A contract was signed by the University of Manchester, Manchester, England, and the Air Force (AF 61(052)-168) for $21,509. Z. Kopal, principal investigator, was to provide topographical information on the lunar surface for production of accurate lunar maps.

Kopal would work at the Pic-du-Midi Observatory in France, and the data would be transmitted to the Air Force Aeronautical Chart and Information Center for reduction. The lunar charts produced would be used for intelligence purposes and for the national space effort led by NASA. The contract was extended on August 4, 1959, to April 30, 1960, and was to include exploratory spectroscopic observations of the moon.