[meteorite-list] Alma College

[mhutson at 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