Re: [APML]: SBIG

[Wil Milan <wmilan@airdigital.com>]

Chuck Vaughn wrote:

> Wil Milan wrote:
> >
> > Separate but sort of related matter: It wasn't much reported in the news, but
> > the Lunar Prospector spacecraft which was just launched carries aboard some
> > of the ashes of Gene Shoemaker along with a small commemorative plaque. The
> > arrangements were made in record time after his death in August, and I think
> > sending Gene's ashes to the moon -- where he had always longed to go -- is a
> > very fitting tribute.
>
> If it wasn't for the interent I might have missed his death altogether. It
> was barely mentioned in the mainstream news. I think the media does the
> public a disservice by not highlighting the death of such a person like
> they do celebrities. I saw the National Geographic special on him and I had
> no idea the magnitude of his contributions. It seems astounding to me
> that before Gene it was not recognized that the craters on the moon were
> from impacts and not volcanic processes. It now seems so obvious.
>
> Chuck  <aa6g@aa6g.org>

Even here in Arizona, where Gene Shoemaker lived and worked, the news of his death
was unreported in the popular news as far as I know. I got notices from several
sources but they were all from the astronomical community -- the Lowell
Observatory, our local astronomy club, etc. I did hear a report yesterday that the
Lunar Prospector was carrying the remains of "a local scientist," but I think the
hook for the story was the space launch. I got the feeling that the newspeople not
only had never heard of him but couldn't really grasp why he rated the honor.


Wil Milan
--
"When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars
which You have set in place, what is Man that you are
mindful of him, or the son of Man that you care for him?"  -- Psalm 8