[meteorite-list] trips to the Moon (Moon bases andmeteoriterecovery)

From: Walter branch <waltbranch_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 28 Jun 2011 19:34:33 -0400
Message-ID: <DCD9AF61D0064C9786A067B4F9A85744_at_acer330bb84976>

Hi Mike,

Another factor to consider is the proximity of Mars to the asteroid belt,
relative to the Earth and earth's moon. Not being an expert in orbital
mechanics, I would presume that, other factors being equal, Mars would have
received more asteroid impacts simply because it "borders the belt."

Apropos, I believe Phobos and Deimos are captured asteroids.

-Walter Branch



----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Gilmer" <meteoritemike at gmail.com>
To: "Richard Kowalski" <damoclid at yahoo.com>
Cc: "meteorite list" <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 28, 2011 7:08 PM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] trips to the Moon (Moon bases
andmeteoriterecovery)


> Hi List,
>
> Well, my lunar meteorite moon base idea has been roundly rejected by a
> host of all-stars from the world of meteorites and science. Everyone
> from Dr. Korotev to Sterling Webb have shot down my pipe dream with
> great logic that I cannot refute. I concede and close my comic book
> now! ;)
>
> Ok, so the Lunar surface is not densely littered, or even
> lightly-peppered with meteorites - if they could be called
> "meteorites" at all.
>
> Humor me one last time, let's continue to indulge the fantasy just a
> bit more before we stop flogging this dead equine...
>
> The rate of lunar impacts can be a bit more frequent than we thought,
> but with no atmospheric braking, the meteoroids are coming in at
> hypervelocity and they annihilate themselves on impact, or leave
> behind only shattered and shocked tiny remnants that are quickly
> absorbed into the character of the lunar surface.
>
> So, what I am curious about is Mars. Mars obviously has much more of
> an atmosphere than the Moon, but the air is still quite tenuous on
> Mars, and it can't possibly provide a fraction of the braking action
> that Earth's thick blanket does. So, shouldn't the Martian surface be
> fairly devoid of meteorites as well? Wouldn't we put Mars somewhere
> between Earth and the Moon when it comes to the number of meteorites
> that survive the trip to the surface?
>
> We all know about the Meridiani Planum meteorite on Mars, so how lucky
> did Opportunity get? Did Opportunity literally get the lucky
> opportunity of a lifetime? Or, might there be more meteorites waiting
> to be found, especially if Mars perhaps had a thicker atmosphere in
> the past and/or if geological forces concentrated meteorites in "sweet
> spots" on the Martian surface? (ala Antarctica)
>
> There is no real "need" to go retrieve meteorites from the surfaces of
> other worlds. But, when the day comes, far from now (hopefully
> sooner), when man has colonies or permanent bases on other worlds, we
> will occasionally run across meteorites on other worlds as we carry
> out our other routine works. Surface work and mining will turn up the
> odd specimen from time to time. On the Moon, the surface has been
> geologically dead (basically) for a long long time. So, with no
> mechanical weathering and no chemical weathering, anything that
> survived the rifle-shot fall to the surface in the last billion (2?)
> years is still extant and waiting to be found....right?
>
> The $64 question is - How many such "meteorites" (lunarites?) are
> there waiting to be found now?
>
> The expert qualified consensus says - Not very many, if any at all.
>
> Mars had a more complex history atmospherically and geologically than
> the Moon, so I assume the formulas of meteorite frequency would differ
> as such?
>
> Best regards,
>
> MikeG
>
> PS - WANTED : an etched part-slice of Meridiani Planum, roughly
> palm-sized, 2-3mm thick. Will trade gold-pressed latinum. Contact me
> off-list with offers. :)
>
> --
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Galactic Stone & Ironworks - Meteorites & Amber (Michael Gilmer)
>
> Website - http://www.galactic-stone.com
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> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> On 6/28/11, Richard Kowalski <damoclid at yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>> ________________________________
>> From: MexicoDoug <mexicodoug at aim.com>
>> To: etmeteorites at hotmail.com; Meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
>> Sent: Tuesday, June 28, 2011 2:35 PM
>> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] trips to the Moon (Moon bases and
>> meteoriterecovery)
>>
>>
>>
>> You want to go the the nearer Lagrangian Points in plain space between
>> the
>> Earth and Moon. That is where the most fascinating stuff is to be found,
>> written in unaltered stone the genesis of the Moon and plenty more debris
>> to
>> keep scientists and collectors busy and overworked for the nex 10,000
>> years!
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> There are no known Earth Trojans.
>>
>> --
>> Richard Kowalski
>> Full Moon Photography
>> IMCA #1081
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Received on Tue 28 Jun 2011 07:34:33 PM PDT