Some of the pioneers in planetary geologic research include Eugene Shoemaker, Harrison "Jack" Schmitt, Don Wilhelms, Raymond Batson, David Roddy, Gordon Swann and Baerbel Lucchitta. Click on the images below to learn about each person and their contributions to Astrogeology.
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Online Exhibits by NASA/ USGS RPIF.
Gene Shoemaker - Founder of Astrogeology
He once said he considered himself a scientific historian, one whose mission in life is to relate geologic and planetary events in a perspective manner. A modest statement coming from a legend of a man who almost single-handedly created planetary science as a discipline distinct from astronomy. He brought together geologic principles to the mapping of planets, resulting in more than 3 decades of discoveries about the planets and asteroids of the Solar System. He was a 1992 recipient of the National Medal of Science, the highest scientific honor bestowed by the President of the United States, then George Bush. His family, friends, former students, and the scientific community are in shock as they hear the news and feel the loss of "SuperGene."
Gordan Alfred Swann
Gordon Alfred Swann was born in Palisade, CO, September 21, 1931. After serving in the U.S. Navy from 1952 to 1956, he received a Ph.D. from the University of Colorado in 1962 as one of the pioneers in a study of the Precambrian geology of the Front Range of Colorado. His career in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began in Denver in 1963 working on a Defense Department project on the effects of high-pressure and high–intensity shock on rocks. In March 1964, he was assigned to the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, TX to work with USGS geologist Dale Jackson to train astronauts to perform scientific investigations in the field. In December 1964 he moved to Flagstaff as a permanent employee of the Manned Studies Group working on field studies in support of the national space flight program. Gordon’s focus was on the development and testing of lunar geologic exploration procedures for Project Apollo and beyond, and his early contributions included recognition of the value of a sun compass for orientation, a rock hammer for sampling, and development of Sample Return Containers that resembled pressure cookers for storing and returning lunar rock samples to Earth.
Don Wilhelms
With his geologic mapping of the Moon, Don Wilhelms set the methods and standards for planetary mapping. He is author of Geologic History of the Moon (1987, USGS Professional Paper 1348) and To a Rocky Moon, A Geologist's History of Lunar Exploration (1993, University of Arizona Press), as well as many other science publications and planetary geologic maps. Don helped train Apollo astronauts and served as a professional expert on news broadcasts in Germany during the Apollo 11 Moon landing. He is an elected fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Geophysical Union, and Geological Society of America, and was awarded the prestigious Geological Society of America G.K. Gilbert Award in 1988.
Raymond Milner Batson
Ray Batson was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, on 8 July 1931. His lifelong passion for flying surfaced early. In high school he worked at Stapleton Airfield in Denver refueling planes in order to pay for flying lessons, and obtained his private pilot’s license. After a year of study at Regis College, he enlisted in the United States Air Force and served a two-year tour of duty as an airplane mechanic in Anchorage, Alaska. He returned to Colorado in 1953 and enrolled at CU in Boulder.
Dave Roddy
Dave Roddy was a world-renowned scientist at the forefront of investigators studying impact and explosion craters. His field mapping of Flynn Creek was the first mapping detailed enough to demonstrate the impact origin of an ancient structure in North America. David was an authority on the Meteor Crater impact structure, east of Flagstaff. Dave's work has assisted in the recognition of large-body impact as an important geologic process on Earth. His study of explosion craters led to longtime involvement with the Department of Defense and was of critical value in strategic military planning. His specialties were the mechanics of hypervelocity impacts, nuclear- and explosion-cratering processes, and high-pressure shock-wave deformation of natural materials, and the geologic and geophysical applications of the science to terrestrial and planetary research. He was also a U.S. Air Force flight navigator and instructor, and a qualified private and commercial pilot for most of his life.
Harrison H. Schmitt
Jack Schmitt joined the Astrogeology team as a geologist at the Flagstaff Science Center in 1964, having recently earned a doctorate degree from Harvard University. In addition to assisting in the geologic mapping of the Moon, he led the Lunar Field Geological Methods project. When NASA announced a special recruitment for scientist-astronauts in late 1964, Schmitt applied. Out of more than 1,000 applicants, six were chosen. Of those six, Joe Kerwin, Owen Garriott, and Edward Gibson would fly in the Skylab missions in 1973 and 1974, and Schmitt would go to the Moon on the Apollo 17 mission.
Gene Shoemaker - Founder of Astrogeology
He once said he considered himself a scientific historian, one whose mission in life is to relate geologic and planetary events in a perspective manner. A modest statement coming from a legend of a man who almost single-handedly created planetary science as a discipline distinct from astronomy. He brought together geologic principles to the mapping of planets, resulting in more than 3 decades of discoveries about the planets and asteroids of the Solar System. He was a 1992 recipient of the National Medal of Science, the highest scientific honor bestowed by the President of the United States, then George Bush. His family, friends, former students, and the scientific community are in shock as they hear the news and feel the loss of "SuperGene."
Astrolink
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- Science
Online Exhibits by NASA/ USGS RPIF.
