Space scientists planning a trip to Mars have visited the Yorkshire Museum to create a 3D map of one of its star objects – which will then be installed on a probe bound for the red planet.
The team of scientists working for the European Space Agency (ESA), together with the North American Space Agency (NASA), are launching an unmanned probe to Mars in 2017 which will spend time studying many aspects of the planet, such as meteorites which have hit the surface.
To make sure the probe can spot meteorites a number of examples are being scanned into its memory – including the Yorkshire Museum’s famous Middlesbrough Meteorite.
Martin Lunn, curator of astronomy, said: “The Middlesbrough Meteorite is an extremely rare type of meteorite – one of only a few examples in the world. Because of this the scientists are coming to the museum to catalogue it with the latest 3D mapping technology so the probe can then spot if any similar ones appear on the surface of Mars.
“We are delighted that an artefact from the Yorkshire Museum will be helping Europe and America’s space programme and it is fascinating to think that when they launch the probe into outer space there will be information from our meteorite on board.”
The scientists will spend a day at the museum using the latest technology to map the meteorite. It is so unusual because, unlike most meteorites, it did not tumble, but flew straight through the Earth’s atmosphere, rotating on its axis. This meant that it has formed the stereotypical meteorite shape.
It is one of only a handful ever found on earth and is estimated to be 4,500 million years old.
Most meteors are the size of a small grain of sand, but larger meteors can cause mass extinctions, as in the extinction of the dinosaurs some 65 million years ago. The Middlesbrough Meteorite will be on display in Extinct – A Way of Life, one of the five new galleries in the new-look Yorkshire Museum, which re-opens on 1 August, 2010.
www.yorkshiremuseum.org.uk