Meteorites, from Economic Commodity and Valuable Resource

Marvin Killgore and Dante S. Lauretta
Southwest Meteorite Center, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

In the past decade, meteorites have become an economic commodity that is being harvested from virtually every accessible area in the world. This modern day gold rush has resulted in the collection of millions of years worth of accumulated material on the time scale of only a few decades. Meteorites represent the near-Earth objects (NEOs) that humans will encounter as they travel through space. These NEOs are natural resources that can provide food, water, fuel, shelter, radiation shielding, construction materials, etc.

As human exploration of space expands, technology development centered on the exploitation of NEO resources will expand. In order to provide genuine meteoritic material for this research it is important to preserve as much of this precious material as possible while it is readily available. The Southwest Meteorite Center is an organization established to acquire and preserves meteorites for this and future generations. By acquiring and curating meteorites that are currently available but rapidly dwindling, we offer research opportunities and resources that are not otherwise available.

AAPG Search and Discover Article #90078©2008 AAPG Annual Convention, San Antonio, Texas