http://www.discovery.com/news/briefs/20000505/space_asteroid.html Asteroid a Giant, Metal Dog Bone By Larry O'Hanlon, Discovery.com News May 5, 2000 - An unparalleled peek at the asteroid Kleopatra has revealed it to be a bizarre, gigantic, metal dog bone the size of New Jersey. "With its dog-bone shape, Kleopatra has the most unusual shape we've seen in the solar system," said radio astronomer Steven Ostro, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who reports on the asteroid in the current issue of Science. One of larger asteroids in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, Kleopatra was discovered in 1880. But the space rock's shape was unknown until the researchers created the new radar images - the first ever made of a main belt asteroid. Kleopatra's surface appears to be made of a floury metallic powder, with metal rubble along its narrow neck. The metallic asteroid was apparently created by the slow-motion collision of two regular, spherical metallic asteroids, but no one has any idea exactly how such a collision could create the odd shape. "The real mystery in my mind is how you make a metal dumbbell the size of New Jersey," said Ostro. At roughly 140 miles by 50 miles, Kleopatra is also perhaps the solar system's biggest bonanza in usable metal deposits, if only someone had a way to get there and bring the riches back. Ostro's team used revamped radar equipment at the powerful Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico to construct a picture of the Kleopatra and its composition from radar signals bounced off the asteroid - then at a distance of about 106 million miles from Earth. The team chose Kleopatra because previous ground-based observations hinted that the rock was no ordinary potato-shaped asteroid. "It is one of the strangest objects in the solar system," said astronomer Clark Chapman of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo. Like most metallic asteroids, Kleopatra appears to be made of nickel and iron, with other metals mixed in. Like all metallic asteroids, it was likely once part of the metallic core of larger body - a planetoid or large asteroid - in which the metals melted out of other rocks and sank towards the center, as happened on Earth, explains Chapman. Many of these larger bodies were then blown apart in cosmic collisions. As for its mining potential, Ostro calculates there's probably enough gold on Kleopatra to produce eight million cubic meters of gold. But because of Kleopatra's distance, the gold would cost far more than its worth to bring it back. If space mining ever becomes a reality, says Ostro, its aim will probably be to get materials for structures that will remain in space. ================================ Robert F. Tatman [EMAIL PROTECTED] Jenkintown, PA, USA "Y Gwir Yn Erbyn y Byd"--Y Bardd Cymraeg "The Truth Against the World"--motto of the Welsh bards <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html <A HREF="http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
