Has Anyone Been Buried on the Moon?

to the dinosaur extinction debate. For his contributions to human knowledge, he was awarded the National Medal of Science by then President George H. W. Bush In, but a different honor eluded him. Shoemaker studied the Moon from Afar, but he often dreamed of climbing into a space suit and walking on its surface. Sadly, he never got the chance. Addison's disease crushed his hopes of becoming an astronaut, but in some of his ashes were laid to rest near the

Moon's southern pole. That made him the first and to date, the only person to ever receive a lunar burial. It was a poignant epilog to the man's rear. Shoemaker was a geologist by training, and craters were one of his great passions. He helped confirm that the famous Bearinger Crater near Flagstaff, Arizona, a crater that's five hundred and seventy feet or a hundred and seventy three deep, was made

by an asteroid impact. He also championed the hypothesis that another such impact killed last non avian dinosaurs sixty six million years ago, and by mapping some of the craters on our Moon, he revolutionized our understanding of its geology. In nineteen sixty one, the United States Geological Surveys set up an astrogeology research program. Shoemaker, often considered the founding

father of astrogeology, was chosen to lead it. NASA would enlist his services to Shoemaker joined future Apollo astronauts on field trips to Berenger Crater and other sites, where he trained them to collect rock samples, perhaps seemingly simple skill set, but one that would let them eventually bring home the first Moon rocks humans ever saw, and thus making all

kinds of research possible. His work was instrumental to the discovery of the Shoemaker Leve nine commet, which struck Jupiter in One of the commets co discoverers was Eugene's wife and fellow scientist, Caroline Shoemaker. Cumulatively, Jeane and Caroline discovered one thousand, one hundred and twenty five asteroids and thirty two commets, But on July eighth, the couple was involved in a tragic car accident. Though Caroline survived, Jean was killed.

The very next day, Shoemaker's former student, Caroline Porko, devised a fitting tribute. A planetary scientist at the University of Arizona, Porco learned that her mentor was going to be cremated, so she spearheaded an effort to put an ounce that's twenty eight grams of his ashes board NASA's Lunar Prospector spacecraft. The cost of sending things into space can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars per pound in terms of time and energy and research, and so although physically small,

that single ounce is a huge tribute. Polycarbonate urn capsule was built by Celestis, the same company that sent ashes of Star Trek creator Geane Roddenberry into orbit. Wrapped around Shoemaker's appsle was a brass foil ribbon bearing a picture of the baron Drew Crater and a thematic quote from Romeo and Juliet, and when he shall die, take him and cut him out in little stars, and he will make the face of Heaven so fine that all the world will be in love with night, and pay no

worship to the garish sun. With the precious cargo and tow the spacecraft launched out of Cape Canaveral, Florida, on January. More than a year later, the vessel, whose objective had been to hunt for water, was deliberately crashed near the lunar South Pole. Shoemaker's ashes went down with it. Celestia's hopes to enter other human remains on the Moon at some point, but for the moment, Shoemaker has the place to himself. Caroline Shoemaker said in press release. It brings

a little closure in a way to our feelings. We will always know that when we look at the Moon that Jean is there. Today's episode was written by Mark Mancini and produced by Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff is a production of I Heart Radio's How Stuff Works. For more in this and lots of other unearthly topics, visit our home planet how stuff Works dot com, and for more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app. Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.