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In 1946, he married Beryl Horswell, whom he met through the St Mary's youth fellowship; she also worked for Siemens.<ref name="times">{{cite web |title=Obituary: Ewen Whitaker |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/science/article/ewen-whitaker-s8vgnmvwr |website=www.thetimes.com |access-date=17 November 2024 |archive-url=https://archive.is/SPdhl |archive-date=16 November 2024 |language=en |date=1 November 2016}}</ref> After earning a certificate in mechanical engineering from [[Woolwich Polytechnic School for Boys|Woolwich Polytechnic]], his only formal academic qualification, Whitaker joined the [[Royal Greenwich Observatory]] in 1949. Initially he worked on the UV spectra of stars, but soon switched to the lunar studies.<ref name="papers"/> He became the Director of the Lunar Section of the [[British Astronomical Association]] (BAA) and Fellow of the [[Royal Astronomical Society]] (RAS).<ref name="greenwich"/><ref name="greenwich/>

In 1955, Whitaker attended an [[International Astronomical Union]] meeting in Dublin where he met [[Gerard Kuiper]]. When Kuiper requested assistance with creating a lunar atlas, Whitaker was the only one among 400 astronomers to respond.<ref name="times"/> He joined Kuiper's Lunar Project at [[Yerkes Observatory]] in Wisconsin on October 5, 1957—coincidentally a day after [[Sputnik 1]] was launched by the USSR.<ref name="greenwich"/> In 1958, he permanently moved to the US with his family. His colleague from BAA, David W. Arthur, also joined Kuiper's lab. He was particularly interested in "lunar crater typology and distribution".<ref name=baa>{{cite web |title=Apollo & the BAA Lunar Section |url=https://britastro.org/journal_contents_ite/apollo-the-baa-lunar-section |publisher=British Astronomical Association |access-date=19 November 2024}}</ref> Whitaker used 40-inch telescope of the Yerkes Observatory, 82-inch one of the [[McDonald Observatory]] to get photos for the ''Photographic Lunar Atlas'', published in 1960.<ref name="skyandtelescope">{{cite web |last1=Wood |first1=Charles A. |title=Remembering Ewen A. Whitaker, 1922–2016 |url=https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/remembering-ewen-whitaker-1922-2016/ |website=skyandtelescope.org |access-date=19 November 2024}}</ref>

In 1960, Whitaker moved with Kuiper to the [[University of Arizona]], where they established the [[Lunar and Planetary Laboratory]] (LPL).<ref name="NYT"/> There, he was the first to apply "the [[Zwicky technique]] of differential UV/IR photography to the moon",<ref name="greenwich"/> a technique combining ultraviolet and infrared photography to map the Moon's chemical composition, which proved valuable for selecting Apollo landing sites.<ref name="telegraph">{{cite web |title=Ewen Whitaker, mapper of the Moon – obituary |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2016/11/03/ewen-whitaker-mapper-of-the-moon--obituary/ |website=The Telegraph |access-date=17 November 2024 |date=3 November 2016}}</ref> He worked at the LPL until his retirement in 1987.<ref name="NYT"/> He used LPL's 61-inch telescope for the ''Consolidated Lunar Atlas'', published in 1967.<ref name="skyandtelescope"/>

Whitaker was considered to be the world's leading expert on lunar mapping and nomenclature.<ref name="papers">{{cite web |title=Ewen Whitaker papers |url=https://lib.arizona.edu/special-collections/collections/ewen-whitaker-papers |website=lib.arizona.edu |publisher=University of Arizona Libraries |access-date=19 November 2024 |language=en}}</ref> According to [[Timothy Swindle]], director of the LPL, "[Whitaker] knew more about what was where on the Moon than any previous human being in history ever had".<ref name=times/> He was activea inmember of the [[International Astronomical Union|IAU's]] Task Group for Lunar Nomenclature.{{cn}}<ref name="papers"/> Together with David W. Arthur, he created a new way to name lunar features; later he devisedcreated a "lettering system for designating unnamed craters".<ref name=times/> It was adopted unanimously for universal use by the IAU in 2006, astogether waswith the correcteda list of letters for nearside craters which he compiled together with L. E. Anderson in 1982.{{cn}}<ref name="papers"/>

Whitaker's most notable achievement was locating the precise landing site for [[Apollo 12]]. ByAfter studyinghe imagesfound fromthe [[Surveyor 1]] landing site with better precision then NASA, he was invited to locate [[Surveyor 3]].<ref name=snark/> By studying images from Surveyor 3 and comparing them with photographs of thousands of similar craters under the microscope, he identified two rocks near the spacecraft. This led to designation of a landing site for Apollo 12, where astronauts will be able to reach the earlier probe.<ref name="NYT"/> The mission succeeded, with astronauts landing within 600 feet of Surveyor 3.<ref name="telegraph"/> Whitaker himself described the search for Surveyor 3 as "the hunting of the snark".<ref name=snark>{{cite journal |last1=Clow |first1=David |title=“A Pinpoint on the Ocean of Storms: Finding the Target for Apollo 12” (with Ewen A. Whitaker) |journal=Quest, the History of Spaceflight Quarterly: 10:4 |date=1 January 2003 |url=https://www.academia.edu/6529975/_A_Pinpoint_on_the_Ocean_of_Storms_Finding_the_Target_for_Apollo_12_with_Ewen_A._Whitaker_ |access-date=18 November 2024}}</ref>

Whitaker also worked in landing sites selection for Ranger and Surveyor missions;<ref name="NYT"/> briefed astronauts for Apollo missions 13, 15, and 16;<ref name="telegraph"/> located impact sites for Rangers 7 and 9 and Saturn rocket stages from Apollo missions;<ref name="times"/><ref name="papers"/> and developed new systems for naming lunar features, particularly on the far side of the Moon.<ref name="NYT"/>

He also chose 14 favorably located farside craters to commemorate the [[Space Shuttle Challenger|''Challenger'']] and [[Space Shuttle Columbia|''Columbia'']] astronauts who lost their lives in the two disasters.<ref name=times/><ref name="papers"/>

* A personal commendation from President Nixon for locating Surveyor 3<ref name="telegraph"baa/>

* The Walter Goodacre Medal from the British Astronomical Association (1982)<ref>{{cite [web |title=Awards |url=https://britastro.org/awards-2#:~:text=Walter%20Goodacre%20Medal%20and%20Gift,years%20since%20the%20last%20award.] |publisher=British Astronomical Association |access-date=19 November 2024}}</ref>