Scientist’s Ashes1 Visit Moon After Death 科學家死后骨灰造訪月球

楊舟

Once upon a time， a couple fell in love while sharing a passion2 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 geologist3 who specialized in studying craters4—he had a promising chance of joining the NASA mission5.

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 dedicated6 himself to training astronauts like Neil Armstrong for their space expeditions7. He combined8 the study of geology and astronomy9， helping create the field of planetary10 science. He co-discovered a comet11—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 vehicle12 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.

從前，有一對夫妻在分享對太空的熱愛時墜入愛河。

尤金·舒梅克和卡羅琳·舒梅克兩人在1950年的一場婚禮上相識，在一年的長途通信后，這對相愛的情侶結婚了。

十年后，約翰·F.肯尼迪總統宣布美國將派遣一名男子登月，尤金激動不已。作為一名專門研究隕石坑的地質學家，他很有可能加入美國國家航空航天局的這個任務。

經過一系列的體檢，他們得知尤金患有艾迪生氏病這種罕見的疾病。這樣一來，他不可能前往月球。

卡羅琳說：“這個消息是尤金一生中最失意的事情之一。”他“感覺自己的目標突然消失了”。

盡管如此，尤金的一生還是充滿了巨大的成就。他致力于訓練像尼爾·阿姆斯特朗這樣的宇航員進行太空探險。他把地質學和科學結合起來，幫助創立了行星科學領域。他與同為科學家的妻子以及科學家大衛·利維共同發現了彗星舒梅克-利維9號。

尤金的生命在1997年的一次車禍中突然終止，當時他和妻子正在澳大利亞勘探隕石坑。探索這樣的隕石坑一直是尤金最熱衷的事情。

在醫院康復期間，卡羅琳意外接到美國國家航空航天局的電話，問她是否有興趣讓尤金的一些骨灰加入“月球勘探者”的登月任務。

她覺得棒極了。

第二年，“勘探者號”前往月球，最令人驚奇的事情發生了：當任務完成時，該無人駕駛的飛行器燃料耗盡，撞擊月球的南極，形成了一個隕坑，尤金的骨灰至今仍留在那里。

可以說這是天意。

（英語原文選自：goodnewsnetwork.org）

1. ash [■] n. 灰，灰燼 2. passion [■] n. 激情;酷愛

3. geologist [■] n. 地質學家

4. crater [■] n. （撞擊或爆炸形成的）大坑

5. mission [■] n. 使命，任務 6. dedicate [■] v. 致力;獻身

7. expedition [■] n. 遠征;探險 8. combine [■] v. 使聯合，使結合

9. astronomy [■] n. 天文學 10. planetary [■] adj. 行星的

11. comet [■] n. 彗星 12. vehicle [■] n. 車輛;工具;運載工具