Buseck Center for Meteorite Studies

Happy 20th anniversary to NASA’s Genesis sample return mission! On September 8, 2004, the Genesis Solar Wind sample return mission delivered captured solar wind particles to Earth. The landing was unexpectedly spectacular because an arrow on the design for the return capsule was drawn backwards; the pressure sensor never registered Earth’s atmosphere, and the capsule’s…

The Buseck Center for Meteorite Studies is pleased to welcome Havi Tripathi! Havi Tripathi has joined BCMS this semester as a Ph.D. student in Director Stroud’s group. Havi spent last year at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) working in support of the OSIRIS-REx mission, after completing her master’s degree in Analytical Planetary Chemistry at…

Benld is an ordinary chondrite (H6) that fell the morning of September 29th, 1938, in Macoupin County, Illinois.  The Benld meteorite was only the second meteorite recovered in Illinois (there are now 10 recognized meteorites from the state), and its fall was quite spectacular.  The meteorite was described by B.H. Wilson in Popular Astronomy (1938)…

The Buseck Center for Meteorite Studies is pleased to welcome Dr. Ren Marquez! Marquez is the very first BCMS Meteorite Studies Postdoctoral Fellow. He has extensive experience in ultra-low-blank laboratory techniques for analyzing small meteorite samples, which he used during his PhD at the California Institute of Technology to study presolar precursors in primitive meteoritic…

Earth and Space Exploration Day is Friday, October 4th from 6PM to 9PM: Visit the Meteorite Gallery and hold a rock from space! Discover interactive exhibits in the Gallery of Scientific Exploration! Take in a 3-D astronomy show in the Marston Exploration Theater! See a replica of the Curiosity Mars Rover! So much more! Click…