The papers included in this volume were especially prepared to bring to the attention of the scientific community the important discoveries that have been made in recent times concerning the thermal characteristics of the moon. From a knowledge of the thermal characteristics, deductions concerning lunar structure and the history of the formation of the moon are facilitated. Written by leading lunar and thermal authorities, the papers are grouped into four parts, covering measurements made from earth, measurements made from earth, measurements made on the moon, studies of material brought to earth from the moon, and an overall historical survey of the moon's interior from a thermal standpoint.
The section on earth-based measurements includes studies of the infrared moon, by Richard W. Shorthill; micro-wave emissions from the moon, by Duane O. Muhleman; and the radar mapping of lunar surface roughness, by Thomas W. Thompson and Sidney H. Zisk.
The second section, “In Situ Surface Measurements,” contains papers treating thermal characteristics based on Surveyor data, by Leonard D. Stimpson and John W. Lucas; surface temperatures based on Apollo 11 data, by Paul J. Hickson; the development of an in situ thermal conductivity measurement for the Lunar Heat Flow Experiment, by Marcus G. Langseth, Jr., Elisabeth M. Drake, Daniel Nathanson, and James A. Fountain; and the Apollo 15 lunar heat flow measurement, by Marcus G. Langseth, Jr., Sydney P. Clark, Jr., John Chute, Jr., and Stephen Keihm.
Section Three, “Thermal Characteristics of Lunar-Type Materials,” presents studies of the thermal properties of granulated materials, by Alfred E. Wechsler, Peter E. Glaser, and James A. Fountain; the thermal properties of material returned by the Apollo 11 and Apollo 12 missions, by Ki-iti Horai and Gene Simmons; and the thermal characteristics of lunar surface roughness, by Donald F. Winter, John A. Bastin, and David A. Allen.
The final section on geophysical interpretation consists of a single important paper on the thermal history of the lunar interior, by Ray T. Reynolds, Peter E. Fricker, and Audrey L. Summers.