Career
Kaula was most notable for his contributions to geodesy, including using early earth satellites to produce gravity maps of Earth. He was a participant in several National Aeronautics and Space Administration missions, as a team leader on Apollos 15, 16 and 17. The National Academies Press called Kaula "the father of space-based geodesy".
The Los Angeles Times called him "one of the leading planetary physicists of the last four decades".
He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences for his scientific contributions without ever getting a doctorate, a pretty rare case. He did graduate from West Point, the top military school in the United States and received an Master of Surgery degree from Ohio State University.
Asteroid 5485 Kaula is named after him.