Eugene Merle Shoemaker

Eugene Merle Shoemaker (April 28, 1928 – July 18, 1997) was an American geologist. He co-discovered Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 with his wife Carolyn S. Shoemaker and David H. Levy. This comet hit Jupiter in July 1994: the impact was televised around the world. Shoemaker also studied terrestrial craters, such as Barringer Meteor Crater in Arizona, and along with Edward Chao provided the first conclusive evidence of its origin as an impact crater. He was also the first director of the United States Geological Survey's Astrogeology Research Program.

He was killed in a car accident while visiting an impact crater site in Australia. After his death, some of his ashes were carried to the Moon with the Lunar Prospector mission.

Early life and formal education

Shoemaker was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Muriel May (née Scott), a teacher; and George Estel Shoemaker, who worked in farming, business, teaching, and motion pictures. His parents were natives of Nebraska. During Gene's childhood they moved between Los Angeles, New York City, Buffalo, New York and Wyoming, as George worked on a variety of jobs. George hated living in big cities, and was quite satisfied to take a job as director of education for a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp in Wyoming. His wife soon found life in a remote cabin quite unsatisfactory. They compromised, when Muriel got a teaching job in Buffalo. She could teach in the Buffalo School of Practice of the State Teachers College at Buffalo during the school year while keeping Gene with her, then both would return to Wyoming during the summers. Gene's passion for studying rocks was ignited by the science education courses offered by the Buffalo Museum of Education.Template:Efn He enrolled in the School of Practice in the fourth grade, and began collecting samples of minerals. Within a year, he was also taking high-school-level evening courses. The family moved back to Los Angeles in 1942, where Gene enrolled in Fairfax High School at the age of thirteen. He completed high school in three years. During that time he also played violin in the school orchestra, excelled in gymnastics, and got a summer job as an apprentice lapidary.

Shoemaker enrolled in the Caltech in 1944, at the age of sixteen.Template:Efn His classmates were older, more mature and on a fast track to graduate before serving in World War II. Shoemaker thrived in the fast pace and earned his bachelor's degree in 1948, at age nineteen. He immediately undertook the study of Precambrian metamorphic rocks in northern New Mexico, earning his M.Sc. degree from Caltech in 1949.

Family

File:Gene and Carolyn Shoemaker.jpg

Gene and Carolyn Shoemaker, 1994

While Shoemaker was attending Caltech, his roommate was Richard Spellman, a young man from Chico, California. Although Shoemaker had already enrolled in a doctoral program at Princeton University, he returned to California to serve as best man at Richard's wedding in 1950. He met Richard's sister, Carolyn, for the first time on that occasion. Carolyn was born in Gallup, New Mexico, in 1929, but the Spellman family moved to Chico soon afterward. Carolyn earned degrees from Chico State College in history and political science. She never exhibited an interest in scientific subjects while growing up, and took one geology course in college, which she found boring. Nevertheless, the couple kept in touch while Shoemaker spent the next year in Princeton, followed by a two-week vacation touring the Colorado Plateau. She reportedly told others that listening to Shoemaker explain geology turned a boring subject into an exciting and interesting pursuit of knowledge. The couple married on August 17, 1951.

The Shoemakers had three children: two daughters and one son. Carolyn saw her work as keeping house and raising the children especially after they settled in Flagstaff in the 1960s. She had tried teaching school before they married, but found the work unsatisfying. She also traveled sometimes with Gene, but stopped after she noticed that her absence affected the children. After their children were grown, Carolyn wanted something meaningful to combat the "empty nest" feeling. By then, Gene suggested that she take up astronomy and join his team looking for asteroids approaching Earth. A student working at Lowell Observatory commenced teaching her astronomy. She showed great potential and launched her career as a planetary astronomer at age 51. She continued the work until her death in 2021.

