[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 111 (Thursday, July 31, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8617-S8618]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          DR. EUGENE SHOEMAKER

 Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I would like to honor the passing 
of one of the world's most renowned scientists. Eugene Shoemaker and 
his wife Carolyn, both residents of Flagstaff, AZ, were involved in a 
tragic car accident in Central Australia on July 18, 1997. Gene was 
fatally injured; Carolyn survived the accident sustaining broken ribs, 
a broken wrist and a dislocated shoulder. They were in the field 
pursuing their lifelong passion of geologic studies to help understand 
impact craters.
  ``Gene'' is credited with having almost single-handedly created 
planetary science as a discipline distinct from astronomy. He brought 
together and applied geologic principles to the mapping of planets, 
which resulted in more than three decades of discoveries about the 
planets and asteroids of our Solar System. He was the recipient of the 
1992 National Medal of Science, the most prestigious scientific honor 
bestowed by the President of the United States, then George Bush.

[[Page S8618]]

  As a resident of Flagstaff, AZ, Gene invented the Branch of 
Astrogeology within the U.S. Geological Survey and established the 
Field Center in Flagstaff in 1965. After retiring from the USGS in 
1993, he joined Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff. The culmination of his 
work came in 1993 when Gene was recognized worldwide 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 
fragments collided with the planet in July 1994.
  Gene and his wife, Carolyn, a planetary astronomer, were a close 
devout couple. Their work together was recently captured in a 1997 
National Geographic documentary ``Asteroids: Deadly Impact.'' As a 
unique team, they initiated the Palomar Planet-crossing Asteroid Survey 
in 1973, and the Palomar Asteroid and Comet Survey in 1983. They were 
the leading discovers of comets in this century.
  Dr. Edward Bowell, an astronomer at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, 
AZ, said: ``Gene practically single-handedly `invented' our knowledge 
of the impacts of comets and asteroids on Earth and in the solar system 
in general. He was a renaissance man, having one of the broadest grasps 
of any scientist I know, working as a geologist, training to be an 
astronaut, dating the surfaces of the Moon and other satellites, and 
helping, with his wife Carolyn, discover more interesting comets and 
asteroids than any other person. I am stunned to think of the store of 
unique knowledge that has perished with him. As a scientific colleague 
and friend, his guidance was unerring and will be irreplaceable.''
  As Senator from the State of Arizona and chairman of the Senate 
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, I would like to 
express my sorrow on the loss of this great man and scientist. His 
contributions to the field of science are duly noted by myself and 
others in the science community.

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