Returned to the NRL, he used the 50 ft (15m)
radio telescope for his earlier work.
In 1958, publication of microwave measurements of Venus raised the possibility that the surface of the planet was extremely hot. It triggered an international effort to measure and analyze the microwave spectrum of
Venus.
After the measurements of Venus, Mayer measured the surface temperature of
Mars and atmospheric temperature of
Jupiter.
The 1964 winner of the
Nobel Prize in Physics,
Charles H. Townes, shared his prize money with Mayer, who had been a collaborator in studying planetary thermal radiation.
A career highlight was the award of the Navy Superior Civilian Service Award in 1969.
He wrote more than 75 scientific articles.
Isaac Asimov quoted Mayer extensively in The Secret of the Universe.
Mayer spent his entire 36-year career at the NRL and became the head of radio astronomy branch, retiring in 1980.
^Radhakrishnan, Venkataraman (December 2006). "Obituary: Cornell H. Mayer, 1921-2005". Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society. 38 (4): 1279–1280.
Bibcode:
2006BAAS...38.1279R.