[meteorite-list] AMATEURS BEAT NASA TO MARS METEORITES

From: Treiman, Allan <Treiman_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:44:14 2004
Message-ID: <D144DC845882D311959900500424D7D0B1BDEB_at_cassnt2>

Well, I can't speak officially for NASA or for individual NASA-funded
investigators, or for the Curator at JSC, but here's how I understand
things.
 
   NASA does not collect or buy non-Antarctic meteorites. NASA as
a whole is not directed to collect non-Antarctic meteorites, and so it
does not do so. NASA does not officially own even the Antarctic
meteorites. They are "owned" by the Smithsonian Institution. And
NASA/JSC takes care of them while they are being actively studied, and
eventually sends them off the the Smithsonian. To my knowledge, NASA
is not involved in collecting in NWA, Oman, etc.

   Of course, any scientist (NASA funded or not) can buy anything he
wants to, but that does not mean that NASA itself is involved.

   As for recovering more meteorites, there is talk of running two ANSMET
meteorite expeditions to Antarctica in the future.

   Would you really want NASA or some other government agency to get
involved in meteorite recovery in the US? Wouldn't that take meteorites away
from you and the commercial market, and put them solely in the hands
of the scientific community? If you are concerned, how about taking all
those
meteorites found on public lands and handing them over to the Smithsonian!


Allan



Allan H. Treiman
Lunar and Planetary Institute
3600 Bay Area Boulevard
Houston, TX 77058-1113

281-486-2117
281-486-2162 FAX
treiman_at_lpi.usra.edu

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Robert Verish [SMTP:bolidechaser_at_yahoo.com]
> Sent: Monday, June 25, 2001 3:09 PM
> To: meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com
> Subject: [meteorite-list] AMATEURS BEAT NASA TO MARS METEORITES
>
> Ah, the perfect article.
> There's something to offend everyone... ;-)
>
> First off, is NASA even looking for meteorites, let
> alone Mars rocks in Africa?
>
> I know somebody posted a message to this List alluding
> to a connection between NASA and NWA meteorites, but
> can anybody substantiate that rumor? I'd like to see
> some of that "Mars Sample Return" money spent on
> meteorite recovery right here at home.
>
> Yo! NASA! Homeboy here, ready when you are.
>
> Got a team ready, too! Just three more finds and we
> can tie the score, dude.
>
> Oh! And in order to de-fuse any irate replies, let me
> just say that when Bruno said, "our rivals are
> prepared to do anything to get their hands on them and
> some are
> very violent", he wasn't talking about either NASA or
> Mike Farmer...
>
> :-)
> Bob V.
>
> --- entropydave <entropydave_at_ic24.net> wrote:
> > Thought you may wish to see this article in today's
> > Times newspaper, dated
> > 25th June 2001
> >
> > "AMATEURS BEAT NASA TO MARS METEORITES"
> >
> > Adam Sage, Paris.
> > ~~~~~~~~~~~~
> >
> > Two French adventurers have beaten NASA in the
> > search for meteorites from
> > Mars to produce evidence that will shed light on the
> > evolution of the Red
> > planet.
> >
> > In the cut-throat world of "star hunting", Bruno
> > Fectay, 30 and Carine
> > Bidaut, 25, have found four of only 20 Martian
> > meteorites ever found on
> > Earth.
> > The meteorites were thrown from Mars when it
> > collided with an asteroid about
> > 10 million years ago. they floated around space and
> > landed in the Sahara
> > hundreds, or perhaps, thousands of years ago.
> > One of the stones has revealed apparent traces of
> > water under the planet's
> > surface, seen by scientists as a key piece in the
> > puzzle that eventually may
> > explain why life failed to develop on Mars.
> > With the meteorites sometimes worth millions of
> > pounds each, the success of
> > the French pair, who employ a group of desert
> > nomads, has excited jealousy.
> > "We have had to put them in a bank safe because our
> > rivals are prepared to
> > do anything to get their hands on them and some are
> > very violent," M Fectay
> > said. "Our rivals have tried every trick."
> > M Fectay and Mme Bidaut are self-taught amateurs who
> > began travelling across
> > the Sahara desert three years ago and have since
> > found hundreds of
> > meteorites, including four from Mars. No team has
> > ever been so successful.
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > In gentle decay,
> > d.
> >
> > http://www.meteorites.ic24.net/index.html
> >
> > http://www.thc.u-net.com/davethc1.htm
> >
> >
> > "I have a proof that x^n+y^n=z^n never has integer
> > solutions for n>2.
> > However, it won't fit into my signature file...."
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> >
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>
>
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Received on Mon 25 Jun 2001 05:13:09 PM PDT