[287-288] For the most part, when an abbreviation is first introduced, it is preceded by the full spelling. Most abbreviations found in this text are commonly used, such as AFB for Air Force Base, while others are more apt to be seen in technical literature, such as K for Kelvin. In the case of organizations, they are always introduced by their full name; abbreviations appear only in subsequent references, though not all subsequent references are abbreviated. Most readers will recognize many organizational abbreviations immediately, such as NASA.

Interviews are referenced in the notes in an abridged form. Only the interviewee's surname and the interview date (in the form date/month/year) are noted; complete interview information is located in Appendix Two, Oral History Interviews.

A few reports that appear serially and are available from only a limited source are routinely cited in the notes in abbreviated form. The annual reports published by JPL and found in the JPL Archives are cited as JPL Annual Reports, JPLA. The quarterly reports of the NAIC were found only at the NAIC. These reports consist of a small number of typed pages submitted to the NSF, the oversight agency for the Arecibo Observatory. In order to cite them simply, the following form was used: NAIC QR Q2/1987, (4-5, in which pages 4-5 of the second QR (quarterly report) of 1987 are referenced. Also, the minutes of the meetings of the Goldstone Solar System Radar, furnished to the author by Steven Ostro, are referred to as GSSR Min., followed by the date of the meeting in the form date/month/year.

The GSSR minutes were only one of many items provided by several individuals from their personal materials. In the notes, these are referred to as "Smith materials," after the surname of the individual providing them. The Acknowledgments (p. iv) section above indicates the full names of those furnishing such materials.

Documents in open archives are cited in one of two ways, depending on whether the archives had assigned numbers to files. When a file number is available, the citation provides a description of the item and its date, followed by the file number, the box number, and the accession number (or collection name), and lastly the name of the archival repository. Otherwise, the description of the item and its date are followed by the folder title in quotes, the box number and accession number (or collection name), and the name of the archival repository.

References to unpublished materials use the following abbreviations to indicate archival repositories and specific collections within those archives.

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