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A meteorite was found in a remote area of Botswana. The event is one of a kind because the meteor was identified before entering the atmosphere, and its fall and recovery have been documented. It's only the second time that happens. The Africa Conversation Moina Spooner spoke to Fulvio Franchi and Alexander Proyer about their mission to recover the meteorite and why it is important.
Why is discovery in Botswana so important?
Alexander Proyer: Meteorites are fragments of asteroids or comets fallen to the surface of the Earth. Finding a new one is rare but what makes this case truly sensational is not the fall itself but the fact that we knew it was going to happen. Usually, people are taken by surprise, seeing a flash of light or a fireball when the asteroid enters the atmosphere. But this one was observed in the space eight hours before its collision with the Earth.
The asteroid was first detected by a network of observatories – NASA's planetary defense network – which searches the night sky for objects. In this case, it was Richard Kowalski of the Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona, who discovered the extremely light light of an object moving in space.
It was only the third time in history that such an observation and prediction was possible and only the second time that a fragment was recovered. The first discovery came from an asteroid called TC3 in Sudan
Fulvio Franchi: We can view this event as a free delivery of material from the space that would otherwise require a very expensive space mission to recover.
Most meteorites are extremely ancient rocks, dating back to the birth of the solar system about 4.56 billion years ago, and coming from the asteroid belt – small objects size, orbiting in space. between Mars and Jupiter. These asteroids keep a "record" of the planet's formation processes – such as growth by gravitational attraction, heating, and fusion – a record that is no longer available on Earth because it has been over-written by the processes tectonics operating on our planet.
Other meteorites are fragments of our Moon or Mars, which have been catapulted into space by major events. They are even rarer than regular asteroids. One can appreciate the value of these asteroids by simply considering the costs of a space mission on the Moon, Mars or even the asteroid belt, to obtain such samples. This discovery is a real gift for the international consortium, currently in training to perform laboratory analyzes of this fragment and other fragments yet to be found during further research.
Alexander Proyer: After Kowalski in Arizona saw it, he alerted other institutions, which are part of NASA's planetary defense network, and they calculated the size and trajectory of the body, concluding that an asteroid 2-3 meters in diameter was about to hit Earth – in Botswana.
Fulvio Franchi: Colleagues from South Africa and Finland then contacted us, providing valuable information to locate the fragments. We immediately became aware of the importance of this event and mobilized the first research team
The fragments of the asteroid LA 2018 – scattered over the vast territory of the Kalahari Nature Reserve in Botswana, blown up by the wind when falling. The detailed calculations, by two independent groups, of the scattered field allowed our group of researchers to finally find a fragment of the asteroid.
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