Don Wilhelms

Don Edward Wilhelms (born July 5, 1930) is a former United States Geological Survey geologist who contributed to geologic mapping of the Earth's moon and to the geologic training of the Apollo astronauts.[1] He is the author of To a Rocky Moon: A Geologist's History of Lunar Exploration (1993),[2] The geologic history of the Moon (1987),[3] and he co-authored the Geologic Map of the Near Side of the Moon (1971) with John F. McCauley.[4] Wilhelms also contributed to Apollo Over the Moon: A View from Orbit (NASA SP-362).[5] He has also contributed to the study of Mars (including Mariner 9), Mercury, and Ganymede.

Wilhelms (second from left) briefing astronauts in 1964.
Don Wilhelms
USGS photo
Born
Don Edward Wilhelms

(1930-07-05) July 5, 1930
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Alma materPomona College
AwardsG.K. Gilbert Award, Shoemaker Distinguished Lunar Scientist Award
Scientific career
Fieldsgeology
InstitutionsUnited States Geological Survey

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.[6]

The mineral Donwilhelmsite is named after Wilhelms.[7] 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.[8]

References
  1. "Don Wilhelms". 6 May 2015.
  2. To a Rocky Moon: A Geologist's History of Lunar Exploration. Don E. Wilhelms, University of Arizona Press (1993). ISBN 978-0816510658
  3. The geologic history of the Moon, 1987, Wilhelms, Don E.; with sections by McCauley, John F.; Trask, Newell J. USGS Professional Paper: 1348. (online)
  4. Geologic Map of the Near Side of the Moon, USGS I-703, Don E. Wilhelms and John F. McCauley, 1971 (L&PI web version)
  5. Apollo Over the Moon: A View from Orbit (online version) (NASA SP-362), 1978
  6. "NASA - NASA Honors Lunar Science Trailblazer".
  7. Donwilhelmsite at mindat.org
  8. (4826) Wilhelms In: Dictionary of Minor Planet Names. Springer. 2003. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_4725. ISBN 978-3-540-29925-7.


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