[meteorite-list] Scientist Finds Moon Rock on Antarctica

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue Nov 30 12:39:27 2004
Message-ID: <200411301739.JAA14596_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.timesdaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041130/APA/411300788

Scientist Finds Moon Rock on Antarctica
The Associated Press
November 30, 2004

University of New Mexico researcher Barbara Cohen now knows for certain
that the rock she found while trolling the barren Antarctica landscape
is special.

She and a team of geologists picked up a chunk of the moon - one of only
about 30 ever found on Earth.

"We found it almost a year ago, but the analysis wasn't finished until
last month," she said. "When I found out it was from the moon, I was so
elated. The team knew it was something interesting in the field, but we
couldn't test there. We just had to wait."

Cohen is an assistant research professor at the UNM Institute of
Meteoritics.

She and a team of eight geologists collected the fist-sized meteorite on
a six-week trip during the Antarctic summer, which is December and
January. They were trolling the La Paz ice sheet on snowmobiles when
they found it.

Finding a meteorite is like finding a puzzle piece to the universe
because each chunk tells scientists more about how other planets and
asteroids developed, Cohen said.

"It's a real primal thrill of discovery, because no one has ever seen
that rock before you," she said. "If you know the rock you found is
unusual, your mind just goes crazy wondering what it could be. It could
be the first meteorite ever found from Venus, or it could be from the
moon or Mars."

Cohen's Antarctica trip was part of a National Science Foundation
program to collect meteorites for the U.S. national archive. Scientists
from all over the world are chosen each year to search Antarctic ice
sheets for new meteorites, which fall on the ice and stick out in the
snowy surroundings.

Lunar meteorites are important because they give scientists samples from
other parts of the moon, Cohen said.

The rock, along with about 1,000 other meteorites collected on the same
trip, were sent to Johnson Space Center in Houston, which separates the
most interesting ones and sends them on to the Smithsonian Institution
for analysis.

After analysis, the samples go back to Houston, and the Space Center
sends out notification to scientists who might be interested in the
rock. The rocks of interest are broken up and shipped out to the
planetary science academic community, Cohen said.

"About 95 percent of the meteorites we find are ordinary chrondites,
from asteroids, so of the 1,000 we picked up, about 950 were pretty
normal," she said. "This was one of about 50 that were sent on to the
Smithsonian - we knew it was something special when we found it."

With the analysis complete, Cohen plans to apply to get a chunk of the
rock back from Houston.
Received on Tue 30 Nov 2004 12:39:23 PM PST