Eugene Shoemaker at a stereoscopic microscope used for asteroid discovery

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. USGS photo of Eugene Shoemaker. ... USGS photo of Eugene Shoemaker. ... Image File history File links Gene_shoemaker_with_rocket_belt. ... Image File history File links Gene_shoemaker_with_rocket_belt. ... A jet pack is a technology that is not yet practical but often appears in fiction. ... April 28 is the 118th day of the year (119th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 247 days remaining. ... Year 1928 (MCMXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar). ... July 18 is the 199th day (200th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 166 days remaining. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Planetary science, also known as planetology or planetary astronomy, is the science of planets, or planetary systems, and the solar system. ...

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. Nickname: City of Angels Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates: State California County Los Angeles County Incorporated April 4, 1850 Government  - Type Mayor-Council  - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D)  - City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo  - Governing body City Council Area  - City  498. ... Hubble Space Telescope image of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, taken on May 17, 1994. ... Carolyn Jean Spellmann Shoemaker (born 1929) is a co-discoverer of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 and wife to Eugene Shoemaker. ... David H. Levy (born 1948) is a Canadian astronomer and science writer most famous for his co-discovery of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, which collided with the planet Jupiter in 1994. ...

Scientific contributions

For his Ph.D. at Princeton, Dr. Shoemaker conclusively showed that Barringer Meteor Crater, located near Winslow, Arizona, arose from a meteor impact. 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. Princeton University is a coeducational private university located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States of America. ... The Barringer Crater, also known as the Meteor Crater, is a famous impact crater created by a meteorite, located about 55 kilometers east of Flagstaff in the northern Arizona desert (USA). ... Artists impression of a major impact event. ... 253 Mathilde, a C-type asteroid. ... Tycho crater on Earths moon. ... Apparent magnitude: up to -12. ...

Shoemaker gained this insight after inspecting craters that remained after underground atomic bomb tests at the Nevada Test Site at Yucca Flats. He found a ring of ejected material; in both cases it included shocked quartz (coesite), a form of quartz that has a microscopically unique structure caused by intense pressure. The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 km (11 mi) above the epicenter. ... The Nevada Test Site is a United States Department of Energy reservation located in Nye County, Nevada, about 65 miles (105 km) northwest of the City of Las Vegas, near . ... Shocked quartz is a form of quartz that has a microscopic structure that is different from normal quartz. ... Coesite is a form of silicon dioxide that is formed when very high pressure (2–3 gigapascals) and moderately high temperature (700 °C) are applied to quartz. ... Quartz is one of the most common minerals in the Earths continental crust. ...

Dr. Shoemaker helped pioneer the field of astrogeology by founding the Astrogeology Research Program of the USGS in 1961. 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. Dr. Shoemaker was also involved in the training of the American astronauts. He was set to be the first scientist to walk on the Moon but was disqualified due to being diagnosed with Addison's disease, a disorder of the adrenal gland. Astrogeologist and NASA astronaut Harrison Jack Schmitt collecting lunar samples during the Apollo 17 mission Astrogeology is a planetary science discipline concerned with the geology of the celestial bodies such as the planets and their moons, asteroids, comets, and meteorites. ... The USGS Shoemaker Center for Astrogeology, located on the campus of the Flagstaff Science Center, is the home of the Astrogeology Research Program Displays in the entryway of the USGS Shoemaker Center for Astrogeology, featuring Grover, a working model of the lunar rovers used to train astronauts in Flagstaff, Arizona. ... The United States Geological Survey (USGS) is a scientific agency of the United States government. ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... The Ranger program was a series of unmanned space missions by the United States in the 1960s whose objective was to obtain the first close-up images of the surface of the Moon. ... For other uses, see Astronaut (disambiguation). ... Addisons disease (also known as chronic adrenal insufficiency, or hypocortisolism) is a rare endocrine disorder which results in the body not producing sufficient amounts of certain adrenal hormones. ... In mammals, the adrenal gland (also known as suprarenal glands) are the triangle-shaped endocrine glands that sit atop the kidneys; their name indicates that position (ad, near or at + renes, kidneys). They are chiefly responsible for regulating the stress response through the synthesis of corticosteroids and catecholamines, including cortisol...

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. California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (commonly known as Caltech) is a private, coeducational university located in Pasadena, California, in the United States. ... For the Stargate SG-1 episode, see 1969 (Stargate SG-1). ... 253 Mathilde, a C-type asteroid. ... The Apollo asteroids are a group of near-Earth asteroids named after 1862 Apollo, the first asteroid of this group to be discovered. ...

Dr. Shoemaker received a National Medal of Science in 1992. In 1993, he co-discovered Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9. 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. National Medal of Science The National Medal of Science, also called the Presidential Medal of Science, is an honor given by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral and social... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... Hubble Space Telescope image of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, taken on May 17, 1994. ...

Dr. Shoemaker died in a car accident on the Tanami Road northwest of Alice Springs, Australia in July of 1997. Some of his ashes were carried to the Moon by the Lunar Prospector space probe. To date, he is the only person to have been buried on the moon. The Tanami Track, also known more recently as the Tanami Road and the McGuire Track, is a road following a cattle droving route from the MacDonnell Ranges area of central Australia just north of Alice Springs to Halls Creek in the Kimberley. ... Alice Springs on a large scale map Alice Springs is a large town in the Northern Territory of Australia located at 23°42′ S 133°52′ E. Its population of 28,178 (2001 Census) makes it the second-largest settlement in the Territory (the only other towns of... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Taurus Missile launch (Time Exposure) Space burial is a burial procedure in which a small sample of the cremated ashes of the deceased are placed in a capsule the size of a tube of lipstick and are launched into space using a rocket. ... NASAs Lunar Prospector The Lunar Prospector mission was the third selected by NASA for full development and construction as part of the Discovery Program. ...

He made pie

External links and references

• Deadly Impact: Deadly Impact National Geographic videos
• USGS page about Gene Shoemaker
• NASA page about Gene Shoemaker
• Genealogy info