Small Near-Earth Asteroids As a Source of Meteorites
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Handbook of Iron Meteorites, Volume 3
Sierra Blanca - Sierra Gorda 1119 ing that created an incipient recrystallization and a few COLLECTIONS other anomalous features in Sierra Blanca. Washington (17 .3 kg), Ferry Building, San Francisco (about 7 kg), Chicago (550 g), New York (315 g), Ann Arbor (165 g). The original mass evidently weighed at least Sierra Gorda, Antofagasta, Chile 26 kg. 22°54's, 69°21 'w Hexahedrite, H. Single crystal larger than 14 em. Decorated Neu DESCRIPTION mann bands. HV 205± 15. According to Roy S. Clarke (personal communication) Group IIA . 5.48% Ni, 0.5 3% Co, 0.23% P, 61 ppm Ga, 170 ppm Ge, the main mass now weighs 16.3 kg and measures 22 x 15 x 43 ppm Ir. 13 em. A large end piece of 7 kg and several slices have been removed, leaving a cut surface of 17 x 10 em. The mass has HISTORY a relatively smooth domed surface (22 x 15 em) overlying a A mass was found at the coordinates given above, on concave surface with irregular depressions, from a few em the railway between Calama and Antofagasta, close to to 8 em in length. There is a series of what appears to be Sierra Gorda, the location of a silver mine (E.P. Henderson chisel marks around the center of the domed surface over 1939; as quoted by Hey 1966: 448). Henderson (1941a) an area of 6 x 7 em. Other small areas on the edges of the gave slightly different coordinates and an analysis; but since specimen could also be the result of hammering; but the he assumed Sierra Gorda to be just another of the North damage is only superficial, and artificial reheating has not Chilean hexahedrites, no further description was given. -
The Impact and Recovery of Asteroid 2008 TC3 P
Vol 458 | 26 March 2009 | doi:10.1038/nature07920 LETTERS The impact and recovery of asteroid 2008 TC3 P. Jenniskens1, M. H. Shaddad2, D. Numan2, S. Elsir3, A. M. Kudoda2, M. E. Zolensky4,L.Le4,5, G. A. Robinson4,5, J. M. Friedrich6,7, D. Rumble8, A. Steele8, S. R. Chesley9, A. Fitzsimmons10, S. Duddy10, H. H. Hsieh10, G. Ramsay11, P. G. Brown12, W. N. Edwards12, E. Tagliaferri13, M. B. Boslough14, R. E. Spalding14, R. Dantowitz15, M. Kozubal15, P. Pravec16, J. Borovicka16, Z. Charvat17, J. Vaubaillon18, J. Kuiper19, J. Albers1, J. L. Bishop1, R. L. Mancinelli1, S. A. Sandford20, S. N. Milam20, M. Nuevo20 & S. P. Worden20 In the absence of a firm link between individual meteorites and magnitude H 5 30.9 6 0.1 (using a phase angle slope parameter their asteroidal parent bodies, asteroids are typically characterized G 5 0.15). This is a measure of the asteroid’s size. only by their light reflection properties, and grouped accordingly Eyewitnesses in Wadi Halfa and at Station 6 (a train station between into classes1–3. On 6 October 2008, a small asteroid was discovered Wadi Halfa and Al Khurtum, Sudan) in the Nubian Desert described a with a flat reflectance spectrum in the 554–995 nm wavelength rocket-like fireball with an abrupt ending. Sensors aboard US govern- range, and designated 2008 TC3 (refs 4–6). It subsequently hit the ment satellites first detected the bolide at 65 km altitude at Earth. Because it exploded at 37 km altitude, no macroscopic 02:45:40 UTC (ref. 8). The optical signal consisted of three peaks span- fragments were expected to survive. -
Accretion of Water in Carbonaceous Chondrites: Current Evidence and Implications for the Delivery of Water to Early Earth
ACCRETION OF WATER IN CARBONACEOUS CHONDRITES: CURRENT EVIDENCE AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE DELIVERY OF WATER TO EARLY EARTH Josep M. Trigo-Rodríguez1,2, Albert Rimola3, Safoura Tanbakouei1,3, Victoria Cabedo Soto1,3, and Martin Lee4 1 Institute of Space Sciences (CSIC), Campus UAB, Facultat de Ciències, Torre C5-parell-2ª, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. E-mail: [email protected] 2 Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (IEEC), Edif.. Nexus, c/Gran Capità, 2-4, 08034 Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain 3 Departament de Química, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Catalonia, Spain. E-mail: [email protected] 4 School of Geographical and Earth Sciences, University of Glasgow, Gregory Building, Lilybank