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(meteorobs) Message from Philipp Schmid
Comments from Philipp Schmid: Hi list!
Again me, but thought because there was such a big discussion about this that this might be interesting, even if it's off topic.
Philipp
This article was forwarded to you from space.com -- http://www.space.com
NASA Plane Probes Yukon Skies for Meteor Particles
NASA dispatched an aircraft to the Yukon Territory on a one-day trip to
collect atmospheric samples from a meteor that exploded earlier in the week
over the remotely populated stretch of northwestern Canada.
The Airborne Sciences ER-2 made the round-trip flight on Friday from Dryden
Flight Research Center in the Mojave Desert to the remote region of Canada,
where it combed the skies for traces of the massive meteor that exploded on
the morning of Jan. 18.
The meteor detonated at an altitude of 16 miles (25 kilometers) with the
energy of two to three kilotons of TNT, rattling houses, knocking snow off
roofs and shaking seismic monitoring stations in the region. The explosion
produced twin sonic booms and a sizzling sound over Alaska and northwestern
Canada, according to a NASA release.
The meteor vaporized the atmosphere as it streaked across the sky, flashing
green and leaving behind a glowing vapor trail and foul odor.
The airplane collected samples of the meteor’s debris cloud and vapor trail at
an altitude of 65,000 feet (19.5 kilometers) with an instrument called the
Aerosol Particulate Sampler. The device consists of two small paddles, coated
in sticky silicone oil, that trap particles in the stratosphere when exposes
to the airstream from their perch on the ER-2’s left wingtip.
The paddles were then drawn inside and sealed hermetically. NASA will now ship
them to Johnson Space Center for analysis.
Scientists are eager to study the samples in order to learn more about the
meteor’s origin and composition.
The plane, one of two such high-altitude research planes based at Dryden, also
carried a black-and-white camera to probe the area for direct signs of any
impact by meteorites associated with the explosion. Ideally, scientists could
easily pick out any flattened areas of forest or craters in the area in the
photographs.
http://www.space.com/science/planetearth/nasa_yukon_000121.html
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