Current and past roles of the statistician in space applications

The paper contains a brief and informal history of space science topics which led to statistical consulting. The past and current roles of the statistician in space science is discussed and this special issue is prefaced by describing generally the contents of the issue. Several statistical problems associated with the space scientists’ efforts to develop instrumentation and space vehicles for both manned and unmanned space missions are discussed as well as those problems associated with developing a space laboratory. The current tasks of developing remote sensors to make earth observations for monitoring earth resources and the associated statistical problems are also discussed. These latter activities are those that have motivated this special issue.