[meteorite-list] Greensburg Meteorite Finds Temporary Home at Hays Museum in Kansas

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2007 17:17:37 -0700 (PDT)
Message-ID: <200709130017.RAA14652_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.hdnews.net/Story/meteorite091207

Greensburg meteorite finds temporary home at Hays museum
By MICAH MERTES
Hays Daily News (Kansas)
September 12, 2007

Five billion years since its formation and 20,000 years after it entered
the earth's atmosphere, the 1,000 pound meteorite still is on the move.

Greensburg's meteorite was launched into a new trajectory after an F5
tornado destroyed the town and museum in early May. And after several
months of being in storage at Wichita's Exploration Place, it's hit Hays
-- for the time being.

The meteorite arrived Tuesday morning at Fort Hays State University's
Sternberg Museum of Natural History, where it will be displayed in the
front lobby indefinitely.

The move took place Monday, when a trio of the Sternberg staff -- Mark
Kellerman, reservations manager; Brad Penka, visitor services manager;
and Greg Walters, exhibits director -- made the trek to Wichita and
transported the meteorite back on a truck bed.

"Meteorites are named for a fall," Walters said. "This is called a
Brenham meteorite. It came in and spread out in an area that is several
miles long. They continue to find smaller meteorites."

The meteorite was found by H.O. Stockwell in 1949. He was able to locate
it by using a World War II mine detector that he modified.

Next to he meteorite is a donation box for the rebuilding of the Big
Well Museum, the meteorite's permanent home in Greensburg, which was
destroyed in the tornado.

Many thought the meteorite was lost after the tornado, but it was
discovered under debris.

Pallasite meteorites, about 1 percent of meteorites, are a mixture of
iron, nickel and silicates.

But after the tornado, the meteorite's composition changed a bit to
include pieces of broken glass, and, up until recently, a nail.
Received on Wed 12 Sep 2007 08:17:37 PM PDT