Scientific contributions

File:Gene shoemaker with rocket belt.jpg

Eugene Shoemaker wearing a Bell Rocket Belt while training astronauts.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) hired Shoemaker in 1950, and he maintained an association with the organisation for the rest of his career. His first assignment was to search for uranium deposits in Utah and Colorado. His next mission was to study volcanic processes, since other investigators had already noticed that uranium deposits were often located in the vents of ancient volcanoes. This study led him to explore the Hopi Buttes of Northern Arizona, which happened to be near Meteor Crater.

Daniel Barringer, an entrepreneur and mining engineer who had discovered Meteor Crater in 1891, had postulated that it had been caused by the impact of a meteor. About the same time, G. K. Gilbert, the chief geologist of the USGS, examined the crater and announced that it had been created by an explosive venting of volcanic steam. A majority of scientists accepted Gilbert's explanation of the cause of the crater, and it remained the conventional wisdom until Shoemaker's investigations half a century later.

For his PhD degree at Princeton (1960), under the guidance of Harry Hammond Hess, Shoemaker studied the impact dynamics of Barringer Meteor Crater. Shoemaker noted Meteor Crater had the same form and structure as two explosion craters created from atomic bomb tests at the Nevada Test Site, notably Jangle U in 1951 and Teapot Ess in 1955. In 1960, Edward C. T. Chao and Shoemaker identified shocked quartz (coesite) at Meteor Crater, proving the crater was formed from an impact generating extremely high temperatures and pressures. They followed this discovery with the identification of coesite within suevite at Nördlinger Ries, proving its impact origin.Template:Rp

Astrogeology and Apollo

File:Shoemaker training astronauts at Brooks Camp, Katmai National Park.png

Shoemaker training astronauts at Brooks Camp, Katmai National Park

In 1960, Shoemaker directed a team at the USGS center in Menlo Park, California, to generate the first geological map of the Moon using photographs taken by Francis G. Pease. Shoemaker also helped pioneer the field of astrogeology by founding the Astrogeology Research Program. He was prominently involved in the Lunar Ranger missions to the Moon, joining the television imaging team of Harold Urey and Gerard Kuiper, which turned into a preparatory mission for the future crewed landing. Shoemaker was then chosen to be the principal investigator for the Surveyor program's television experiment, and then the lunar geology principal investigator for Apollo 11, Apollo 12, and Apollo 13.Template:Rp

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. He was a CBS News television commentator on the early Apollo missions, especially the Apollo 8 and Apollo 11 missions, appearing with Walter Cronkite during live coverage of those flights.

According to David H. Levy, just before the crewed Moon landings,

"With humanity about to set forth upon this new world, geologists and astronomers were divided as to whether the lunar surface was a result of volcanic forces from beneath, or cosmic forces from above. In 1949, Ralph Baldwin had articulated that the Moon's craters were mostly of impact origin and Gene Shoemaker revived the idea again around 1960. He saw craters on the Moon as logical impact sites that were formed not gradually, in eons, but explosively, in seconds."Template:Rp

He was awarded the John Price Wetherill Medal from the Franklin Institute in 1965. 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. Shoemaker advanced 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

In 1993, he co-discovered Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 using the 18-inch Schmidt camera at Palomar Observatory. This comet was unique in that it provided the first opportunity to observe the planetary impact of a comet. Shoemaker–Levy 9 collided with Jupiter in July 1994. The resulting impact caused a massive "scar" on the face of Jupiter.

Death

Shoemaker spent much of his later years searching for and finding several previously unnoticed or undiscovered impact craters around the world. During one such expedition, on July 18, 1997, he died in a head-on car collision on the remote Tanami Track, a few hundred kilometers northwest of Alice Springs, Australia. Shoemaker's wife Carolyn was severely injured in the crash.

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. Celestis, Inc. provided the service—at NASA's request—commercially, making Shoemaker's ashes the first private delivery to the lunar surface. Celestis is the memorial spaceflight company that flew the ashes of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry into space, as well as Star Trek actor James Doohan ("Scotty"), Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper and hundreds of other people from around the world. Shoemaker is the only person whose remains have been placed on any celestial body outside Earth. The brass foil wrapping of Shoemaker's memorial capsule is inscribed with images of Comet Hale–Bopp ("the last comet that the Shoemakers observed together"), the Barringer Meteor Crater, and a quotation from Shakespeare's 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.

