[meteorite-list] Iowa State University Professor Says Moon Holds Secrets Of Early Earth

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:22:33 2004
Message-ID: <200306031630.JAA14203_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.arn.org/docs2/news/moonsecret032503.htm

ISU professor says moon holds secrets of early Earth
by Brandon Babcock
The Des Moines Register
March 14, 2003

Ames, Ia. - An Iowa State University professor wants astronauts to go back
to the moon.

He says the world could be surprised by what's there - 4 billion-year-old
remnants of Earth, Mars and Venus that could redefine the history of the
solar system and mankind.

"There is a chance to get our hands on new, empirical evidence that isn't
available on the Earth anymore," said Guillermo Gonzalez, an assistant
professor of physics and astronomy who headed the research team. "That's
waiting for us on the moon."

Rocks ejected intact from Earth's gravitational field by asteroid and comet
impacts found their way through space to the moon, according to the team's
research, in much the same way that lunar rocks have been found on Earth.

A published NASA- and National Science Foundation-sponsored research paper
discussing this topic speculates that astronauts could discover more samples
of Mars or the first samples of early Venus.

For that possibility alone, Gonzalez says astronauts must go back despite
the Columbia explosion in early February. The scientific benefits would
outweigh the risks.

"Finding a rock from Venus would be like finding the Hope diamond," he said.

Venus can't be explored because of its surface. Information on Mars is based
on so few samples that any single find would contribute huge amounts of
knowledge to its history, Gonzalez said.

To determine just how much Earth rock has reached the moon, the researchers
mathematically simulated the gravitational results of hundreds of particles
randomly leaving the Earth. The results show seven parts of Earth per
million, more abundant than diamonds on Earth, Gonzalez said.

John Armstrong, a graduate assistant at the University of Washington, is
credited by Gonzalez with doing the majority of the paper's research.

Armstrong said any voyages to Mars should wait.

"The fact is, the moon is right there, and it can tell us everything we need
to know about the solar system," he said.

Critics of the research argue that nothing could survive the violence
required for a rock to be blown off a planet, exit its thick atmosphere and
not be destroyed upon impacting another body.

Armstrong and Gonzalez admit it is a legitimate worry.

"A lot of the criticism we've been getting is, "Can this material survive
impact with the moon, and could it stay there?" " Armstrong said. "Before we
found Mars meteorites on the Earth, they said that couldn't happen, either."
Received on Tue 03 Jun 2003 12:30:14 PM PDT