I never thought of that elton, but indeed, at that atitude, it was hard to breath, I had altitude sickness much of the time, there, shortness of breath, headaches and loss of apetite. At that altitude, the air is very thin. I am sure that helped the meteorite retain some speed, not to mention the fact that it must weigh some tons. mike
--- Mr EMan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > As to the mention of dense atmosphere, doesn't 90% > of > the mass of the atmosphere lie below 2.5 miles above > sea level/asl? > > I surmise that the shear(no pun) height of the > ground > there with the combination of a large meteoroid mass > may have allowed for more retention of cosmic > velocity > then expected. The meteorite had the happenstance > of > hitting the ground before the atmosphere had the > opportunity to deliver its main blow. > > Five miles was the traditional estimate of the lower > limit where ablative flight was possible. I know of > a > case where a bolide apparently was incandescent at > nearly 3 miles asl. If the event in Peru was at 2.6 > miles asl and while, ablation all the way to the > ground may seem unlikely--For only another half > mileĀ± > of flight, this sucker may have still been smoking > when it landed! > > Inquiring minds ya know. > > Elton > ______________________________________________ > Meteorite-list mailing list > Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com > http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list > ______________________________________________ Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list