 His thesis work modeled mantle convection on Venus in order to explain broad plateaus, known as coronae, mapped by the Magellan orbiter.Musser served as editor of "Mercury" magazine and of the Universe in the Classroom tutorial series at the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, a science and science-education nonprofit based in San Francisco.A number of articles Musser solicited and edited have appeared in "The Best American Science Writing" and "The Best American Science & Nature Writing" anthologies.