"These new observations have helped us demonstrate that Lafayette's origin story is plausible. Marissa Tremblay, of the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences at Purdue, added, "The Lafayette meteorite is very special to Purdue, particularly now that we have a thriving planetary science research group which just celebrated its 10th anniversary. I'm very glad that one of them may have been there to see Lafayette land and to donate it to Purdue University."Ĭo-author of the paper Dr. "I'm proud that, a century after it reached Earth, we're finally able to reconstruct the circumstances of its landing and get closer than we've ever been to giving credit to the Black student who found it. It's also a useful reminder of the importance of protecting samples of Martian rock which we expect to return to Earth from unmanned Mars rover missions in the coming years." "The unusual combination of Lafayette's swift protection from the elements and the tiny trace of contamination which it picked up during its brief time in the mud is what made this work possible. Meteorites which are left out in the elements for any significant length of time have their top layers weathered away, reducing their research value as they collect terrestrial contaminants." "Part of what has made it so valuable is that it's remarkably well-preserved, which means it must have been recovered quickly after it landed, as Lafayette's origin story suggested. "Lafayette is a truly beautiful meteorite sample, which has taught us a lot about Mars through previous research," concludes O'Brien. Clockwise from top left: Hermanze Edwin Fauntleroy, Clinton Edward Shaw, Julius Lee Morgan and Clyde Silance Purdue University The four Black students from Purdue University the researchers identifed, one of whom may have. The researchers conclude that it is possible that one of these men found Lafayette, as suggested by Nininger's origin story from 1935. A fourth man, Clyde Silance, was studying at Purdue in 1927. Julius Lee Morgan and Clinton Edward Shaw, of the class of 1921, and Hermanze Edwin Fauntleroy, of the class of 1922, were enrolled at Purdue in 1919. There were reported sightings of a fireball across southern Michigan and northern Indiana on November 26, 1919, and one in 1927 which dropped the Tilden meteorite in Illinois.Īrchivists at Purdue University also looked at yearbooks from 19 to find Black students enrolled at the time. Meteorites heat up as they descend through the Earth's atmosphere, causing a bright streak of fire across the sky. With higher prevalence of the fungus comes a greater likelihood that it would be carried beyond the boundaries of farmland.Īnalysis of fireball sightings over the same period provided more potential clues to the timing of Lafayette's landing. Their records showed that the fungus caused a 10 to 15 percentage drop in crop yield in 1919, and another less pronounced drop in 1927 - the highest prevalence in the 20 years before 1931, when the meteorite was identified. O'Brien turned to researchers at Purdue University's Department of Agronomy and Department of Botany and Plant Pathology to find out more about the historic prevalence of F. They suggested that dust from crops in neighboring farmland could have carried DON to surrounding waterways, and that Lafayette might have been contaminated by it when the meteorite landed in a pond.ĭr. O'Brien mentioned it to colleagues who were familiar with the story of Lafayette's muddy touchdown. Intrigued by the presence of a vomitoxin in the meteorite, Dr. It causes sickness in humans and animals when ingested, with pigs being particularly badly affected. DON is a "vomitoxin" found in Fusarium graminearum, a fungus which contaminates grain crops like corn, wheat and oats. O'Brien noticed an unusually earthbound one - deoxynivalenol or DON. Among the thousands of organic molecules revealed by the analysis, Dr.
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