From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Eugene Shoemaker wearing a Bell
rocket belt while
training astronauts.
Eugene Merle Shoemaker (or Gene Shoemaker)
(April 28, 1928 – July 18, 1997) was one of the founders of
the fields of planetary science. Born in Los Angeles, California, he is best known
for co-discovering the Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with his
wife Carolyn Shoemaker and David Levy.
Scientific contributions
Astrogeology and Apollo
For his Ph.D. at Princeton (1960), Shoemaker
studied the impact dynamics of Barringer Meteor
Crater, located near Winslow, Arizona. To understand the
dynamics, Shoemaker inspected craters that remained after
underground atomic bomb tests at the Nevada Test
Site at Yucca Flats. He found a ring of ejected
material that included shocked quartz (coesite), a form of quartz that has a microscopically unique
structure caused by intense pressure.
Shoemaker helped pioneer the field of astrogeology by
founding the Astrogeology Research
Program of the U.S. Geological
Survey in 1961 at Flagstaff, Arizona and he was its
first director. He was prominently involved in the Lunar Ranger
missions to the Moon, which showed that the Moon was covered with a
wide size range of impact craters. Shoemaker was also involved in
the training of the American astronauts. He himself was a possible
candidate for an Apollo moon flight and was set to be the
first geologist to walk on the Moon but was disqualified due to
being diagnosed with Addison's disease, a disorder of the
adrenal gland.
Shoemaker would train astronauts during field trips to Meteor Crater and
Sunset Crater
near Flagstaff.[1]
Coming to Caltech in 1969, he started a systematic
search for Earth orbit-crossing asteroids, which resulted in the discovery of
several families of such asteroids, including the Apollo asteroids. Since then, Shoemaker has
done more than any other person to advance the idea that sudden
geologic changes can arise from asteroid strikes and that asteroid strikes are
common over geologic time periods. Previously, astroblemes were
thought to be remnants of extinct volcanoes – even on the Moon.
Comet
Shoemaker-Levy 9
Shoemaker received the Barringer Medal in 1984 and a National Medal of Science in
1992. In 1993, he co-discovered Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 using the
18" Schmidt camera at Palomar Observatory. This comet was
unique in that it provided the first opportunity for scientists to
observe the planetary impact of a comet. Shoemaker-Levy 9 collided
with Jupiter in 1994. The resulting impact caused a massive "scar"
on the face of Jupiter. Most scientists at the time were dubious of
whether there would even be any evident markings on the planet.
Death
Shoemaker spent much of his later years searching for and
finding several previously unnoticed or undiscovered meteor craters
around the world. It was during one such expedition that Shoemaker
died in a car accident while on the Tanami Road northwest of Alice Springs, Australia in July 1997. On July 31, 1999,
some of his ashes were carried to the Moon by the Lunar
Prospector space probe in a capsule designed by Carolyn Porco. To
date, he is the only person to have been buried on the Moon.[2]
The brass foil wrapping of Shoemaker's memorial capsule is
inscribed with images of Comet Hale-Bopp, the Barringer Crater, and a quotation from
Romeo and
Juliet reading
- "And, when he shall die
Take him and cut him out in little stars
And he will make the face of heaven so fine
That all the world will be in love with night
And pay no worship to the garish sun."[3]
Bibliography
- Farley, K. A.;
Montanari, A.; Shoemaker, E. M.; Shoemaker, C. S. (1998),
"Geochemical evidence for a comet shower in the late Eocene.",
Science 280
(5367): 1250–3, 1998 May 22, PMID 9596575
- Nozette, S. D.;
Lichtenberg, C. L.; Spudis, P. D.; Bonner, R.; Ort, W.; Malaret,
E.; Robinson, M. S.; Shoemaker, E. M. (1996), "The Clementine
bistatic radar experiment.", Science 274
(5292): 1495–8, 1996 Nov 29, PMID 8929403
- Shoemaker, E. M.;
Robinson, M. S.; Eliason, E. M. (1994), "The South Pole Region of
the Moon as Seen by Clementine.", Science 266
(5192): 1851–1854, 1994 Dec 16, doi:10.1126/science.266.5192.1851, PMID 17737080
- Nozette, S. D.;
Rustan, P. L.; Pleasance, L. D.; Kordas, J. F.; Lewis, I. T.; Park,
H. S.; Priest, R. E.; Horan, D. M. et al. (1994), "The
Clementine Mission to the Moon: Scientific Overview.", Science
266 (5192): 1835–1839, 1994 Dec 16, doi:10.1126/science.266.5192.1835, PMID 17737076
- Weaver, H. A.;
Feldman, P. D.; A'Hearn, M. F.; Arpigny, C.; Brown, R. A.; Helin, E. F.;
Levy, D. H.; Marsden, B.