Gene Shoemaker - Founder of Astrogeology
He once said he considered himself a scientific historian, one whose mission in life is to relate geologic and planetary events in a perspective manner. A modest statement coming from a legend of a man who almost single-handedly created planetary science as a discipline distinct from astronomy. He brought together geologic principles to the mapping of planets, resulting in more than 3 decades of discoveries about the planets and asteroids of the Solar System. He was a 1992 recipient of the National Medal of Science, the highest scientific honor bestowed by the President of the United States, then George Bush. His family, friends, former students, and the scientific community are in shock as they hear the news and feel the loss of "SuperGene."
Gordan Alfred Swann
Gordon Alfred Swann was born in Palisade, CO, September 21, 1931. After serving in the U.S. Navy from 1952 to 1956, he received a Ph.D. from the University of Colorado in 1962 as one of the pioneers in a study of the Precambrian geology of the Front Range of Colorado. His career in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began in Denver in 1963 working on a Defense Department project on the effects of high-pressure and high–intensity shock on rocks. In March 1964, he was assigned to the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, TX to work with USGS geologist Dale Jackson to train astronauts to perform scientific investigations in the field. In December 1964 he moved to Flagstaff as a permanent employee of the Manned Studies Group working on field studies in support of the national space flight program. Gordon’s focus was on the development and testing of lunar geologic exploration procedures for Project Apollo and beyond, and his early contributions included recognition of the value of a sun compass for orientation, a rock hammer for sampling, and development of Sample Return Containers that resembled pressure cookers for storing and returning lunar rock samples to Earth.
Don Wilhelms
With his geologic mapping of the Moon, Don Wilhelms set the methods and standards for planetary mapping. He is author of Geologic History of the Moon (1987, USGS Professional Paper 1348) and To a Rocky Moon, A Geologist's History of Lunar Exploration (1993, University of Arizona Press), as well as many other science publications and planetary geologic maps. Don helped train Apollo astronauts and served as a professional expert on news broadcasts in Germany during the Apollo 11 Moon landing. He is an elected fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Geophysical Union, and Geological Society of America, and was awarded the prestigious Geological Society of America G.K. Gilbert Award in 1988.
Raymond Milner Batson
Ray Batson was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, on 8 July 1931. His lifelong passion for flying surfaced early. In high school he worked at Stapleton Airfield in Denver refueling planes in order to pay for flying lessons, and obtained his private pilot’s license. After a year of study at Regis College, he enlisted in the United States Air Force and served a two-year tour of duty as an airplane mechanic in Anchorage, Alaska. He returned to Colorado in 1953 and enrolled at CU in Boulder.
Dave Roddy
Dave Roddy was a world-renowned scientist at the forefront of investigators studying impact and explosion craters. His field mapping of Flynn Creek was the first mapping detailed enough to demonstrate the impact origin of an ancient structure in North America. David was an authority on the Meteor Crater impact structure, east of Flagstaff. Dave's work has assisted in the recognition of large-body impact as an important geologic process on Earth. His study of explosion craters led to longtime involvement with the Department of Defense and was of critical value in strategic military planning. His specialties were the mechanics of hypervelocity impacts, nuclear- and explosion-cratering processes, and high-pressure shock-wave deformation of natural materials, and the geologic and geophysical applications of the science to terrestrial and planetary research. He was also a U.S. Air Force flight navigator and instructor, and a qualified private and commercial pilot for most of his life.
Harrison H. Schmitt
Jack Schmitt joined the Astrogeology team as a geologist at the Flagstaff Science Center in 1964, having recently earned a doctorate degree from Harvard University. In addition to assisting in the geologic mapping of the Moon, he led the Lunar Field Geological Methods project. When NASA announced a special recruitment for scientist-astronauts in late 1964, Schmitt applied. Out of more than 1,000 applicants, six were chosen. Of those six, Joe Kerwin, Owen Garriott, and Edward Gibson would fly in the Skylab missions in 1973 and 1974, and Schmitt would go to the Moon on the Apollo 17 mission.
Gene Shoemaker - Founder of Astrogeology
He once said he considered himself a scientific historian, one whose mission in life is to relate geologic and planetary events in a perspective manner. A modest statement coming from a legend of a man who almost single-handedly created planetary science as a discipline distinct from astronomy. He brought together geologic principles to the mapping of planets, resulting in more than 3 decades of discoveries about the planets and asteroids of the Solar System. He was a 1992 recipient of the National Medal of Science, the highest scientific honor bestowed by the President of the United States, then George Bush. His family, friends, former students, and the scientific community are in shock as they hear the news and feel the loss of "SuperGene."
Astrolink
The NASA/USGS Astrolink, located in the Shoemaker Building (Building 6) on the USGS Campus in Flagstaff, Arizona, is a facility of the USGS Astrogeology Science Center. Astrolink houses 3000 square feet of climate-controlled space with more than 100,000 lunar and planetary maps, a reference library, an ever-growing photo and document archive that chronicles the history and on-going activities of...