What is Eugene Merle Shoemaker?
{{Infobox scientist |name = Eugene Merle Shoemaker |image = Eugene Shoemaker.jpg |image_size = 250px |caption = Eugene Shoemaker at a stereoscopic microscope |birth_date = {{Birth date|1928|04|28}} |birth_place = [[Los Angeles|Los Angeles, California]] |death_date = {{Death date and age|1997|07|18|1928|04|28}} |death_place = [[Alice Springs]], [[Australia]] <!-- |occupation = [[Geologist]] --> |citizenship = |nationality = |ethnicity = |field = [[Astrogeology]] |work_institutions = U. S. Geological Survey, California Institute of Technology |alma_mater = [[California Institute of Technology]]<br />[[Princeton University|Princeton]] |doctoral_advisor = |doctoral_students = |known_for = [[Planetary science]]<br />[[Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9]] |author_abbrev_bot = |author_abbrev_zoo = |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)}}}} |religion = |spouse = [[Carolyn S. Shoemaker]] 1951–1997 (his death) |footnotes = |signature = }} '''Eugene Merle Shoemaker''' (April 28, 1928&nbsp;– July 18, 1997), also known as '''Gene Shoemaker''', was an [[Americans|American]] [[geologist]]. He was one of the founders of the field of [[planetary science]]. He was best known for co-discovering the [[Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9]] with his wife [[Carolyn Shoemaker]] and [[David Levy (astronomer)|David Levy]]. Shoemaker died in a car crash in [[Alice Springs]], [[Australia]], aged 69. On July 31, 1999, some of his ashes were carried to the [[Moon]] by the [[Lunar Prospector]] space probe.<ref name=DSPTribute>{{cite web|last=Porco|first=Carolyn|title=The Eugene M. Shoemaker Tribute|url=http://ciclops.org/publ