of the G. K. Gilbert Award in 1988. He received the Shoemaker Distinguished Lunar Scientist Award in 2010 at the

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) labo ...

. The mineral Donwilhelmsite is named after Wilhelms. The fact that this mineral is formed only at high shock pressure such as that created by impacts is appropriate given the focus of Wilhelms' studies. Minor planet 4826 Wilhelms is named in his honor.

References

External links

Interview with Donald Wilhelms for NOVA series: To the Moon
WGBH Educational Foundation, raw footage, 1998
To A Rocky Moon
1993, PDF version available from L&PI
The geologic history of the Moon
1987, PDF version available from USGS
Astrogeology Science Center page on Wilhelms
Historians of science American geologists 1930 births Living people Astrogeologists Pomona College alumni Planetary scientists {{US-geologist-stub