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. 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 (including Mariner 9), 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.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
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
References
"Don Wilhelms". 6 May 2015. https://www.aip.org/history-programs/niels-bohr-library/oral-histories/5064 ↩
To a Rocky Moon: A Geologist's History of Lunar Exploration. Don E. Wilhelms, University of Arizona Press (1993). ISBN 978-0816510658 /wiki/ISBN_(identifier) ↩
The geologic history of the Moon, 1987, Wilhelms, Don E.; with sections by McCauley, John F.; Trask, Newell J. USGS Professional Paper: 1348. (online) https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/pp1348 ↩
Geologic Map of the Near Side of the Moon, USGS I-703, Don E. Wilhelms and John F. McCauley, 1971 (L&PI web version) http://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/mapcatalog/usgs/I703/ ↩
Apollo Over the Moon: A View from Orbit (online version) (NASA SP-362), 1978 https://history.nasa.gov/SP-362/contents.htm ↩
"NASA - NASA Honors Lunar Science Trailblazer". Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2013-08-27. https://web.archive.org/web/20160305003910/http://www.nasa.gov/centers/ames/news/releases/2010/10-61AR.html ↩
Donwilhelmsite at mindat.org https://www.mindat.org/min-53358.html ↩
"(4826) Wilhelms". (4826) Wilhelms In: Dictionary of Minor Planet Names. Springer. 2003. p. 416. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-29925-7_4725. ISBN 978-3-540-29925-7. 978-3-540-29925-7 ↩