G. et al. (1994), "Hubble Space Telescope Observations
of Comet P/Shoemaker-Levy 9 (1993e).", Science
263 (5148): 787–791, 1994 Feb 11, doi:10.1126/science.263.5148.787, PMID 17770832
- Soderblom, L. A.;
Kieffer, S. W.; Becker, T. L.; Brown, R. H.; Cook, A. F. 2nd;
Hansen, C. J.; Johnson, T. V.; Kirk, R. L. et al. (1990),
Triton's Geyser-Like Plumes: Discovery and Basic
Characterization., 250 (published 1990 Oct
19), pp. 410–415, doi:10.1126/science.250.4979.410, PMID 17793016
- Kring, D.A., (2007) "Guidebook to the Geology of Barringer
Meteorite Crater, Arizona (a.k.a. Meteor Crater)". Lunar and
Planetary Institute contribution No. 1355
- Smith, B. A.;
Soderblom, L. A.; Banfield, D.; Barnet, C. D.; Basilevsky, A. T.;
Beebe, R. F.; Bollinger, K.; Boyce, J. M. et al. (1989),
"Voyager 2 at Neptune: Imaging Science Results.", Science
246 (4936): 1422–1449, 1989 Dec 15, doi:10.1126/science.246.4936.1422, PMID 17755997
- Smith, B. A.; Soderblom,
L. A.; Beebe, R. F.; Bliss, D.; Boyce, J. M.; Brahic, A.; Briggs,
G. A.; Brown, R. H. et al. (1986), Voyager 2 in the
Uranian System: Imaging Science Results., 233
(published 1986 Jul 4), pp. 43–64, doi:10.1126/science.233.4759.43, PMID 17812889
- Cook, A. F.; Shoemaker,
E. M.; Smith, B. A.; Danielson, G. E.; Johnson, T. V.; Synnott, S.
P. (1981), "Volcanic Origin of the Eruptive Plumes on Io.", Science
211 (4489): 1419–1422, 1981 Mar 27, doi:10.1126/science.211.4489.1419, PMID 17731183
- Smith, B. A.; Soderblom,
L. A.; Beebe, R. F.; Boyce, J. M.; Briggs, G. A.; Carr, M. H.;
Collins, S. A.; Cook, A. F. 2nd et al. (1979), "The
Galilean Satellites and Jupiter: Voyager 2 Imaging Science
Results.", Science 206
(4421): 927–950, 1979 Nov 23, doi:10.1126/science.206.4421.927, PMID 17733910
- Smith, B. A.;
Soderblom, L. A.; Johnson, T. V.; Ingersoll, A. P.; Collins, S. A.;
Shoemaker, E. M.; Hunt, G. E.; Masursky, H. et al. (1979),
The Jupiter System Through the Eyes of Voyager 1.,
204 (published 1979 Jun 1), pp. 951–972, doi:10.1126/science.204.4396.951, PMID 17800430
- Shoemaker, E. M.;
Hait, M. H.; Swann, G. A.; Schleicher, D. L.; Dahlem, D. H.;
Schaber, G. G.; Sutton, R. L. (1970), Lunar Regolith at
Tranquillity Base., 167 (published 1970 Jan
30), pp. 452–455, doi:10.1126/science.167.3918.452, PMID 17781449
- Shoemaker, E. M.; Batson,
R. M.; Holt, H. E.; Morris, E. C.; Rennilson, J. J.; Whitaker, E.
A. (1967), "Surveyor V: Television Pictures.", Science
158 (3801): 642–652, 1967 Nov 3, doi:10.1126/science.158.3801.642, PMID 17732959
- Gault, D. E.; Adams, J. B.;
Collins, R. J.; Green, J.; Kuiper, G. P.; Mazursky, H.; O'Keefe, J.
A.; Phinney, R. A. et al. (1967), "Surveyor V: Discussion
of Chemical Analysis.", Science 158
(3801): 641–642, 1967 Nov 3, doi:10.1126/science.158.3801.641, PMID 17732958
- Chao, E. C. T.; Shoemaker, E.
M.; Madsen, B. M. (1960), "First Natural Occurrence of Coesite.",
Science 132
(3421): 220–222, 1960 Jul 22, doi:10.1126/science.132.3421.220, PMID 17748937
References
- ^
http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/About/AstroHistory/astronauts.html
- ^
SPACE.com — Fly Me to the
Moon ... Forever
- ^
NASA.gov - Eugene Shoemaker
Ashes Carried on Lunar Prospector
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