[meteorite-list] William Hartmann Honored for Lunar Research

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 17 Jul 2013 10:08:26 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <201307171708.r6HH8Qn6006706_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

NEWS RELEASE FROM THE PLANETARY SCIENCE INSTITUTE

FROM:
Alan Fischer
Public Information Officer
Planetary Science Institute
520-382-0411
520-622-6300
fischer at psi.edu

PSI's Hartmann Honored for Lunar Research

July 16, 2013, Tucson, Ariz. - Tucson planetary scientist William K.
Hartmann was today presented with the Shoemaker Distinguished Lunar
Scientist Award, given each year to a scientist who has significantly
contributed to the field of lunar science throughout the course of their
scientific career.

The award was presented to Hartmann, a Senior Scientist and co-founder of
the Planetary Science Institute, by the new Solar System Exploration
Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI) - formerly the NASA Lunar Science
Institute - at the 2013 virtual Lunar Science Forum, held July 16-18 from
NASA Ames Research Center. More than 300 people attended the virtual event.

Speaking from Tucson, Ariz., Hartmann said, "It's an honor just to be
mentioned in the same sentence as Gene Shoemaker, who did so much to
increase our understanding of asteroid impacts and craters like Arizona's
Meteor Crater."

"In view of his many fundamental and far-reaching breakthroughs in lunar
science such as his discovery of multi-ring impact basins - including
Orientale basin - Dr. Hartmann is exceptionally deserving of this medal,"
said Yvonne Pendleton, director of SSERVI. "We are proud to present him
with this honor."

Bill Hartmann is an internationally known scientist, painter and writer,
and winner of the first Carl Sagan Medal from the American Astronomical
Society. He discovered multi-ring impact basins with concentric and radial
structure on the Moon, including the Orientale basin on the east limb of
the Moon. In 1965 he used crater counts on the Moon and Earth to
successfully predict the age of lunar lava plains at 3.6 billion years, a
date confirmed five years later with Apollo samples from the Moon. He was
lead author, with PSI Senior Scientist and co-founder Donald R. Davis, of
what has become the most widely accepted theory of the origin of the Moon,
by impact of a planet-sized body at the end of the planet-forming era.

 "This is really an exciting time for lunar science," Hartmann said. "It's
hard to find rocks from the first 600 million years or so on either Earth
or the Moon, so there are still mysteries about exactly how the Moon formed
and what happened in the era when life was starting."

CONTACT:

William K. Hartmann
Senior Scientist
520-325-6548
Hartmann at psi.edu

PSI INFORMATION:

Mark V. Sykes
Director
520-622-6300
sykes at psi.edu
Received on Wed 17 Jul 2013 01:08:26 PM PDT