[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 106 (Thursday, July 24, 1997)] [Extensions of Remarks] [Pages E1508-E1509] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] IN REMEMBRANCE OF DR. EUGENE SHOEMAKER AND DR. JURGEN RAHE ______ HON. GEORGE E. BROWN, JR. of california in the house of representatives Thursday, July 24, 1997 Mr. BROWN of California. Mr. Speaker, we have all been enthralled by the exciting images we have been receiving from the Mars Pathfinder since its successful landing on the 4th of July. I think that we all would join in congratulating the team of scientists, engineers, and managers who made this amazing mission a reality. Yet as we celebrate another success in the ongoing exploration of space, I believe that we also need to pause to honor the memory of two individuals who are no longer with us, but who have done much to help us better understand our solar system: Dr. Eugene Shoemaker and Dr. Jurgen Rahe. We had just begun to come to terms with the tragic loss last December of Dr. Carl Sagan, the distinguished astronomer and advocate for scientific reason, and now we have lost two more gifted space scientists. We mourn their deaths, but we also celebrate their accomplishments. Dr. Shoemaker was a distinguished geologist and discoverer or co- discoverer of some 820 asteroids and comets. Perhaps his most famous discovery was that of the Shoemaker-Levy Comet, which was discovered by him, his wife Carolyn, and Mr. David Levy. I was that comet's spectacular collision with the planet Jupiter that stirred public interest in the possibility of comets or asteroids someday impacting the Earth with disastrous consequences. However, Dr. Shoemaker had long been concerned with the potential for such impacts from his earliest days as a scientist when he was able to demonstrate that Arizona's meteor crater was likely the result of an impact by an asteroid. Throughout his career, he did much to increase public and scientific awareness of the potential threat posed by Earth orbit-crossing asteroids and comets, and he was a tireless champion of the need to detect and catalog those objects. I had come to rely on his insights and vision as Congress has attempted to come to grips with the public policy implications of a phenomenon that has a low probability of occurrence but that carries severe consequences for life on Earth. I shall miss him. Dr. Rahe was also a distinguished scientist and a leading figure in NASA's solar system exploration program. I think that his impact on NASA's activities was well stated by Dr. Wesley Huntress, NASA's Associate Administrator for Space Science, when he said that under Dr. Rahe's leadership, ``NASA's planetary exploration program was experiencing an almost unparalleled period of major discoveries at the same time that a number of new missions were being started and launched. His legacy to the exploration of space is large, and I like to think that Jurgen's ideas, hopes, and dreams are aboard many of the spacecraft now headed to the frontiers of our Solar System.'' Both of these men were outstanding individuals in their profession. However, each also was a man with a strong sense of integrity and a love of life and of learning. Dr. Shoemaker and Dr. Rahe made the world a better place, and I know that all Members join me in expressing our deep sympathy to their families. I include herewith obituaries of these two great scientists. Eugene Shoemaker Dies; Discovered Giant Comet Phoenix.--Eugene Shoemaker, 69, the geologist-astronomer who warned about the dangers of asteroids hitting Earth and who helped discover the giant Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet that slammed into Jupiter in 1994, died July 18 of injuries suffered in a car crash in outback Australia. He lived in Flagstaff, Ariz. His wife, fellow Lowell Observatory astronomer Carolyn Shoemaker, suffered hip and chest injuries in the crash but was in stable condition at a hospital, authorities said. The car they were riding in collided head-on with another car on a dirt road about 310 miles north of Alice Springs, authorities said. Dr. Shoemaker and his wife had discovered about 20 comets and 800 asteroids, but they were best known for the discovery with amateur astronomer David Levy of the comet Shoemaker- Levy 9, which broke up and smashed into Jupiter's gaseous atmosphere in 1994. The team had been searching the sky for new comets. It was Dr. Shoemaker's fascination with asteroid impacts-- such as the one that caused a Meteor Crater near his home-- that drove most of his