科学家死后骨灰造访月球

Once upon a time， a couple fell in love while sharing a passion for space.

Eugene and Carolyn Shoemaker met at a wedding in 1950， and after a year of sending each other long-distance letters， the loved-up pair got married.

A decade later， President John F. Kennedy announced that the nation would be sending a man to the moon， and Eugene was excited. As a geologist who specialized in studying craters—he had a promising chance of joining the NASA mission.

Then after a series of medical tests to examine his fitness， they learned that Eugene had Addisons disease， an uncommon disease. There was no possibility of him reaching the moon now.

The news was one of the greatest disappointments of Eugenes life， Carolyn said. He “felt like his goal had suddenly disappeared.”

Still， Eugenes life was full of big achievements. He dedicated himself to training astronauts like Neil Armstrong for their space expeditions. He combined the study of geology and astronomy， helping create the field of planetary science. He co-discovered a comet—Shoemaker-Levy 9—alongside his scientist wife and the scientist David Levy.

Eugenes life came to a sudden end in a car crash in 1997， while in Australia exploring a meteor crash site with his wife. Exploring craters like this one had always been a favorite passion for Eugene.

While she recovered in the hospital， Carolyn received an unexpected call from NASA. Would she be interested in having some of Eugenes ashes join the Lunar Prospector mission to the moon？

She thought that would be wonderful.

The Prospector headed for the moon the following year and the most amazing thing happened： When the mission was finished， the unmanned vehicle ran out of fuel and crashed into the moons South Pole， creating a crater where Eugenes ashes remain today.

You could say it was an accident made in heaven.

从前，有一对夫妻在分享对太空的热爱时坠入爱河。

尤金·舒梅克和卡罗琳·舒梅克两人在1950年的一场婚礼上相识，在一年的长途通信后，这对相爱的情侣结婚了。

十年后，约翰·F·肯尼迪总统宣布美国将派遣一名男子登月，尤金激动不已。作为一名专门研究陨石坑的地质学家，他很有可能加入美国国家航空航天局的这个任务。

经过一系列的体检，他们得知尤金患有艾迪生氏病这种罕见的疾病。这样一来，他不可能前往月球。

卡罗琳说：“这个消息是尤金一生中最失意的事情之一。”他“感觉自己的目标突然消失了”。

尽管如此，尤金的一生还是充满了巨大的成就。他致力于训练像尼尔·阿姆斯特朗这样的宇航员进行太空探险。他把地质学和科学结合起来，帮助创立了行星科学领域。他与同为科学家的妻子以及科学家大卫·利维共同发现了彗星舒梅克·利维9号。

尤金的生命在1997年的一次车祸中突然终止，当时他和妻子正在澳大利亚勘探陨石坑。探索這样的陨石坑一直是尤金最热衷的事情。

在医院康复期间，卡罗琳意外接到美国国家航空航天局的电话，问她是否有兴趣让尤金的一些骨灰加入“月球勘探者”的登月任务。

她觉得棒极了。

第二年，“勘探者号”前往月球，最令人惊奇的事情发生了：当任务完成时，该无人驾驶的飞行器燃料耗尽，撞击月球的南极，形成了一个陨坑，尤金的骨灰至今仍留在那里。

可以说这是天意。