[meteorite-list] Alma College

From: mhutson at pdx.edu <mhutson_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 28 Jun 2010 08:16:44 -0700
Message-ID: <20100628081644.10536s7qdp37qtwc_at_webmail.pdx.edu>

Regarding Mr. Madjen's comment:

"A quote from this article:

"There are plenty of meteorites available that have little or no
value-------"

If this is true, why do collectors pay big bucks for them? I wonder
what they do with the fragments! Just asking folks!"

I have been interviewed by the press and seen comments in print that I
swear I never made. I suspect Dr. Strait was asked some sort of
question about how she could stand to break apart meteorites and she
said something along the lines of there are plenty of meteorites
available that have little or no scientific value and that would be a
true statement. I've seen thin sections of some heavily weathered
northwest African H5s and L6s that would add little to our scientific
knowledge of chondrites. Collectors do not pay big bucks for these
meteorites as far as I know. And as at least one sample was referred
to a pumice-like, it tells me that Dr. Strait was struggling to
explain what she was doing to a reporter that lacked the background
knowledge to actually understand what Dr. Strait was saying. That
sounds like a rough analogy that one uses to help someone understand
what you are talking about.

As to what they do with the fragments, I don't know, but I suspect
that at least some are analyzed carefully to see how and why they
spalled off. That is the point of the experiment -- to understand how
to deal with an asteroid that is approaching Earth--what might work
for a large chunk of metal might be completely useless if the asteroid
is a C3 chondrite. It might even make a difference is you look at an
L3 vs. and L6 or a complicated breccia vs. a meteorite that appears
relatively uniform. Sooner or later we will spot an asteroid heading
straight towards the Earth with sufficient time to act upon that
information. It would be extremely useful to know what would be the
best way to prevent a catastrophe.

Melinda Hutson
Received on Mon 28 Jun 2010 11:16:44 AM PDT