work. A geologist by training, he was a leading expert on craters and the interplanetary collisions that caused them. He first proved to the scientific community that Meteor Crater was indeed the result of an asteroid impact, said University of Arizona planetary scientist Larry Lebofsky. He also was the author of an influential paper in the early 1960s comparing Meteor Crater with a large crater on the moon. Dr. Shoemaker, a Los Angeles native, was a 1947 graduate of the California Institute of Technology. He received a doctorate in geology from Princeton University. He worked for the U.S. Geological Survey from 1948 until retiring in 1993. [[Page E1509]] He founded the U.S. Geological Survey's Center of Astrogeology in Flagstaff in 1961 and served as the center's chief scientist. He also was involved in several U.S. space missions, including the Apollo moon missions. He lectured the Apollo astronauts on such topics as craters. Dr. Shoemaker, who had wanted to be an astronaut but was rejected because of a medical problem, said in a 1996 interview that he hoped for more manned space missions soon-- to nearby asteroids, if not to the planet Mars. ``I don't think I will live long enough to see us get to Mars,'' Dr. Shoemaker said. In addition to his wife, 67, Dr. Shoemaker's survivors include two daughters, Linda Salazar and Christine Woodward of Los Angeles; and a son, Patrick, of Iowa. ____ NASA Mourns Dr. Jurgen H. Rahe, Solar System Exploration Science Program Director Dr. Jurgen H. Rahe, 57, Science Program Director for Exploration of the Solar System at NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC, died tragically June 18 in the Washington, DC, area. Dr. Rahe was killed during a severe storm when a large tree fell on his car as he was driving near his home in Potomac, MD. Dr. Rahe had a distinguished career in NASA and in the field of astronomy and space exploration. In his most recent position, he was responsible for overall general management, budget, and strategic planning for NASA's Solar System Exploration programs, including the Galileo mission to Jupiter and several upcoming missions to Mars, including the July 4, 1997, landing of Mars Pathfinder. ``I am shocked and deeply saddened by the loss of Jurgen Rahe. He was a good friend and an extremely dedicated scientist,'' said Dr. Wesley T. Huntress, Jr., Associate Administrator for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. ``Under his leadership NASA's planetary exploration program was experiencing an almost unparalleled period of major discoveries at the same time that a number of new missions were being started and launched. His legacy to the exploration of space is large, and I like to think that Jurgen's ideas, hopes, and dreams are aboard many of the spacecraft now headed to the frontiers of our Solar System.'' As a member of the Office of Space Science Board of Directors, Rahe also was responsible for the upcoming Cassini/Huygens mission to Saturn. NASA's low-cost Discovery missions and several upcoming missions to Mars. Dr. Rahe also was the editor of one scientific journal (``Astrophysics and Space Science'') and a member of the editorial board of two others (``Earth, Moon, and Planets'' and ``II Nuovo Cimento''). Dr. Rahe previously served as a Discipline Scientist, Chief Scientist for Planetary Astronomy, and Director of the Solar System Exploration Division at NASA Headquarters. Before joining Headquarters full-time in 1989, Dr. Rahe was a Staff Member at the California Institute of Technology/Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA. He has also served as the Co-Leader of the International Halley Watch; Co- Investigator on the European space Agency's Giotto mission; Program Scientist for the Clementine, Rosetta, and NEAR (Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous) missions; and as the Associate Program Scientist for the Hubble Space Telescope. Previously, he was a Professor of Astronomy and Director at the Astronomical Institute of the University Erlangen- Nuremberg (Germany). During his tenured professorship, Dr. Rahe worked for extended periods as a Visiting Professor in several different countries. He has published many papers in scientific journals and books, edited more than a dozen books and conference proceedings, and served as President and/or member of three International Astronautical Union committees. He also served previously as the Director of the Remeis Observatory in Bamberg, Germany. Rahe is survived by his wife and daughter, who live in Potomac, MD. ____________________