Ewen Whitaker

Ewen Adair Whitaker (22 June 1922 – 11 October 2016) was a British-born astronomer known for his work in selenography and lunar cartography. Together with Gerard Kuiper, Whitaker founded the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona. He co-authored multiple moon atlases, and helped NASA to select a landing site for Apollo 12 and several Surveyor and Ranger missions.

Early life and education Ewen Adair Whitaker was born in London to George Whitaker, a typesetter, and Gladys Johnstone, a homemaker. Whitaker attended John Roan School in Greenwich on a scholarship.

Early career During World War II, Whitaker worked at Siemens Brothers as a laboratory assistant, conducting quality control for the lead sheathing of cables used in the secret Operation PLUTO (Pipeline Under The Ocean), which supplied fuel to Allied forces in France under the English Channel.

In 1946, he married Beryl Horswell, whom he met through the St Mary's youth fellowship; she also worked for Siemens. After he graduated with a certificate in mechanical engineering from Woolwich Polytechnic, his only formal academic qualification, Whitaker joined the Royal Greenwich Observatory in 1949. Initially he worked on the UV spectra of stars, but soon switched to the lunar studies. Whitaker used 40-inch telescope of the Yerkes Observatory, 82-inch one of the McDonald Observatory to get photos for the Photographic Lunar Atlas, published in 1960.

In 1960, Whitaker moved with Kuiper to the University of Arizona, where they established the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (LPL). He worked at the LPL until his retirement in 1987. According to Timothy Swindle, director of the LPL, "[Whitaker] knew more about what was where on the Moon than any previous human being in history ever had".

Whitaker also worked in landing sites selection for Ranger and Surveyor missions; Asteroid 7948 was named "Whitaker" in his honor An honorary doctorate by the University of Arizona (2011)

Selected publications