astronomy

Harold Masursky

Harold Masursky is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Harold Masursky rather than just read about it. In short: Harold (Hal) Masursky (December 23, 1922* – August 24, 1990) was an American astrogeologist. 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).

Key takeaways

Harold Masursky belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Harold Masursky to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Harold Masursky from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Harold (Hal) Masursky (December 23, 1922* – August 24, 1990) was an American astrogeologist. 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 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, Uranus, and Neptune. 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, the Lunar Orbiter, and the mapping of Mars by Mariner 9, as well as contributing to the missions of the Galileo 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 seven astronauts lost in the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion - the IAU has strict guidelines 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. 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 2685 Masursky was discovered and named in his honor. The Masursky Award for Meritorius Service to Planetary Science, first awarded to Carl Sagan 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. Upon his death in Flagstaff, Arizona, he was buried in the city's Citizens Cemetery. *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; Johnson Space Center 1973 NASA Honor Award: Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal; Johnson Space Center 1977 NASA Honor Award: Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal; Johnson Space Center 1980 NASA Honor Award: Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal; Johnson Space Center 1981 Honorary D.Sc. degree conferred by Northern Arizona University 1985 Department of the Interior Distinguished Service Award (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 from the Geological Society of America for outstanding contributions to the solution of fundamental problems in planetary geology 1990 JPL-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 Harold Masursky Lecture Series began in 1992, as a tribute to his work, and is sponsored by the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. 2685 Masursky, a main-belt asteroid discovered in 1981 by Edward Bowell was named in honor of him.

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.

References

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

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Harold Masursky

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Harold Masursky claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Harold Masursky before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Harold Masursky ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Harold Masursky

In research: Harold Masursky appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Harold Masursky in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Harold Masursky is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1922 births, 1990 deaths, 20th-century American people, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Harold Masursky outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Harold Masursky in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Harold Masursky means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Harold Masursky out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Harold Masursky in simple terms?

Why does Harold Masursky matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Harold Masursky?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Harold Masursky.