Hard crash

Academics priced out of meteorites & their secrets

- BY JACKIE ANNETT

As the auction prices of meteors enjoy a rise that is, well, meteoric, space rock hunters across the globe are all hoping to find the next big thing.

But while lucky meteorite hunters can cash in, it means it's harder for scientists to probe the secrets of the solar system hidden in the rocks.

For example, in July, a 24.5kg Martian fragment called NWA 16788 fetched a record £3.9million at Sotheby's, New York. And although some fragments were made available to researchers, the main body of the rock is now in anonymous, private hands and well out of budget for most universities.

As for why such space rocks are so valuable for scientific research, Prof Sara Russell explains: "When really unique samples are found these can potentially give us a portal into a new part of our solar system that we haven't been able to explore before."

Prof Russell, leader of the Planetary Materials Group at the Natural History Museum in London, adds: "If we don't have the opportunity to look at the rock then we won't be able to learn so much about the place around us and that will impact planning future space missions and the space industry in general.

"The problem is if the market becomes such that we are priced out and that we are not able to get these samples in the hands of scientists, who can really learn from them?"