Tribute to Eugene Shoemaker

Eugene Shoemaker (1928-1997) was a pioneer in space exploration. He was a geologist, but had a love for space. When the NASA space program was planning on sending men to the moon, he wanted to be an astronaut and study the geology of the moon. A medical condition prevented him from doing so, but he was chosen to help select and train the people that would fly to the moon.

He continued to work with NASA, helping to develop the NEAR spacecraft and established the lunar geological time scale that allowed scientists to date features on the moon’s surface.

He also studied the impact craters on earth, but his most famous contribution to astronomy was co-discovering comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, the comet that crashed into Jupiter in 1994, with his wife Carolyn and friend David Levy.

Gene Shoemaker was killed in a tragic car crash in the Australian Outback in July 1997 while studying craters in the area. His dream of going to the moon was fulfilled in death when in January 1998 some of his ashes were placed on the NASA Lunar Prospector spacecraft. On July 31, 1999, the Lunar Prospector spacecraft was ordered to crash onto the lunar surface.

His wife and David Levy continue his work searching for comets and Earth threatening asteroids, but nobody will be able to match the dedication this great man had.

This is a poem written by William Shakespeare for his play Romeo and Juliet that is very fitting for Eugene Shoemaker.

"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."

Related Links

Near Earth Objects Dynamic Site
http://newton.dm.unipi.it/cgi-bin/neodys/neoibo
A site with live tracking information on Near Earth Objects, ie. comets and asteroids which are close to our home planet.

Biography of Eugene Shoemaker
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/robertalink/worldhas.htm
A very nice biography of Eugene Shoemaker by a student.

In Memoriam of Eugene Shoemaker
http://www.wro.org/special/eugene.htm
A very good memorial written just a few days after the death of Eugene Shoemaker.

Near-Earth Asteroids
http://www.house.gov/science/shoemaker_4-10.html
A statement given by Eugene Shoemaker on Near-Earth Asteroids.

Eugene Shoemaker
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/sl9/news81.html
A tribute to Gene Shoemaker written by Brian Marsden for the Jet Propulsion Lab.

Eugene M. Shoemaker
http://wwwflag.wr.usgs.gov/USGSFlag/Space/Shoemaker/GeneObit.html
A website with lots of information on Eugene Shoemaker

Near Earth Objects
http://www.hypography.com/hypography.cfm/79.html
A Hypography written by Tormod-Very good.

Jupiter
http://www.rog.nmm.ac.uk/leaflets/solar_system/jupiter.html
Information about the internal structure, apperance, satellites, the magnetic field and the Shoemaker-Levy 9 Comet Impact of the planet Jupiter.

Asteroid and Comet Impact Hazards
http://impact.arc.nasa.gov/index.html
The official website for a NASA project about NEO research, operated by NASA AMES.

The man on the moon
http://www.geekculture.com/blurbs/moon.html
A good website with information on Eugene Shoemaker.

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