Gardens, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK. Manuscript Pages: 37 Tables: 2 Figures: 10 Keywords: comet; asteroid; meteoroid; meteorite; minor bodies; primitive; tensile strength Accepted in Space Science Reviews (SPAC-D-18-00036R3, Vol. Ices in the Solar System) DOI: 10.1007/s11214-019-0583-0 Abstract: Protoplanetary disks are dust-rich structures around young stars. The crystalline and amorphous materials contained within these disks are variably thermally processed and accreted to make bodies of a wide range of sizes and compositions, depending on the heliocentric distance of formation. The chondritic meteorites are fragments of relatively small and undifferentiated bodies, and the minerals that they contain carry chemical signatures providing information about the early environment available for planetesimal formation. A current hot topic of debate is the delivery of volatiles to terrestrial planets, understanding that they were built from planetesimals formed under far more reducing conditions than the primordial carbonaceous chondritic bodies. -
Meteorites and Impacts: Research, Cataloguing and Geoethics
Seminario_10_2013_d 10/6/13 17:12 Página 75 Meteorites and impacts: research, cataloguing and geoethics / Jesús Martínez-Frías Centro de Astrobiología, CSIC-INTA, asociado al NASA Astrobiology Institute, Ctra de Ajalvir, km. 4, 28850 Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain Abstract Meteorites are basically fragments from asteroids, moons and planets which travel trough space and crash on earth surface or other planetary body. Meteorites and their impact events are two topics of research which are scientifically linked. Spain does not have a strong scientific tradition of the study of meteorites, unlike many other European countries. This contribution provides a synthetic overview about three crucial aspects related to this subject: research, cataloging and geoethics. At present, there are more than 20,000 meteorite falls, many of them collected after 1969. The Meteoritical Bulletin comprises 39 meteoritic records for Spain. The necessity of con- sidering appropriate protocols, scientific integrity issues and a code of good practice regarding the study of the abiotic world, also including meteorites, is emphasized. Resumen Los meteoritos son, básicamente, fragmentos procedentes de los asteroides, la Luna y Marte que chocan contra la superficie de la Tierra o de otro cuerpo planetario. Su estudio está ligado científicamente a la investigación de sus eventos de impacto. España no cuenta con una fuerte tradición científica sobre estos temas, al menos con el mismo nivel de desarrollo que otros paí- ses europeos. En esta contribución se realiza una revisión sintética de tres aspectos cruciales relacionados con los meteoritos: su investigación, catalogación y geoética. Hasta el momento se han reconocido más de 20.000 caídas meteoríticas, muchas de ellos desde 1969. -
Using a Nuclear Explosive Device for Planetary Defense Against an Incoming Asteroid
Georgetown University Law Center Scholarship @ GEORGETOWN LAW 2019 Exoatmospheric Plowshares: Using a Nuclear Explosive Device for Planetary Defense Against an Incoming Asteroid David A. Koplow Georgetown University Law Center, [email protected] This paper can be downloaded free of charge from: https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub/2197 https://ssrn.com/abstract=3229382 UCLA Journal of International Law & Foreign Affairs, Spring 2019, Issue 1, 76. This open-access article is brought to you by the Georgetown Law Library. Posted with permission of the author. Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub Part of the Air and Space Law Commons, International Law Commons, Law and Philosophy Commons, and the National Security Law Commons EXOATMOSPHERIC PLOWSHARES: USING A NUCLEAR EXPLOSIVE DEVICE FOR PLANETARY DEFENSE AGAINST AN INCOMING ASTEROID DavidA. Koplow* "They shall bear their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks" Isaiah 2:4 ABSTRACT What should be done if we suddenly discover a large asteroid on a collision course with Earth? The consequences of an impact could be enormous-scientists believe thatsuch a strike 60 million years ago led to the extinction of the dinosaurs, and something ofsimilar magnitude could happen again. Although no such extraterrestrialthreat now looms on the horizon, astronomers concede that they cannot detect all the potentially hazardous * Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center. The author gratefully acknowledges the valuable comments from the following experts, colleagues and friends who reviewed prior drafts of this manuscript: Hope M. Babcock, Michael R. Cannon, Pierce Corden, Thomas Graham, Jr., Henry R. Hertzfeld, Edward M. -
