Our knowledge of events in the solar system has expanded after viewing the collisions of P/Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter. We will gain new insight into the internal structure and composition of the comet upon analysis of all the data. Our inventory of small solar system objects has been added to by the discovery of objects hundreds of kilometers in diameter located beyond Neptune's orbit. Remote sensing experiments have provided compositional information about the parent body of the basaltic achondrite meteorites and will provide new insight into collisional and dynamical evolution within the main asteroid belt. Radar astronomy techniques are developing to the point where they can provide basic physical parameters of a larger number of asteroids, enabling our understanding of the diversity of asteroid sizes, shapes, and surface textures. Close-up spacecraft flybys have transfered the realm of asteroid and comet studies from astronomical to geological subjects. Our advancing view and understanding of comets and asteroids in the solar system has resulted from the combination of theoretical modeling, ground-based and earth-orbiting telescopic studies, and robotic spacecraft exploration. These advances attest to the value of a balanced program of exploration, employing theory, ground-based and earth-orbiting observations, as well as spacecraft missions to asteroids and comets which flyby, rendezvous with, land on, and/or return samples to Earth.
Acknowledgments. LM is grateful for conversations with Clark Chapman and Mike A'Hearn. The formatting of the manuscript was done by Maggie Berry, whose efforts are appreciated.