WEBVTT - Has Anyone Been Buried on the Moon?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio, Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff. Lauren bobble bam Here. Eugene or Gene Shoemaker

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<v Speaker 1>trained astronauts and founded a new science born on April Night.

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<v Speaker 1>Shoemaker was one of the twentieth centuries great minds. His

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<v Speaker 1>work on impact craters affected everything from NASA's Apollo missions

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<v Speaker 1>to the dinosaur extinction debate. For his contributions to human knowledge,

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<v Speaker 1>he was awarded the National Medal of Science by then

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<v Speaker 1>President George H. W. Bush In, but a different honor

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<v Speaker 1>eluded him. Shoemaker studied the Moon from Afar, but he

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<v Speaker 1>often dreamed of climbing into a space suit and walking

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<v Speaker 1>on its surface. Sadly, he never got the chance. Addison's

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<v Speaker 1>disease crushed his hopes of becoming an astronaut, but in

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<v Speaker 1>some of his ashes were laid to rest near the

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<v Speaker 1>Moon's southern pole. That made him the first and to date,

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<v Speaker 1>the only person to ever receive a lunar burial. It

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<v Speaker 1>was a poignant epilog to the man's rear. Shoemaker was

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<v Speaker 1>a geologist by training, and craters were one of his

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<v Speaker 1>great passions. He helped confirm that the famous Bearinger Crater

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<v Speaker 1>near Flagstaff, Arizona, a crater that's five hundred and seventy

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<v Speaker 1>feet or a hundred and seventy three deep, was made

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<v Speaker 1>by an asteroid impact. He also championed the hypothesis that

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<v Speaker 1>another such impact killed last non avian dinosaurs sixty six

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<v Speaker 1>million years ago, and by mapping some of the craters

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<v Speaker 1>on our Moon, he revolutionized our understanding of its geology.

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<v Speaker 1>In nineteen sixty one, the United States Geological Surveys set

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<v Speaker 1>up an astrogeology research program. Shoemaker, often considered the founding

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<v Speaker 1>father of astrogeology, was chosen to lead it. NASA would

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<v Speaker 1>enlist his services to Shoemaker joined future Apollo astronauts on

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<v Speaker 1>field trips to Berenger Crater and other sites, where he

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<v Speaker 1>trained them to collect rock samples, perhaps seemingly simple skill set,

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<v Speaker 1>but one that would let them eventually bring home the

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<v Speaker 1>first Moon rocks humans ever saw, and thus making all

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<v Speaker 1>kinds of research possible. His work was instrumental to the

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<v Speaker 1>discovery of the Shoemaker Leve nine commet, which struck Jupiter

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<v Speaker 1>in One of the commets co discoverers was Eugene's wife

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<v Speaker 1>and fellow scientist, Caroline Shoemaker. Cumulatively, Jeane and Caroline discovered

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<v Speaker 1>one thousand, one hundred and twenty five asteroids and thirty

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<v Speaker 1>two commets, But on July eighth, the couple was involved

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<v Speaker 1>in a tragic car accident. Though Caroline survived, Jean was killed.

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<v Speaker 1>The very next day, Shoemaker's former student, Caroline Porko, devised

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<v Speaker 1>a fitting tribute. A planetary scientist at the University of Arizona,

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<v Speaker 1>Porco learned that her mentor was going to be cremated,

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<v Speaker 1>so she spearheaded an effort to put an ounce that's

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<v Speaker 1>twenty eight grams of his ashes board NASA's Lunar Prospector spacecraft.

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<v Speaker 1>The cost of sending things into space can run into

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<v Speaker 1>the hundreds of thousands of dollars per pound in terms

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<v Speaker 1>of time and energy and research, and so although physically small,

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<v Speaker 1>that single ounce is a huge tribute. Polycarbonate urn capsule

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<v Speaker 1>was built by Celestis, the same company that sent ashes

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<v Speaker 1>of Star Trek creator Geane Roddenberry into orbit. Wrapped around

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<v Speaker 1>Shoemaker's appsle was a brass foil ribbon bearing a picture

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<v Speaker 1>of the baron Drew Crater and a thematic quote from

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<v Speaker 1>Romeo and Juliet, and when he shall die, take him

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<v Speaker 1>and cut him out in little stars, and he will

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<v Speaker 1>make the face of Heaven so fine that all the

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<v Speaker 1>world will be in love with night, and pay no

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<v Speaker 1>worship to the garish sun. With the precious cargo and

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<v Speaker 1>tow the spacecraft launched out of Cape Canaveral, Florida, on January.

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<v Speaker 1>More than a year later, the vessel, whose objective had

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<v Speaker 1>been to hunt for water, was deliberately crashed near the

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<v Speaker 1>lunar South Pole. Shoemaker's ashes went down with it. Celestia's

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<v Speaker 1>hopes to enter other human remains on the Moon at

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<v Speaker 1>some point, but for the moment, Shoemaker has the place

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<v Speaker 1>to himself. Caroline Shoemaker said in press release. It brings

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<v Speaker 1>a little closure in a way to our feelings. We

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<v Speaker 1>will always know that when we look at the Moon

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<v Speaker 1>that Jean is there. Today's episode was written by Mark

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<v Speaker 1>Mancini and produced by Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff is a

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<v Speaker 1>production of I Heart Radio's How Stuff Works. For more

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<v Speaker 1>in this and lots of other unearthly topics, visit our

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