Detecting and Avoiding Killer Asteroids
Target Earth! Detecting and Avoiding Killer Asteroids by Trudy E. Bell (Copyright 2013 Trudy E. Bell) ARTH HAD NO warning. When a mountain- above 2000°C and triggering earthquakes and volcanoes sized asteroid struck at tens of kilometers (miles) around the globe. per second, supersonic shock waves radiated Ocean water suctioned from the shoreline and geysered outward through the planet, shock-heating rocks kilometers up into the air; relentless tsunamis surged e inland. At ground zero, nearly half the asteroid’s kinetic energy instantly turned to heat, vaporizing the projectile and forming a mammoth impact crater within minutes. It also vaporized vast volumes of Earth’s sedimentary rocks, releasing huge amounts of carbon dioxide and sulfur di- oxide into the atmosphere, along with heavy dust from both celestial and terrestrial rock. High-altitude At least 300,000 asteroids larger than 30 meters revolve around the sun in orbits that cross Earth’s. Most are not yet discovered. One may have Earth’s name written on it. What are engineers doing to guard our planet from destruction? winds swiftly spread dust and gases worldwide, blackening skies from equator to poles. For months, profound darkness blanketed the planet and global temperatures dropped, followed by intense warming and torrents of acid rain. From single-celled ocean plank- ton to the land’s grandest trees, pho- tosynthesizing plants died. Herbivores starved to death, as did the carnivores that fed upon them. Within about three years—the time it took for the mingled rock dust from asteroid and Earth to fall out of the atmosphere onto the ground—70 percent of species and entire genera on Earth perished forever in a worldwide mass extinction. -
Chondrites and Chondrules Analogous to Sediments Dr
Chondrites and Chondrules Analogous to Sediments Dr. Richard K. Herd Curator, National Meteorite Collection, Geological Survey of Canada, Natural Resources Canada (Retired) 51st Annual Lunar and Planetary Science Conference Houston, Texas March 16-20, 2020 Introduction and Summary • Comparing chondrites and terrestrial conglomerates [1] continues • Meteorites are fragmental rocks, continually subjected to impacts and collisions, whatever their ultimate origin in space and time • Space outside Earth’s atmosphere may be considered a 4D debris field • Of the debris that reaches the surface of Earth and is available for study, > 80 % are chondrites • Chondrites and chondrules are generally considered the product of heating of dust in the early Solar System, and therefore effectively igneous in origin • Modelling these abundant and important space rocks as analogous to terrestrial detrital sediments, specifically conglomerates, is innovative, can help derive data on their true origins and history, and provide con text for ongoing analyses Chondrites and Chondrules • Chondrites are rocks made of rocks • They are composed of chondrules and chondrule-like objects from which they take their name • Chondrules are roughly spheroidal pebble-like rocks predominantly composed of olivine, pyroxene, feldspar, iron-nickel minerals, chromite, magnetite, sulphides etc. • They range from nanoscale to more than a centimetre, with some size variation by chondrite type. There are thousands/millions of them available for study • Hundreds of chondrules fill the area of a single 3.5 x 2.5 cm standard thin section What is Known ? • Adjacent chondrules may be millions of years different in age • They date from the time of earliest solar system objects (viz. -
Direct Fusion Drive Rocket for Asteroid Deflection
