Its principal investigators were the astronomers Ingrid and Cornelis van Houten at Leiden and Tom Gehrels at Palomar.
For the period of the entire survey (1960–1977), the trio of astronomers are credited with the discovery of 4,637 numbered minor planets,[1] which received their own provisional designation, such as 6344 P-L, 4835 T-1 and 3181 T-2.
PLS was one of the most productive minor planet surveys ever conducted: five new asteroid families were discovered,[2] gaps at 1:3 and 2:5 orbital resonances with Jupiter were revealed, and hundreds of photographic plates were taken with Palomar's Samuel Oschin telescope.
The PLS was originally intended as an extension of the Yerkes–McDonald asteroid survey (1950–1952), which was initiated by Dutch–American astronomer Gerard Kuiper.
However, it only covered a portion of the ecliptic about the vernal equinox, with the target areas selected to minimize the number of background stars.
Photographic plates taken by Tom Gehrels at the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory in Arizona using the 48-inch Schmidt camera at Palomar Observatory.