The fatal crash happened when Hale-Bopp was still visible to the naked eye, having passed perihelion and having moved into the southern celestial hemisphere.

Awards and tributes

Shoemaker received a large number of awards for his professional work. According to the obituary published by the USGS Astrogeology Science Center, these included:

• Doctorate of Science, Arizona State College, Flagstaff, 1965.
• John Price Wetherill Medal of the Franklin Institute, co-recipient with E.C.T. Chao, 1965.
• Arthur S. Flemming Award, 1966.
• Doctorate of Science, Temple University, 1967.
• NASA Medal for Scientific Achievement, 1967.
• U.S. Department of the Interior Honor Award for Meritorious Service, 1973.
• Member, U.S. National Academy of Sciences, 1980.
• U.S. Department of the Interior Distinguished Service Award, 1980.
• Arthur L. Day Medal of the Geological Society of America, 1982.
• G.K. Gilbert Award of the Geological Society of America, 1983.
• Rieser Kulturpreis, co-recipient with E.C.T. Chao and Richard Dehm, 1983.
• Honorary Doctorate of Science, University of Arizona, 1984.
• Barringer Award of the Meteoritical Society, 1984.
• Kuiper Prize of the American Astronomical Society, Division for Planetary Sciences, 1984.
• Leonard Medal of the Meteoritical Society, 1985.
• Distinguished Alumni Award of the California Institute of Technology, 1986.
• Rittenhouse Medal of the Rittenhouse Astronomical Society, co-recipient with C.S. Shoemaker, 1988.
• National Medal of Science, 1992.
• Whipple Award, American Geophysical Union, 1993.
• Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1993.
• AIAA Space Science Award, 1996.
• NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal, 1996.
• William Bowie Medal, American Geophysical Union, 1996.
• Special Award, American Association of Petroleum Geologists, 1997.
• Shoemaker Award, Texas Section of the American Institute of Professional Geologists, awarded posthumously, 1997.

On July 24, 1997, a memorial for Shoemaker and Jurgen Rahe was presented in the U.S. House of Representatives by California representative George E. Brown Jr. The memorial was published in the Congressional Record. The memorial credited Shoemaker with being either the discoverer or co-discoverer of 820 asteroids and comets during his career.Template:Efn

A ring-like topographic feature in Western Australia, an astrobleme previously named the "Teague ring" was renamed "Shoemaker Crater" in honor of Shoemaker. The Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous space probe was renamed "NEAR Shoemaker" in his honor. It arrived at asteroid 433 Eros in February 2000, and landed on the asteroid after a year of orbital study. He was previously honored with the asteroid 2074 Shoemaker, discovered and named by his colleague, Eleanor F. Helin.

In their 2020 album, Human. :II: Nature., Finnish metal band Nightwish paid tribute to Shoemaker in the song "Shoemaker". Composer Tuomas Holopainen says he was inspired by his biography, which moved the entire band to tears.

List of discovered minor planets

Shoemaker is credited by the Minor Planet Center with the co-discovery of 183 minor planets between 1977 and 1994.

