Who is the man for whom the KAO has been named? The Kuiper Airborne Observatory was dedicated in May of 1975 in honor of a man who many today regard as the father of modern planetary science. Born in the Netherlands ninety years ago (12/7/05) and educa ted at Leiden University as an astronomer, Kuiper came to the US in 1933. During his lifetime he worked at Lick Observatory, Harvard, Yerkes Observatory of the University of Chicago, and the University of Arizona.
Kuiper played an influential role in the development of infrared airborne astronomy in the 1960's and 1970's. In 1967 the NASA four engine jet Convair 990 aircraft with a telescope aboard became available for infrared studies at an altitude of 40,000 fee t. Kuiper used it extensively for spectroscopy of the Sun, stars, and planets, discovering things about them that could not be found from ground-based observatories.
The Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, a research and educational unit in which many planetary scientists have been trained, was established under his guidance at the University of Arizona.
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Kuiper, G. P. (editor) Atmospheres of the Earth and Planets, Univ. of Chicago Press. First edition 1949, second edition 1952.
Kuiper, G. P. (editor) Four volumes in the series The Solar System: Vol. 1 The Sun, 1953; Vol. 2 The Earth As a Planet, 1954; Vol. 3 Planets and Satellites, 1961 (with B. M. Middlehurst); and Vol. 4 The Moon, Meteorites, and Comets, 1963 (with B. M. Middlehurst). University of Chicago Press
Kuiper, G. P. (general editor) Nine volumes in the series Stars and Stellar Systems, University of Chicago Press, beginning in 1960.
Kuiper, G. P., D. W. G. Arthur, E. Moore, J. W. Tapscott, and E. A. Whitaker. Photographic Atlas of the Moon. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1959.
Kuiper, G. P., D. W. G. Arthur, and E. A. Whitaker. Orthographic Atlas of the Moon. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1961.
Kuiper, G. P., E. A. Whitaker, W. K. Hartmann, and L. H. Spradley. Rectified Lunar Atlas. Supplement No. 2 to Photographic Lunar Atlas. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1963.
Kuiper, G. P., E. A. Whitaker, R. G. Strom, J. W. Fountain, and S. M. Larson. Consolidated Lunar Atlas. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1967.
Tatarewicz, J. N. Space Technology and Planetary Astronomy, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1990.