Catch a Shooting Star

对于普通大众来说，行星科学似乎是一个遥远而难以理解的学科，与日常生活相去甚远。戏剧性的事件，如2013年初车里雅宾斯克火球在俄罗斯上空的爆炸，可能会短暂地引起集体的想象。然而，媒体报道经常强调这类事件带来的潜在危险，而所涉及的科学只是简单地讨论了一下。然而，人类与太空岩石的近距离接触并不是特别罕见的事件。平均每年有7次目击到的火球事件，其中太空岩石随后被回收用于科学研究（来源：2001年至2008年的《陨石公报》）。即使是面积相对较小的联合王国，也有18个经过鉴定的瀑布，从中回收了样本。根据我们在开放大学的外展活动，我们知道能够处理真正的陨石样本会引起人们的强烈反应，激发好奇心和兴趣。仅仅拿着我们10公斤重的铁陨石吉本（Gibeon）样本，它的密度几乎是地球表面岩石的三倍，就会引发人们的疑问：小行星和行星是如何以及为什么融化，然后分离成地核、地幔和地壳的。能够触摸到火星或月球的一部分会改变一个人的感知；太空似乎不再那么遥远了。处理来自其他世界的真实样本能够也确实极大地改变人们的态度，将以前对太空科学漠不关心的人转变为真正的爱好者。简而言之，陨石具有独特的潜力，可以向所有公众开放行星和空间科学。这个项目的主要目的是通过创建一个展览，将真正的陨石放在权威和互动视听展示的中心，来激发和教育公众对行星和空间科学的认识。这个项目的核心是我们的经验，通过能够持有并与真实的太空材料互动，激发人们的好奇心。由于能够处理这样的样本，他们很快就提出了一系列相关主题的问题，比如：陨石有多老？它们来自哪里？他们是否构成了现实的危险？你在哪里找到的？他们真的杀死了恐龙吗？你怎么知道我们有来自火星和月球的陨石？为了回答这些问题并提供令人兴奋的视听体验，展览将包括一个由触摸屏电脑和大型等离子屏幕显示器组成的交互式显示器。这个互动系统将提供一系列信息、视频材料、动画和面对面访谈，旨在突出与STFC路线图科学挑战相关的主题。展览的总体理念将是展示如何使用降落在地球上的样本来调查广泛的天文学和行星科学相关主题，包括：地球穿越小行星，小行星带的结构和演化，彗星，太阳系内部的晚期重轰炸，向地球输送挥发物，早期太阳系演化和恒星形成。该展览将在开放大学设计，并在曼彻斯特博物馆安装一个完整的工作版本。互动展示的第二个版本将被保留在开放大学，在那里它将根据从曼彻斯特博物馆的“现场”展览中收到的反馈进行进一步的开发工作。作为该项目的一部分，将制作一个联机互动网站，它将提供一种向广大读者提供这种资源的手段。该网站将包括一个可下载的平板电脑应用程序。

To the general public planetary science can often seem like a remote and impenetrable subject, far removed from normal everyday life. Dramatic events, such as the detonation of the Chelyabinsk fireball over Russia in early 2013, can briefly catch the collective imagination. However, media coverage often emphasises the potential dangers posed by such incidents and the science involved is only briefly discussed. And yet close encounters between people and space rocks are not particularly rare events. On average each year there are seven witnessed fireball events in which space rocks are subsequently recovered for scientific study (source: Meteoritical Bulletin for period 2001 to 2008). Even the United Kingdom, a comparatively small country in terms of surface area, has 18 authenticated falls from which samples were recovered. Based on our outreach activities at the Open University we know that being able to handle real meteorite samples invokes a dramatic response in people, inspiring curiosity and interest. Just holding our 10 kg sample of the iron meteorite Gibeon, which is nearly three times denser than a terrestrial surface rock, provokes people into asking questions about how and why asteroids and planets melt and then separate into a core, mantle and crust. Being able to touch a piece of Mars or the Moon changes a person's perceptions; space no longer seems quite so remote. Handling real samples from other worlds can, and does, dramatically alter attitudes, transforming people who were previously indifferent to space science into real enthusiasts. In short, meteorites have a unique potential to open up planetary and space sciences to all sections of the public.The central aim of this project is to inspire and educate the general public about planetary and space science by creating an exhibit that places real meteorites at the centre of an authoritative and interactive audiovisual display. At the heart of this project is our experience that by being able to hold and interact with real space materials inspires people's curiosity. As a result of being able to handle such samples they quickly formulate questions about a host of related topics, such as: How old are meteorites? Where do they come from? Do they pose a real and present danger? Where do you find them? Did they really kill the dinosaurs? How do you know we have meteorites from Mars and the Moon? To respond to such questions and to provide an exciting audiovisual experience, the exhibit will include an interactive display consisting of a touch-screen computer and large plasma screen display. This interactive system will provide a range of information, video materials, animations and face-to-face interviews aimed at highlighting topics relevant to many of the STFC Roadmap Science Challenges. The overall philosophy of the exhibit will be to show how samples that land on Earth can be used to investigate a wide range of astronomy and planetary science-related topics, including: Earth-crossing asteroids, structure and evolution of the asteroid belt, comets, the Late Heavy Bombardment of the inner Solar System, delivery of volatiles to Earth, early Solar System evolution and the formation of stars. The exhibit will be designed at the Open University with a full working version installed at the Manchester Museum. A second version of the interactive display will be retained at the Open University, where it will be used to undertake further development work based on the feedback received from the "live" exhibit at Manchester Museum. As part of the project, an on-line interactive website will be produced, which will provide a means of making this resource available to a wide audience. The website will include a downloadable application for tablet computers.