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NASA Statement on the Passing of Gene Shoemaker

Douglas Isbell                          July 19, 1997
Headquarters, Washington, DC
(Phone: 202/358-1753)

RELEASE:  97-156

NASA STATEMENT ON THE PASSING OF GENE SHOEMAKER

     Planetary scientist Dr. Eugene ("Gene") Shoemaker, 69, was 
killed in a two-car accident near Alice Springs, Australia, on the 
afternoon of July 18.  His wife Carolyn Shoemaker suffered broken 
bones, and reportedly is hospitalized in stable condition. 

     A geologist by training, Shoemaker is best known for 
discovering, with his wife Carolyn and colleague David Levy, a 
comet near Jupiter.  Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 was broken up by tidal 
forces from Jupiter, and its fragments collided with the planet in 
July 1994. Together, the Shoemakers were the leading discoverers 
of comets this century.

     "Gene was one of the most renowned planetary scientists in 
the world, and a valued member of the NASA family since the 
earliest days of lunar exploration," said NASA Administrator 
Daniel S. Goldin. "His work on the history of meteor impacts and 
the role that they play in the evolution of the Solar System is a 
fundamental milestone in the history of space science. 

     "Gene was an extremely articulate man who could explain the 
wonders of the planets in simple language that anyone could 
understand and get excited about," Goldin added.  "Although he 
never realized his dream of doing field geology on the surface of 
the Moon, all future exploration of that rocky world owes a debt 
to his pioneering spirit.  Our warmest thoughts are with his dear 
wife Carolyn as she recovers from her injuries."

     Shoemaker's signature work was his research on the nature and 
origin of the Barringer Meteor Crater near Winslow, AZ, which 
helped provide a foundation for cratering research on the Moon and 
planets. This work led to the establishment of a lunar chronology, 
allowing the dating of geological features of its surface.

     Shoemaker took part in the Ranger lunar robotic missions, was 
principal investigator for the television experiment on the 
Surveyor lunar landers (1963-1968), and led the geology field 
investigations team for the first Apollo lunar landings (1965-
1970). In 1961, he organized the Branch of Astrogeology of the 
U.S. Geological Survey in Flagstaff, AZ, and acted as its director 
from 1961 to 1966. On his retirement from the U.S.G.S. in 1993, 
Shoemaker became a staff member at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff. 

     An early supporter of the idea that an asteroid or comet 
impact had doomed much of Earth's life (including the dinosaurs) 
65 million years ago, Shoemaker chaired key NASA working groups on 
how best to survey such near-Earth objects in 1981 and 1994.  Most 
recently, he was active in the Clementine mission that imaged the 
Moon, and was science team leader on the planned Clementine 2 mission. 

     Shoemaker won numerous awards during his career, and in 1980 
became a member of the National Academy of Sciences.

                        -end-