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If there had not been a team of geologists, NASA may not have televised one of the most iconic moments in the history of the twentieth century: Neil Armstrong's landing on the Moonthe moment he became the first person to walk on the surface of the satellite.
In fact, it is possible that they would not even have been able to attend the event from the Mission Control Center without these people. This is reported in a report recently published by CBS News, which details the role played in this operation by geologists Eugene Shoemaker, Ivo Luccita and Jerry Schaber.
American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins and Edwin Aldrin (left to right), members of the crew of "Apollo 11" (EFE).
This team, which ended up playing a vital role in mission development, taught astronaut geology (Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins) so that they could study and collect samples properly. lunar geological elements.
Shoemaker played a key role in recording and broadcasting the event. In principle, NASA did not want astronauts to carry a geological hammernor any other object which, they feared, could damage the costume of one of the cosmonauts, not even photographic equipment.
Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin on the moon (AP).
The Shoemaker, Luccita, and Schaber teams used television technology for their astrogeology field studies (Shoemaker, in particular, had founded the United States Geological Survey's astrogeology research program or USGS), and according to Luccita, the scientists "worked very hard to teach them how valuable it was".
Photograph of July 20, 1969 from the Earth seen since the Apollo 11 minutes before the landing on the Moon (EFE).
So, Shoemaker insisted that it did not make sense to send men to the moon if the opportunity was not used to do scientific research. So this team instructed the astronauts in the term of two days in the fields near the town of Flagstaff, Arizona, where is located the Lowell Observatory, which USGS geologists used to map the surface of the Moon for the purpose of landing the module lunar excursion.
The space center with the lunar module flight controllers in 1969 (EFE).
In this domain is an impressive crater born from the impact of a meteorite 50,000 years ago, with rock formations similar to those that these geologists expected to find on the moon. Shoemaker, an expert in craters, wanted to be an astronaut, although NASA rejected his request for medical problems. This did not prevent him from collaborating decisively at this time of the race to space. Later, he also co-discovered with David Levy a comet (named in honor of Shoemaker_Levy 9) who in 1994, he crashed against Jupiter.
Eugene Shoemaker has the special honor of being the only person whose mortal remains rests on the moon.
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Eugene Shoemaker has the special honor of being the only person whose mortal remains on the moon, after NASA deliberately broke the "Lunar Prospector" probe that had housed them at the end of their mission.
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