Participants and initiatives in planetary cartography

Abstract

Planetary cartography forms an integral part of cartography and has found its manifestation in governmental activities, community efforts, professional organizations, and commercial activities. These activities substantiated with the revival of planetary exploration in the early 2000s when Europe visited the Moon for the first time, and the USA launched a number of exploration missions. With the success of Asian spacecraft missions to the Moon and Mars joining the global planetary exploration endeavor, planetary mapping is increasingly becoming a global collaborative effort, and planetary cartography being one of its main tools to accomplish the goals. This chapter introduces institutes and groups working in the field of planetary cartography and mapping. Some of them have a long history in planetary cartography, while others represent more recent efforts. Their activities are usually organized on a national level, but they are internationally related to each other through research cooperation and collaborative projects. This overview should provide a cross section covering main institutions as well as groups and initiatives. However, it does not qualify to be complete in listing all active organizations and groups.