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Abstract
In the last 4 years, knowledge of the gravitational field and shape of the moon greatly improved through the Apollo 15–17 subsatellites, metric photography, and altimeter systems and the continued programs of laser ranging and radio interferometry from the earth. This summary is divided into three sections: gravity, rotational dynamics, and geometry. For a more detailed review, see Kaula [1975].Of the global gravity field, only the second‐ and third‐degree harmonics are known reliably. The best determination was by Sjogren [1971], who used tracking of Lunar Orbiter 4, the 2700‐ to 6100‐km altitude of which effectively filtered out higher harmonics. Other solutions for higher‐degree harmonics [Liu and Laing, 1971; Michael and Blackshear, 1972] give severely distorted representations of the far side gravity field. Ferrari [1975a, b] and Ananda [1975] have recently obtained a more plausible result, using improved statistical techniques on Apollo 15 and 16 subsatellites plus Lunar Orbiter 5 data.