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First Find
Left to right: Peter Jenniskens, meteor astronomer at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., and the SETI Institute Mountain View, Calif., and Mohammed Alameen, a student at the University of Khartoum, Sudan, point to the first meteorite from asteroid 2008TC3 found. After two hours of searching, on Dec. 6, 2008 Alameen found the peanut-sized meteorite, called Almahata Sitta, which means "Station Six" in Arabic after the nearby site where eyewitnesses had seen the asteroid's fiery entry. Jenniskens confirmed the discovery was a meteorite because of its characteristic black crust. Alameen and Jenniskens use aluminum foil when handling the meteorites to prevent contamination.
Photo Credit: NASA Ames Research Center / SETI / Peter Jenniskens