Direct Fusion Drive Rocket for Asteroid Deflection IEPC-2013-296 Presented at the 33rd International Electric Propulsion Conference, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C., USA October 6{10, 2013 Joseph B. Mueller∗ and Yosef S. Raziny and Michael A. Paluszek z and Amanda J. Knutson x and Gary Pajer { Princeton Satellite Systems, 6 Market St, Suite 926, Plainsboro, NJ, 08536, USA Samuel A. Cohenk Plasma Physics Laboratory, 100 Stellarator Road, Princeton, NJ, 08540 and Allan H. Glasser∗∗ University of Washington, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Guggenheim Hall, Seattle, WA 98195 Traditional thinking presumes that planetary defense is only achievable with years of warning, so that a mission can launch in time to deflect the asteroid. However, the danger posed by hard-to-detect small meteors was dramatically demonstrated by the 20 meter Chelyabinsk meteor that exploded over Russia in 2013 with the force of 440 kilotons of TNT. A 5-MW Direct Fusion Drive (DFD) engine allows rockets to rapidly reach threaten- ing asteroids that and deflect them using clean burning deuterium-helium-3 fuel, a compact field-reversed configuration, and heated by odd-parity rotating magnetic fields. This paper presents the latest development of the DFD rocket engine based on recent simulations and experiments as well as calculations for an asteroid deflection envelope and a mission plan to deflect an Apophis-type asteroid given just one year of warning. Armed with this new defense technology, we will finally have achieved a vital capability for ensuring our planet's safety from impact threats. ∗Senior Technical Staff, [email protected]. -
Planetary Defence Activities Beyond NASA and ESA
Planetary Defence Activities Beyond NASA and ESA Brent W. Barbee 1. Introduction The collision of a significant asteroid or comet with Earth represents a singular natural disaster for a myriad of reasons, including: its extraterrestrial origin; the fact that it is perhaps the only natural disaster that is preventable in many cases, given sufficient preparation and warning; its scope, which ranges from damaging a city to an extinction-level event; and the duality of asteroids and comets themselves---they are grave potential threats, but are also tantalising scientific clues to our ancient past and resources with which we may one day build a prosperous spacefaring future. Accordingly, the problems of developing the means to interact with asteroids and comets for purposes of defence, scientific study, exploration, and resource utilisation have grown in importance over the past several decades. Since the 1980s, more and more asteroids and comets (especially the former) have been discovered, radically changing our picture of the solar system. At the beginning of the year 1980, approximately 9,000 asteroids were known to exist. By the beginning of 2001, that number had risen to approximately 125,000 thanks to the Earth-based telescopic survey efforts of the era, particularly the emergence of modern automated telescopic search systems, pioneered by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT’s) LINEAR system in the mid-to-late 1990s.1 Today, in late 2019, about 840,000 asteroids have been discovered,2 with more and more being found every week, month, and year. Of those, approximately 21,400 are categorised as near-Earth asteroids (NEAs), 2,000 of which are categorised as Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs)3 and 2,749 of which are categorised as potentially accessible.4 The hazards posed to us by asteroids affect people everywhere around the world. -
JEM-EUSO: Meteor and Nuclearite Observations
Exp Astron DOI 10.1007/s10686-014-9375-4 ORIGINAL ARTICLE JEM-EUSO: Meteor and nuclearite observations M. Bertaina A. Cellino F. Ronga The JEM-EUSO· Collaboration· · Received: 22 August 2013 / Accepted: 24 February 2014 ©SpringerScience+BusinessMediaDordrecht2014 Abstract Meteor and fireball observations are key to the derivation of both the inven- tory and physical characterization of small solar system bodies orbiting in the vicinity of the Earth. For several decades, observation of these phenomena has only been possible via ground-based instruments. The proposed JEM-EUSO mission has the potential to become the first operational space-based platform to share this capabil- ity. In comparison to the observation of extremely energetic cosmic ray events, which is the primary objective of JEM-EUSO, meteor phenomena