New Meteorite Discovered in South Australia

Tweet

Perth researchers have found a 4.5 billion year old meteorite in outback South Australia. Our niece's husband is a mechatronic engineer at Curtin University in Perth and has been instrumental in developing a new observation network of 32 remote cameras across both Western Australia and South Australia. Data from the cameras were used to calculate the fall position of the meteorite from an identified orbit. Knowing the orbit path also allows the team to track the meteorite back to its original asteroid. The meteorite was found in a remote section of Lake Eyre just hours before heavy rains would have sabotaged the search. An aerial spotter, a drone, a quad bike and local Aboriginal guides were all involved in accessing the sticky clay. Team leader dug 42 cms into the lake bed to retrieve the meteorite. The team already has ten more sites to investigate. Needless to say, there is great excitement among the team at the success of their mission. I don't have much interest in meteorites but I have a little more now because of this slight connection through a relative.