[meteorite-list] GCSP meteorite display

[Linton Rohr]

Greetings met-list,
I spent last week at the Grand Canyon Star Party, which ranks right up there 
with the Tucson show as one of the highlights of my year. Saw quite a few 
nice meteors while observing, and took a few boxes of meteorites from my 
collection along to display before dark.
Halfway through the week, I drove around to the North Rim, where I learned 
they had recruited a couple of NASA engineers to do evening presentations, 
as well as the nightly observing. The following day their boss showed up as 
well. I shouldn't name names, but they're all involved in the developement 
and deployment of nuclear power modules for future Lunar and Martian 
missions.
The next day turned out to be cloudy, precluding any solar observing at the 
lodge, so I invited some of the astronomers over to my cabin and set up my 
display on the foot of my bed. Next thing I know the NASA guys are joining 
us too, examining specimens with LED headlights and my loupe. They 
especially liked the Lunar and Martian specimens. It was like a bunch of 
kids in a candy store.
I tried to give a Martian specimen to the project manager the next day, out 
of appreciation for their participation, but he wouldn't take it on the 
basis of being a government employee. I heard they will all be returning 
next year though, and may even get some astronauts to come along. Cool.
A lot of you probably have friends or connections in such positions, but as 
a small time collector, I was downright giddy to have NASA guys drooling 
over my collection. So I just had to share.
Linton