List of minor planets discovered by Eugene Shoemaker

Name Discovery Date Listing 2430 Bruce Helin 8 November 1977 Template:LoMP[A] 3025 Higson 20 August 1982 Template:LoMP[B] 3199 Nefertiti 13 September 1982 Template:LoMP[B] 3225 Hoag 20 August 1982 Template:LoMP[B] 3317 Paris 26 May 1984 Template:LoMP[B] 3484 Neugebauer 10 July 1978 Template:LoMP[A] 3554 Amun 4 March 1986 Template:LoMP[B] 3671 Dionysus 27 May 1984 Template:LoMP[B] 3700 Geowilliams 23 October 1984 Template:LoMP[B] 3880 Kaiserman 21 November 1984 Template:LoMP[B] 3927 Feliciaplatt 5 May 1981 Template:LoMP[B] 4151 Alanhale 24 April 1985 Template:LoMP[B] 4197 Morpheus 11 October 1982 Template:LoMP[A] 4379 Snelling 13 August 1988 Template:LoMP[B] 4450 Pan 25 September 1987 Template:LoMP[B] 4525 Johnbauer 15 May 1982 Template:LoMP[A][C] 4899 Candace 9 May 1988 Template:LoMP[B] 4946 Askalaphus 21 January 1988 Template:LoMP[B] 5023 Agapenor 11 October 1985 Template:LoMP[B] 5029 Ireland 24 January 1988 Template:LoMP[B] 5052 Nancyruth 23 October 1984 Template:LoMP[B] 5167 Joeharms 11 April 1985 Template:LoMP[B] 5168 Jenner 6 March 1986 Template:LoMP[B] 5175 Ables 4 November 1988 Template:LoMP[B] 5211 Stevenson 8 July 1989 Template:LoMP[B] 5259 Epeigeus 30 January 1989 Template:LoMP[B] 5264 Telephus 17 May 1991 Template:LoMP[B] 5284 Orsilocus 1 February 1989 Template:LoMP[B] 5285 Krethon 9 March 1989 Template:LoMP[B] 5430 Luu 12 May 1988 Template:LoMP[B] 5436 Eumelos 20 February 1990 Template:LoMP[B] 5511 Cloanthus 8 October 1988 Template:LoMP[B] 5551 Glikson 24 January 1982 Template:LoMP[B] 5579 Uhlherr 11 May 1988 Template:LoMP[B] 5632 Ingelehmann 15 April 1993 Template:LoMP[B] 5637 Gyas 10 September 1988 Template:LoMP[B] 5638 Deikoon 10 October 1988 Template:LoMP[B] 5652 Amphimachus 24 April 1992 Template:LoMP[B] 5670 Rosstaylor 7 November 1985 Template:LoMP[B] 5720 Halweaver 29 March 1984 Template:LoMP[B] 5725 Nördlingen 23 January 1988 Template:LoMP[B] 5726 Rubin 24 January 1988 Template:LoMP[B] 5731 Zeus 4 November 1988 Template:LoMP[B] 5765 Izett 4 April 1986 Template:LoMP[B] 5863 Tara 7 September 1983 Template:LoMP[B] 5899 Jedicke 9 January 1986 Template:LoMP[B] 5947 Bonnie 21 March 1985 Template:LoMP[B] 5953 Shelton 25 April 1987 Template:LoMP[B] 5957 Irina 11 May 1988 Template:LoMP[B] 5999 Plescia 23 April 1987 Template:LoMP[B] 6063 Jason 27 May 1984 Template:LoMP[B] 6084 Bascom 12 February 1985 Template:LoMP[B] 6087 Lupo 19 March 1988 Template:LoMP[B] 6179 Brett 3 March 1986 Template:LoMP[B] 6239 Minos 31 August 1989 Template:LoMP[B] 6372 Walker 13 May 1985 Template:LoMP[B] 6376 Schamp 29 May 1987 Template:LoMP[B] 6398 Timhunter 10 February 1991 Template:LoMP[B][D] 6401 Roentgen 15 April 1991 Template:LoMP[B][D] 6436 Coco 13 May 1985 Template:LoMP[B] 6478 Gault 12 May 1988 Template:LoMP[B] 6485 Wendeesther 25 October 1990 Template:LoMP[B][D] 6510 Tarry 23 February 