Hola Beda, List, Good points. Also to consider is that "Heat Shield Rock", a piece of nickel-iron steel weighs "in weight", just slightly more than quartz does on Earth, the equivalent of about 2.9 g/cc density for comparison. So the 50 kg is the equivalent mg' of 18.8 kg - but still with the tensile strength of steel to maintain cohesivity upon impact. (More mass for the money on Mars for curators and collectors) That is less gravitational weight than most equivalent STONY metetorites sizes on Earth, less than typical basalts, due to the Martian gravity. This, to some appreciable extent offsets for the thin ~1% Martian (vs. Earth) atmosphere. A 1 km/sec (2237 mph) velocity should be survivable for a decent sized iron, though another point to bring up is that meteorites landing on Mars would all exhibit higher shock levels, especially veining, fractures in olivines, etc... And the entry angle as mentioned of course would be more important, as well as shield vs. aerodynamic nosecone shaping... The Martian soil looks like a softer landing than the Sahara sands... Saludos, Doug PS On Earth, ~50 kg Cabin Creek probably fell at ~300 mph (134 km/hr), while a nosecone would be up to the ~700 mph range (312km/hr).
En un mensaje con fecha 01/21/2005 9:55:49 AM Mexico Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] escribe: >The first meteorite found on Mars - "Heat shield rock" - really >raises questions. Based on its size I estimate it is approx. 6-7 >liters in volume or around 50 kg mass. ______________________________________________ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list