Delayed Christening

"We now know more about the to pography of the moon than about the earth's topography," said British Astronomer Zdenek Kopal. None of the other 1,000 astronomers gathered in Prague last week for the 13th meet ing of the International Astronomical Union disputed him. They had just seen giant new U.S. and Russian charts of the moon's hidden farside. Together with familiar maps of the lunar near side, the charts did indeed give man a clearer view of the moon's features than of the earth's surface, large portions of which are hidden by water, camouflaged by vegetation and frequently obscured by cloud cover.

The U.S. chart -- prepared from photographs shot by Orbiters 1, 2, 3 and 4 and by Russia's Zond 3 -- showed several blank spaces and poor definition in the area covered by Zond 3 (blurred vertical strip at middle right on chart).

But it was considerably more detailed and accurate than the more completely filled-in Russian map. And even while the meeting was in session, word was received that the excellent photographs returned by Orbiter 5 would improve upon Zond 3's performance and eliminate most of the unmapped areas.

Next question: What to name the prominent craters, "seas" and mountains on the farside? The Russians had arrived with a proposal to name more than 150 of the farside features shown on their chart, mostly for Soviet scientists and space pioneers. But American scientists, who have tentatively accepted Russian names for a few of the more definite farside features first photographed in 1959 by Luna 3, argued that it would be premature to name the remainder until Orbiter 5's pictures are used to prepare definitive and complete farside charts. Of the 18 features named by the Russians from Luna 3 photographs, noted University of Arizona Astronomer Gerard Kuiper in urging a delay, only five can be precisely located and identified in more detailed Orbiter photographs.

The more considered approach of the U.S. astronomers carried the day. Until a committee chosen by the T.A.U. can study a complete farside chart and choose a more international selection of honored names, twelve farside "seas," 150 promontories and mountains and some 400 craters will be identified only by code numbers.

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