This ''personal history'' covers the period from about 1954 to the pre
sent, beginning with the time that I witnessed the start of the U.S. s
pace program triggered by the launch of Sputnik, and includes my exper
ience as Project Scientist for Pioneers 1, 2, 5, and Explorer 6, my se
rvice at NASA headquarters as Chief of Lunar and Planetary Sciences, f
ollowed by my role in organization of the NASA Ames Space Sciences Div
ision, and in 1973, I formed the Dept. of Planetary Sciences at the Un
iversity of Arizona.