The Antarctic Search for Meteorites

该奖项是根据2009年《美国复苏和再投资法案》(公法111-5)提供资金的。自1976年以来，在NSF、NASA和史密森学会之间的一项机构间协议的主持下，南极陨石搜索计划(ANSMET)已经从横跨北极山脉的地点发现了近17,000个陨石标本。该提案要求通过在以前发现的搁浅表面有系统地搜索陨石标本，支持继续回收南极陨石。还将进行小型侦察工作，寻求发现和探索可能有陨石集中的新地点的范围。ANSMET回收的陨石是新的、非微观的外星物质的最佳和最可靠的来源，提供了关于构成我们太阳系的小行星、行星和其他天体的物质的基本事实。ANSMET陨石帮助研究人员探索了大约45亿年前我们太阳系诞生的星云中存在的条件，并提供了从太阳系形成以来没有改变的原始天体到复杂的、地质上活跃的微型行星的小行星样本。ANSMET的样本还证明，与传统观点相反，一些陨石实际上是从月球和火星输送到地球的行星物质，改变了我们对这些天体地质的看法。ANSMET陨石甚至对最基本的科学问题之一--整个宇宙中生物活动的普遍程度--产生了一种新的探索。对学生的持续依赖为这项拟议的研究提供了更广泛的影响，并使这一努力在其教育使命中站稳了脚跟。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). Since 1976, under the auspices of an inter-agency agreement between NSF, NASA and the Smithsonian Institution, the Antarctic Search for Meteorites program (ANSMET) has recovered nearly 17,000 meteorite specimens from locations along the Transantarctic Mountains. This proposal requests support for continued recovery of Antarctic meteorites through systematic searches for meteorite specimens at previously discovered stranding surfaces. Minor reconnaissance efforts will also take place seeking to discover and explore the extent of new locations with potential meteorite concentrations. The meteorites recovered by ANSMET are the best and most reliable source of new, non-microscopic extraterrestrial material, providing essential "ground-truth" concerning the materials that make up the asteroids, planets, and other bodies of our solar system. ANSMET meteorites have helped researchers explore the conditions that were present in the nebula from which our solar system was born about 4.5 billion years ago, and provided samples of asteroids ranging from primitive bodies unchanged since the formation of the solar system to complex, geologically active miniature planets. ANSMET samples also proved, against the conventional wisdom, that some meteorites actually represent planetary material delivered to the Earth from the Moon and Mars, changing our view of the geology of those bodies. ANSMET meteorites have even generated a new kind of inquiry into one of the most fundamental scientific questions possible - the prevalence of biological activity in the universe as a whole. Continued reliance on students provides a broader impact to this proposed research and firmly grounds this effort in its educational mission.