The U.S. Geological Survey Astrogeology Science Center

In its early years, the Branch of 

Astrogeology supported NASA’s Apollo 

program by providing critical scientific 

and cartographic information for the 

mission planners. Shoemaker was 

instrumental in making geology a major 

emphasis for the Apollo missions and 

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Fact Sheet 2017–3038

July 2017

Eugene Shoemaker training astronauts at 

Meteor Crater, Arizona, May 1967 (USGS 

Open-File Report 2005–1190, fig. 46b; 

https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2005/1190).

Harrison “Jack” Schmitt on the Moon 

during the Apollo 17 Mission, December 13, 

1972 (NASA Photo AS17-140-21496).

the USGS was at the heart of training the 

astronauts to look at the Moon through 

the eyes of a geologist. The only geoscientist to walk on the Moon (so far), 

Harrison “Jack” Schmitt, hailed from 

the USGS Branch of Astrogeology. The 

Branch, now called the Astrogeology 

Science Center, supports a host of U.S. 

and international robotic missions as 

they explore the solar system. Recent 

and current missions include visits 

to Mercury, Venus, the Moon, Mars, 

asteroids, Jupiter and its moons, Saturn 

and its moons, Pluto, and the Kuiper Belt.

The Earth is a planet, too, and Astrogeology Science Center scientists also 

use remote sensing data from Earthobserving satellites and aircraft, in 

combination with fieldwork, to study 

environments and processes on Earth 

to better understand natural hazards, 

potential resources, and geologic features 

that may be analogous to those on other 

planetary bodies.

Astrogeology Science Center staff 

support planetary science missions by 

providing scientific expertise, instrument 

design and spacecraft operations, 

software development, cartography, 

photogrammetry, and ready access to 

the archives of data acquired by space 

missions. As a vital part of the international planetary science community, 

Astrogeology Science Center scientists 

provide expert advice to NASA on where 

future planetary missions should go and 

the types of instruments these missions 

should carry. USGS map products are 

I

n 1960, Eugene Shoemaker and 

a small team of other scientists 

founded the field of astrogeology 

to develop tools and methods for 

astronauts studying the geology 

of the Moon and other planetary 

bodies. Subsequently, in 1962, 

the U.S. Geological Survey 

(USGS) Branch of Astrogeology 

was established in Menlo Park, 

California. In 1963, the Branch 

moved to Flagstaff, Arizona, to 

be closer to the young lava flows 

of the San Francisco Volcanic 

Field and Meteor Crater, the 

best preserved impact crater 

in the world. These geologic 

features of northern Arizona were 

considered good analogs for the 

Moon and other planetary bodies 

and valuable for geologic studies 

and astronaut field training. 

From its Flagstaff campus, the 

USGS has supported the National 

Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) space program 

with scientific and cartographic 

expertise for more than 50 years.

Curiosity rover tracks.

(NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)
Oblique image of sunrise 

over the central peak 

within Tycho Crater, on 

Earth’s Moon, acquired by 

the Lunar Reconnaissance 

Orbiter Camera, June 

10, 2011 (Narrow 

Angle Camera image 

M162350671R; image credit 

NASA/Goddard Space 

Flight Center/Arizona State 

University).

Geologic Map of Mars, 

published in 2014 (USGS 

Scientific Investigations 

Map 3292; https://doi.

org/10.3133/sim3292).

widely considered to be of the highest 

quality and exceptionally reliable, and 

the Center leads the planetary geologic 

mapping program for NASA. This 

involves creating mapping standards, 

monitoring national digital mapping 

efforts for the planets, and managing 

production of geologic and topographic 

maps of potential landing sites for 

spacecraft.

Astrogeology Science Center staff 

play a direct role in the operation of 

cameras on the Mars Reconnaissance 

Orbiter, the Mars Exploration Rovers 

(Spirit and Opportunity), the Mars Science 

Laboratory rover (Curiosity), and on 

missions to asteroids. As part of larger 

tactical operations teams, Astrogeology 

Science Center scientists analyze new 

data, select specific sites to investigate, 

and generate commands for various 

cameras to image those sites.

Many planetary missions and 

instruments rely on the Integrated 

Software for Imagers and Spectrometers 

package developed by the Astrogeology 

Science Center. This software package is 

the foremost freely available software for 

mapping image data collected by NASA 

spacecraft onto the surfaces of planetary 

bodies—an essential step in converting 

these data into scientific knowledge for 

planetary exploration.

The Astrogeology Science Center’s 

planetary nomenclature project 

coordinates requests for naming planetary 

features through the International Astronomical Union’s approval process; 

maintains the database of approved names 

of planetary features, satellites, and rings; 

and serves this information through the 

Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature web 

site. 

As host to the Cartography and Imaging 

Sciences node of NASA’s Planetary Data 

System and as a node of NASA’s Regional 

Planetary Image Facility (RPIF) network, 

the Astrogeology Science Center also 

plays a key role in archiving data and 

making them readily available to planetary 

scientists, mission engineers, NASA 

managers, and the general public. The 

Center currently houses about 1 petabyte 

of digital storage, two large compute 

clusters, and various web services; the 

RPIF node contains more than 100,000 

printed lunar and planetary images 

and maps, a reference library, assorted 

artifacts, and a photo and document 

archive that chronicles the history and 

ongoing activities of the Astrogeology 

Science Center.

Funding for the Astrogeology Science 

Center comes almost exclusively (more 

than 95 percent) from NASA through 

a variety of agreements with short time 

frames (none lasting longer than 5 years). 

This arrangement requires the Astrogeology Science Center to continually 

demonstrate that it is responsive to 

NASA’s current needs and is providing 

excellent value to the government and the 

public. The fact that the Astrogeology 

Science Center has become a fixture in 

humankind’s exploration of the solar 

system is an enduring testament to the 

skill, ingenuity, and effectiveness of 

generations of its staff.

Self-portrait of the Mars 

Science Laboratory 

Curiosity rover, taken 

by the Mars Hand Lens 

Imager instrument 

on the rover’s robotic 

arm, October 31, 2012 

(NASA image PIA16468; 

image credit NASA/Jet 

Propulsion LaboratoryCaltech/Malin Space 

Science Systems).

ISSN 2327-6932 (online) ISSN 2327-6916 (print)

https://doi.org/10.3133/fs20173038

For more information, contact:

U.S. Geological Survey 

Astrogeology Science Center 

2255 N. Gemini Dr. 

Flagstaff, AZ 86001 

Tel: (928) 556-7000

https://astrogeology.usgs.gov/

Vision Statement

The USGS Astrogeology Science 

Center is a national resource for the 

integration of planetary geoscience, 

cartography, and remote sensing. 

As explorers and surveyors, with a 

unique heritage of proven expertise 

and international leadership, we 

enable the ongoing successful 

investigation of the solar system for 

humankind.

By Laszlo P. Kestay, R. Greg Vaughan, 

Lisa R. Gaddis, Kenneth E. Herkenhoff, 

and Justin J. Hagerty

Edited by Regan Austin

Layout by Katherine Jacques