Astromaterials Research & Exploration Science
METEORITE FALLS

THE QUINAULT SEARCH CONTINUES

THE QUINAULT SEARCH CONTINUES

THE QUINAULT SEARCH CONTINUES

The new star sieve in action: plowing, scooping, sifting, sieving, and stowing.

Searching the Seafloor

The new star sieve in action: plowing, scooping, sifting, sieving, and stowing.

UPDATE

Seafloor mud is a mucknificent thing. The soft surface of well-sorted, very fine silt and mud provides a wonderful foundation for benthic organisms, but also allows all the larger, coarser, and heavier rocks – including the meteorites we seek – to bury themselves within.

The well-defined area along the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary where the meteorites fell is characterized by flat, shallow continental shelf habitat with 80-100 meters of overlying ocean and a soft mud blanket. An early search nearly a year ago demonstrated that searching for meteorites in 80-100 meters water depth amid a blanket of sediment might as well be like looking for a needle in a haystack on another planet.

Enter the creative and talented experts of remote exploration- the ROV pilots and Engineers of the R/V Falkor. In our effort to explore new frontiers, we design tools and make plans that we think will enable us to successfully achieve our most important goals, but within the limits of technology, time, and cost. Yet rarely do those tools or plans work exactly as anticipated. Patience and the ability to adapt are critical to success.

Prior to the expedition, the R/V Falkor team designed a vacuum system that would automatically suction-sift through seafloor mud, capturing samples in the process. A mechanical breakdown beyond their control disabled the "cosmic dustpan," however the R/V Falkor team rose to the challenge and overcame the problem, working with scientists and in-house engineers to design and build a new tool, which was fabricated in less than 24 hours with spare materials they had on board! This new and improved "star sieve" enabled more rapid screening of larger volumes of seafloor, reducing the mucknificient seafloor burden that would need to be sorted (a messy, time consuming process) on board ship after each ROV dive.

In the dark science operations room, which looks like a miniature space-mission control center, the Seeking Space Rocks scientists travel along with SuBastian via large high definition video screens. The ROV pilot Jason Rodriguez and co-pilot Jason Williams deftly control the ROV and its highly dexterous manipulator arms (which can deliver up to 920 foot pounds of force and lift up to 1000 pounds) to very carefully scoop and sift seafloor mud. What is not immediately appreciated is the time it takes to complete each scoop, shake, sift and stow: 10-15 minutes.

Located within an area believed to have the highest concentration of small meteorites, the new tool has already captured several small rock samples. Each sampling attempt is a slow motion ballet that is a function of remotely controlled dexterity and the time it takes for the mucknificent mud plume to settle, allowing us to see if we have caught ourselves a meteorite.

Special thanks go to Dr. Ralph Harvey for contributing the descriptive terminology used in this post.

To learn more, go to
https://schmidtocean.org/cruise-log-post/mucknificence/

EVENTS TO DATE

Learn more about other fall events and possible landing sites that have been identified across the United States.

EVENT UPDATES

Find out more about recent searches and possible discoveries that have taken place around the United States.

METEORITES 101

This step-by-step guide will show you how to locate possible meteorite fall sites using radar software and weather data along with info provided by reporting agencies and monitoring systems.
These instructions will show you how to best preserve the meteorites you discover and how to make contact with the organizations that are willing to accept and analyze your find.
Don't know exactly what a meteorite is, what they are made of or where they come from? If that's the case, we have provided a mini-"crash" course in what you need to know about them.
It turns out that meteorites have provided us a lot of scientific insight, not only into the origins of our solar system and planet Earth, but what the future might hold for mankind.
There's a lot going on in the study of meteorites, both here at NASA and in other places. Here are a few links to the people and institutions who are leading the research in this field.


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