The present rapid advance in space sciences, clearly apparent at previous semiyearly national meetings of the American Geophysical Union, was again in evidence at the Stanford meeting, December 27–29, 1962. A total of over 60 papers was presented by the Planetary Sciences Section, usually in sessions held jointly with other Sections, including Geomagnetism and Aeronomy; Meteorology; and Volcanology, Geochemistry, and Petrology. Two symposia, jointly sponsored by the American Physical Society, also included items of space interest, such as the atmospheric drag of satellites and the Mariner 2 probe observations on Venus conducted a few days previous to the meetin