are very slow, since their typical speeds are of the order of a few tens of km/sec (whereas cosmic rays travel at light speed). The observing strategy developed to detect meteors may also be applied to the detection of nuclearites, which have higher velocities, a wider range of possible trajectories, but move well below the speed of light and can therefore be considered as slow events for JEM-EUSO. The possible detection of nuclearites greatly enhances the scientific rationale behind the JEM-EUSO mission. Keywords Meteors Nuclearites JEM-EUSO Space detectors · · · M. Bertaina (!) Dipartimento di Fisica, Universit`adiTorino,INFNTorino,viaP.Giuria1,10125Torino,Italy e-mail: [email protected] A. Cellino (!) INAF-Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino, Strada Osservatorio 20, 10025 Pino Torinese (TO), Italy e-mail: [email protected] F. Ronga (!) Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare - Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati, Via E. -
March 21–25, 2016
FORTY-SEVENTH LUNAR AND PLANETARY SCIENCE CONFERENCE PROGRAM OF TECHNICAL SESSIONS MARCH 21–25, 2016 The Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel and Convention Center The Woodlands, Texas INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT Universities Space Research Association Lunar and Planetary Institute National Aeronautics and Space Administration CONFERENCE CO-CHAIRS Stephen Mackwell, Lunar and Planetary Institute Eileen Stansbery, NASA Johnson Space Center PROGRAM COMMITTEE CHAIRS David Draper, NASA Johnson Space Center Walter Kiefer, Lunar and Planetary Institute PROGRAM COMMITTEE P. Doug Archer, NASA Johnson Space Center Nicolas LeCorvec, Lunar and Planetary Institute Katherine Bermingham, University of Maryland Yo Matsubara, Smithsonian Institute Janice Bishop, SETI and NASA Ames Research Center Francis McCubbin, NASA Johnson Space Center Jeremy Boyce, University of California, Los Angeles Andrew Needham, Carnegie Institution of Washington Lisa Danielson, NASA Johnson Space Center Lan-Anh Nguyen, NASA Johnson Space Center Deepak Dhingra, University of Idaho Paul Niles, NASA Johnson Space Center Stephen Elardo, Carnegie Institution of Washington Dorothy Oehler, NASA Johnson Space Center Marc Fries, NASA Johnson Space Center D. Alex Patthoff, Jet Propulsion Laboratory Cyrena Goodrich, Lunar and Planetary Institute Elizabeth Rampe, Aerodyne Industries, Jacobs JETS at John Gruener, NASA Johnson Space Center NASA Johnson Space Center Justin Hagerty, U.S. Geological Survey Carol Raymond, Jet Propulsion Laboratory Lindsay Hays, Jet Propulsion Laboratory Paul Schenk, -
Did a Comet Deliver the Chelyabinsk Meteorite?
EPSC Abstracts Vol. 11, EPSC2017-2, 2017 European Planetary Science Congress 2017 EEuropeaPn PlanetarSy Science CCongress c Author(s) 2017 Did a Comet Deliver the Chelyabinsk Meteorite? O.G. Gladysheva Ioffe Physical-Technical Institute of RAS, St.Petersburg, Russa, ([email protected] / Fax: +7(812)2971017) Abstract source of the appearance of such a gradient can be only the direct bombardment of the crystal by SCR An explosion of a celestial body occurred on the iron nuclei with energy of 1-100 MeV [6]. fifteenth of February, 2013, near Chelyabinsk Interacting with the surface of the meteorite, protons (Russia). The explosive energy was determined as and helium GCR nuclei form isotopes, some ~500 kt of TNT, on the basis of which the mass of radioactive, which are allocated to a specific location the bolide was estimated at ~107 kg, and its diameter by depth in the body of the meteorite. A measurement of the composition of radionuclides at ~19 m [1]. Fragments of the meteorite, such as 22 26 54 60 LL5/S4-WO type ordinary chondrite [2] with a total Na, Al, Mn and Co in 12 fragments of the mass only of ~2·103 kg, fell to the earth’s surface [3]. Chelyabinsk meteorite, and a comparison of the Here, we will demonstrate that the deficit of the results with model calculations of the formation of celestial body’s mass can be explained by the arrival these isotopes in meteorites according to depth, of the Chelyabinsk chondrite on Earth by a showed that 4 fragments of the meteorite were significantly more massive but fragile ice-bearing located in a layer 30 cm deep, 3 fragments at a depth celestial body.