[1][2] In 2000, Wetherill received the J. Lawrence Smith Medal from the National Academy of Sciences "For his unique contributions to the cosmochronology of the planets and meteorites and to the orbital dynamics and formation of solar system bodies.
"[3] In 2003, Wetherill received the Henry Norris Russell Lectureship, the highest honor bestowed by the American Astronomical Society, "For pioneering the application of modern physics and numerical simulations to the formation and evolution of terrestrial planets.
He did his thesis research on the spontaneous fission of uranium, as well as nuclear processes in nature, as a U.S. Atomic Energy Commission Predoctoral Fellow.
There, he joined an interdepartmental group who were working to date rocks using geochemical methods that measured natural radioactive decay.
[1] Wetherill was also a member of the Carnegie group that accurately determined the decay constants of potassium and rubidium, an effort that has also become fundamental to the measurement of geological time.
He computed how these events could move material into Earth-crossing orbits to become meteorites or larger Earth-impacting bodies responsible for the devastating impacts that caused mass extinctions of the majority of living species, including the dinosaurs.
At DTM, he began extending his research efforts into questions concerning the origin of the terrestrial planets--Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars.
[8] In addition to showing how the inner solar system formed, Wetherill's work provided the basis for a model of a giant-impact origin for the Moon[9] and the core of Mercury.