Ironically killed in an impact himself: a head-on crash on a blind
curve in the road, during a trip to Australia to search for craters.
His wife Carolyn and the other driver survived with injuries.
Co-discoverer in 1993 with Carolyn and astronomer David Levy of Comet
Shoemaker-Levy 9, whose shattered pieces collided with the planet
Jupiter the next year. Also co-discovered with Carolyn many other
comets and hundreds of asteroids.
In January 1998 he received the unprecedented honor of having a portion
of his ashes launched to the Moon (aboard the Lunar Prospector probe).
Astronomer and geologist; leading expert on impact craters.
Received his Ph.D. at Princeton University, 1960, with a thesis on
Meteor Crater, Arizona, USA.