Along with Antarctica and the Sahara, one of the best places on earth to find meteorites is the dry lakebeds of New Mexico. So it's not surprising that among the first institutions established to study these extraterrestrial visitors is UNM's Institute of Meteoritics. The Institute celebrates its 75th anniversary with a Symposium on October 24 and 25 that includes an open house at the Institute's Meteorite Museum. The Director of the Institute, Dr. Carl Agee, joined KUNM to talk about meteorites.
"Meteorites are older than the earth. They're the earliest formed rocks in the solar system, 4.6 billion years old. So they give us a look back in time to that very early part of the solar system's history." And Dr. Agee explains the impulse behind the anniversary celebration. "We want people to be aware that this great museum exists. It's open to the public, right here in the heart of Albuquerque. And we want to be able to pass on this knowledge and these objects and this fabulous area of study to future generations."
In this more complete version of the interview, Dr. Agee talks about the role of the Institute, the Museum's meteorite collection, and the guest speakers and scholars for the anniversary symposium, including Apollo 17 astronaut, and former New Mexico Senator, Harrison "Jack" Schmitt.
