Meteorites: Visitors from Space

The Open University

What is a Meteorite?A meteorite is a natural object that

survives its fall to Earth from Space

Hoba Meteorite, Namiba

Largest Known Meteorite

60 tons, fell ~80,000 years ago

Chelyabinsk, Russia 15th February 2013

Size of a big house!

Speed: 40,000 mph

London to Edinburgh in 36 seconds!

Blast altitude: 15 to 20 km

1,500 people injured, 4000 buildings damaged

Power of blast = about 20 small nuclear bombs

Chelyabinsk Meteorite

Chicxulub Impact 66 Million years ago10-15 km asteroid

The only recorded casualties!

Nakhla – Egypt 1911 Valeria – Venezuela 1972

So are meteorites dangerous?

NoBut they are fun!

Where are

meteoritescolle

cted?

We have about 50,000 Meteorites

34,000 from Antarctica

16,000 from the rest of the World

About 10,000 from North Africa

What do they look like and how can I spot one?

Meteorite Types

• 1. Stones– Chondriteshondrites

• 2. Stony Irons– Mesosiderites

• 3. Irons

Meteorite Types

1. Stones

• 2. Stony Irons– Pallasit

• 3. Irons

Meteorite Types

2. Stony Irons

• 3. Irons

Meteorite Types

3. Irons

Where do meteorites come from

Where do meteorites come from

The Moon Mars

The Asteroid Belt

Apollo Missions 382 kg Moon Rocks

How to Plan a Space Mission

• Stage 1. Where are you going?

• Stage 2. You need a team

• Stage 3. You need a name

• Stage 4. You need a map

• Stage 5. How long is it going to take?

• Stage 6. Do you hire some astronauts?

• Stage 7. What sort of spacecraft do you want?

• Stage 8. Now you can design your spacecraft.

• Stage 9. Choose your instruments.

• Stage 10. What do you hope to learn about your destination?