Planetary Exploration Trailblazer Richard M. Goldstein Dies at 97 in California

Richard M. Goldstein, a pioneer in planetary exploration, passed away on June 22 at his residence in La Cañada Flintridge, Calif., at the age of 97. His daughter, Rabbi Lisa L. Goldstein, confirmed his demise.

During the early 1960s, Dr. Goldstein, then a graduate student in electrical engineering at the California Institute of Technology, was employed part-time at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It was during this time that he proposed a groundbreaking thesis project. He aimed to detect echoes from Venus using the newly developed Goldstone Solar System Radar. His ambitious project sought to determine the distance from Earth to Venus, a feat that would lay the groundwork for mapping the entire solar system. Despite facing skepticism from his adviser at Caltech, who doubted the feasibility of detecting echoes from Venus due to its "cloud-swaddled" nature, Dr. Goldstein remained undeterred.

Impact and Legacy

Dr. Goldstein's pioneering use of ground-based radars to map planets paved the way for modern scientific techniques used to measure geographical changes on Earth, such as the monitoring of melting glaciers. His contributions have had a lasting impact on planetary exploration and continue to influence scientific endeavors today.