Editing Eugene Merle Shoemaker (section)

{{short description|American geologist and astronomer (1928–1997)}}
{{Infobox scientist
|name              = Eugene Merle Shoemaker
|image             = Eugene Shoemaker.jpg
|alt               = Eugene Shoemaker at a stereoscopic microscope
|birth_date        = {{Birth date|1928|04|28}}
|birth_place       = Los Angeles, California, US
|death_date        = {{Death date and age|1997|07|18|1928|04|28}}
|death_place       = near [[Alice Springs]], Australia
|field             = [[Planetary geology]]<ref name="USGS" />
|work_institutions = U.S. Geological Survey, California Institute of Technology
|alma_mater        = [[California Institute of Technology]]<br />[[Princeton University]]
|doctoral_advisor  = [[Harry Hammond Hess]]
|thesis_title      = Impact mechanics at Meteor Crater, Arizona.
|thesis_url        = http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/778586334
|thesis_year       = 1960
|doctoral_students =
|known_for         = [[Planetary science]]<br />[[Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9]]
|influences        =
|influenced        =
|prizes            = {{nowrap|[[G. K. Gilbert Award]] <small>(1983)</small><br />[[Barringer Medal]] <small>(1984)</small><br />[[National Medal of Science]] {{small|(1992)}}<br />[[William Bowie Medal]] {{small|(1996)}}<br />[[James Craig Watson Medal]] {{small|(1998)}}}}
|spouse            = [[Carolyn Spellmann]] (m. 1951)
|footnotes         =
|signature         =
}}

'''Eugene Merle Shoemaker''' (April 28, 1928&nbsp;– 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 C. T. Chao|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.<ref name="AO">{{cite web |last1=Grundhauser |first1=Eric |title=Eugene Shoemaker Is Still the Only Man Buried on the Moon |url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/eugene-shoemaker-buried-moon-celestis-nasa |website=Atlas Obscura: Stories |publisher=Atlas Obscura |access-date=30 April 2025 |date=28 June 2022}}</ref>