1987 Template:LoMP[B] 6543 Senna 11 October 1985 Template:LoMP[B] 6585 O'Keefe 26 September 1984 Template:LoMP[B] 6635 Zuber 26 September 1987 Template:LoMP[B] 6740 Goff 14 April 1993 Template:LoMP[B] 6901 Roybishop 2 August 1989 Template:LoMP[B] 6909 Levison 19 January 1991 Template:LoMP[B] 7051 Sean 13 May 1985 Template:LoMP[B] 7086 Bopp 5 October 1991 Template:LoMP[B] 7088 Ishtar 1 January 1992 Template:LoMP[B] 7092 Cadmus 4 June 1992 Template:LoMP[B] 7112 Ghislaine 3 April 1986 Template:LoMP[B] 7119 Hiera 11 January 1989 Template:LoMP[B] 7167 Laupheim 12 October 1985 Template:LoMP[B] 7173 Sepkoski 15 August 1988 Template:LoMP[B] 7480 Norwan 1 August 1994 Template:LoMP[B] 7549 Woodard 9 October 1980 Template:LoMP[B] 7560 Spudis 10 January 1986 Template:LoMP[B] 7749 Jackschmitt 12 May 1988 Template:LoMP[B] 7750 McEwen 18 August 1988 Template:LoMP[B] 7756 Scientia 27 March 1990 Template:LoMP[B] 7778 Markrobinson 17 April 1993 Template:LoMP[B] 7958 Leakey 5 June 1994 Template:LoMP[B] 8034 Akka 3 June 1992 Template:LoMP[B] 8149 Ruff 11 May 1985 Template:LoMP[B] 8326 Paulkling 6 May 1981 Template:LoMP[B] 8327 Weihenmayer 6 May 1981 Template:LoMP[B] 8347 Lallaward 21 April 1987 Template:LoMP[B] 8356 Wadhwa 3 September 1989 Template:LoMP[B] 8373 Stephengould 1 January 1992 Template:LoMP[B] 8709 Kadlu 14 May 1994 Template:LoMP[B] 8804 Eliason 5 May 1981 Template:LoMP[B] Name Discovery Date Listing 8810 Johnmcfarland 15 May 1982 Template:LoMP[A] 8817 Roytraver 13 May 1985 Template:LoMP[B] 9016 Henrymoore 10 January 1986 Template:LoMP[B] 9022 Drake 14 August 1988 Template:LoMP[B] 9023 Mnesthus 10 September 1988 Template:LoMP[B] 9082 Leonardmartin 4 November 1994 Template:LoMP[B] 9165 Raup 27 September 1987 Template:LoMP[B] 9172 Abhramu 29 July 1989 Template:LoMP[B] 9277 Togashi 9 October 1980 Template:LoMP[B] 9299 Vinceteri 13 May 1985 Template:LoMP[B] 9564 Jeffwynn 26 September 1987 Template:LoMP[B] 9744 Nielsen 9 May 1988 Template:LoMP[B] 9768 Stephenmaran 5 April 1992 Template:LoMP[B] 10041 Parkinson 24 April 1985 Template:LoMP[B] 10044 Squyres 15 September 1985 Template:LoMP[B] 10060 Amymilne 12 April 1988 Template:LoMP[B] 10108 Tomlinson 26 April 1992 Template:LoMP[B] 10295 Hippolyta 12 April 1988 Template:LoMP[B] 10487 Danpeterson 14 April 1985 Template:LoMP[B] 10563 Izhdubar 19 November 1993 Template:LoMP[B] 10683 Carter 10 June 1980 Template:LoMP[B] 10739 Lowman 12 May 1988 Template:LoMP[B] Template:Mp 10 July 1978 Template:LoMP[A] 11006 Gilson 9 October 1980 Template:LoMP[B] 11066 Sigurd 9 February 1992 Template:LoMP[B] 11277 Ballard 8 October 1988 Template:LoMP[B] 11311 Peleus 10 December 1993 Template:LoMP[B] 11836 Eileen 5 February 1986 Template:LoMP[B] 12227 Penney 11 October 1985 Template:LoMP[B] 12237 Coughlin 23 April 1987 Template:LoMP[B] 12242 Koon 18 August 1988 Template:LoMP[B] 12675 Chabot 9 October 1980 