Remembering William A. Cassidy

(1928-2020)

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PSRD sadly marks the passing this month of a remarkable man, William A. Cassidy, who, during his distinguished scientific career had an almost incalculable influence on the study of meteorites—except that more than 22,000 meteorites recovered from Antarctic ice are rock-solid evidence.

Bill began and led the Antarctic Search for Meteorites (ANSMET) program from 1976 to 1995, which is ongoing and widely regarded as resulting in the single most important collection of research meteorites in the world. Extraordinary discoveries enabled by ANSMET include meteorites from the Moon and Mars and asteroid Vesta, meteorites with diamonds, with salt as old as our Solar System, with boron, with carbonate minerals, with amino acids, oh just take a read through our PSRD archive of meteorite articles. We share additional resources, below, as further evidence of how a single individual can start a program and inspire others to seek, discover, and study the bulding blocks of our Solar System. Thank you Bill Cassidy.

Current NASA support for ANSMET comes from the Near-Earth Object Observations program. Curation and characterization of the recovered meteorites (at NASA Johnson Space Center and the National Museum of Natural History) are supported by a partnership between NASA and the Smithsonian Institution. ANSMET's Co-Principal Investigators are Professor Ralph Harvey (Dept. of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Science, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH) and Research Associate Professor James Karner, Dept. of Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT).

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• For a longer and personal remembrance of Bill written by men who knew him well, please read the Meteoritical Society essay by Ralph P. Harvey, John W. Schutt (Case Western Reserve University) and Christian Koeberl (University of Vienna).


• ANSMET website (Don't miss their blogs from the field expeditions.)


• Cassidy, William A. (2003) Meteorites, Ice, and Antarctica: A Personal Account. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 9780521258722, 349 p., doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511536083. (Written when he was Professor at the University of Pittsburgh, PA.)


• Meteoritical Bulletin Database (This comprehensive database contains authoritative information about meteorite names and is a clearinghouse for basic information about each meteorite; constructed and maintained by the Nomenclature Committee of the Meteoritical Society.)


• The Meteoritical Society (International organization dedicated to the promotion of research and education in planetary science with emphasis on the studies of meteorites and other extraterrestrial materials that further our understanding of the origin of the solar system. The Society was established in 1933.)


• February 2020 Antarctic Meteorite Newsletter


• Meteorites on Ice, from PSRD.


• Searching Antarctic Ice for Meteorites, from PSRD.


• Righter, K., Corrigan, C. M., McCoy, T. J. and Harvey, R. P. (eds) (2014) 35 Seasons of U.S. Antarctic Meteorites (1976-2010): A Pictorial Guide to the Collection. John Wiley & Sons, Inc, Hoboken, NJ, 336 p., doi: 10.1002/9781118798478.fmatter.


• Antarctic Meteorite Classification Database, by curator.jsc.nasa.gov.


• Antarctic Meteorite Sample References, searchable bibliography with over 1600 peer-reviewed publications through 2017, by curator.jsc.nasa.gov.


• PSRD General Resources, for meteorites and planetary science.

  — Linda M. V. Martel