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Exotic Meteorite Hunting Ground?



Hi gang,

Now that it looks like a ceasefire has been declared in the  "Subscription 
Conflict" I would like to ask for some expert advice  from anyone/everyone 
who feels qualified to give some. 

Almost finished my children's science fiction novel (after almost 2  years, 
yaaaay!! :-)  ) and at the close of the book the characters  find themselves 
struggling to survive on the fractured ice plains of  Europa... long story 
how they get there! ... and what I'm wondering  (actually, what I'm hoping) 
is: will Europa be as rich a collecting  ground for meteorites as Antarctica 
is here on Earth? 

It would make sense to me; after all, Jupiter's gravity will attract  large 
numbers of meteoroids, in the same way that Earth'd does, and  Europa is 
*sure* to get in the way of some of them, yeah? Jupiter  attracts comets too, 
as we saw with SL9 back in '94, so won't the  whole Jupiter system be rich 
with meteoroid and the debris of passing  and/or disrupted comets? And being 
close to the main asteroid belt,  and having its own leading and trailing 
asteroid groups won't the  Jupiter system be a "target rich zone" for 
meteorite collectors of the  future? Won't Europa, with all that lovely open 
ice, present 21st  century meteorite hunters - human or robotic - with 
wonderful hunting?

I hope so... I just have this beautiful image of my characters  bounding 
across the frozen, coffee-coloured  ice deserts of Europa,  picking 
meteorites up off the ground in the pale Jupiter-glow... :-)

I know this enquiry probably isn't very scientific but hey, indulge me...

On a rather different subject, has anyone heard anything about any  meteorite 
fall in Australia, after the recent fireball report?

Regards to all,

Stu

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