Template:LoMP[B] 12714 Alkimos 15 April 1991 Template:LoMP[B] 12753 Povenmire 18 April 1993 Template:LoMP[B] Template:Mp 10 July 1978 Template:LoMP[A] 13062 Podarkes 19 April 1991 Template:LoMP[B] 13937 Roberthargraves 2 August 1989 Template:LoMP[B] 14827 Hypnos 5 May 1986 Template:LoMP[B] 14835 Holdridge 26 November 1987 Template:LoMP[B] 15228 Ronmiller 23 February 1987 Template:LoMP[B] 15304 Wikberg 21 October 1992 Template:LoMP[B] Template:Mp 15 May 1982 Template:LoMP[A] 16452 Goldfinger 28 September 1989 Template:LoMP[B] 16641 Esteban 16 August 1993 Template:LoMP[B] Template:Mp 10 July 1978 Template:LoMP[A] 17399 Andysanto 6 September 1983 Template:LoMP[B] 17408 McAdams 19 October 1987 Template:LoMP[B] 19140 Jansmit 2 September 1989 Template:LoMP[B] 19173 Virginiaterése 15 April 1991 Template:LoMP[B] 19243 Bunting 10 February 1994 Template:LoMP[B] Template:Mp 10 July 1978 Template:LoMP[A] 20007 Marybrown 7 June 1991 Template:LoMP[B] 20037 Duke 20 October 1992 Template:LoMP[B] 21062 Iasky 13 May 1991 Template:LoMP[B] 21148 Billramsey 16 April 1993 Template:LoMP[B] 21149 Kenmitchell 19 April 1993 Template:LoMP[B] 22294 Simmons 28 September 1989 Template:LoMP[B] 23452 Drew 18 August 1988 Template:LoMP[B] 24626 Astrowizard 9 October 1980 Template:LoMP[B] 24643 MacCready 28 September 1984 Template:LoMP[B] 24654 Fossett 29 May 1987 Template:LoMP[B] 24761 Ahau 28 January 1993 Template:LoMP[B] 26879 Haines 9 July 1994 Template:LoMP[B] 27706 Strogen 11 October 1985 Template:LoMP[B] 27711 Kirschvink 4 November 1988 Template:LoMP[B] 29133 Vargas 29 May 1987 Template:LoMP[B] 29137 Alanboss 18 October 1987 Template:LoMP[B] 29146 McHone 17 March 1988 Template:LoMP[B] 30767 Chriskraft 6 November 1983 Template:LoMP[B] 30779 Sankt-Stephan 17 October 1987 Template:LoMP[B] 30785 Greeley 13 August 1988 Template:LoMP[B] 30786 Karkoschka 18 August 1988 Template:LoMP[B] 30844 Hukeller 17 May 1991 Template:LoMP[B] 32776 Nriag 29 May 1987 Template:LoMP[B] 35056 Cullers 28 September 1984 Template:LoMP[B] 37609 LaVelle 25 November 1992 Template:LoMP[B] 37655 Illapa 1 August 1994 Template:LoMP[B] 43763 Russert 30 May 1987 Template:LoMP[B] 48416 Carmelita 24 January 1988 Template:LoMP[B] Template:Mp 10 July 1978 Template:LoMP[A] Template:Mp 10 July 1978 Template:LoMP[A] 52266 Van Flandern 10 January 1986 Template:LoMP[B] 65672 Merrick 16 August 1988 Template:LoMP[B] 73670 Kurthopf 19 August 1982 Template:LoMP[B] 79117 Brydonejack 16 August 1988 Template:LoMP[B] Template:Mp 10 July 1978 Template:LoMP[A] Template:Mp 10 July 1978 Template:LoMP[A] Template:Mp 7 November 1977 Template:LoMP[A] Template:Mp 26 September 1987 Template:LoMP[B] Co-discovery made with: A E. F. Helin B C. S. Shoemaker C P. D. Wilder D D. H. Levy

External links

• Asteroids: Deadly Impact National Geographic videos
• USGS page about Shoemaker
• NASA page about Shoemaker Template:Webarchive