Roger Jay Phillips (June 9, 1940 – November 19, 2020) was an American geophysicist, planetary scientist, and professor emeritus[2][3] at the Washington University in St. Louis.
[9] Phillips served as the editor[10] of Geophysical Research Letters and co-edited the books the Origin of the Moon[11] and Venus II.
[12] Phillips was a fellow[13] of the American Geophysical Union, received the G. K. Gilbert Award from the Geological Society of America in 2003[14] and the Whipple Award from the American Geophysical Union in 2008[15] Phillips' early work determined that the mascons on the Moon that perturbed the trajectory of early lunar orbiters was the result of near surface structure of impact basins[16] and made some of the early estimates of the thickness of the crust of Mars[17] prior to the Viking orbiters.
Using the Apollo 17 Lunar Sounder Experiment data Phillips and his team collected they made the first observations of near surface variations in rock layers on the Moon.
[4][18] Phillips is well-known for his contributions to understanding the tectonics,[19] impact craters and resurfacing history[20][21] and the interior and crustal evolution[22] of Venus.