Niger Meteorite Recon

www.niger-meteorite-recon.de
Meteorite scalecubes

Part one. The Origin of species

Picture 1. North arrow with integrated metric scalebar, image courtesy of Cultural Technologies

In the early 19th century the beginning of photography also lead to new practices in the documentation of historic artefacts and natural objects. To supply the viewer of an image with information on dimensions and the relative position of an object, specific devices like the north arrow and the metric photography scale bar came into use.

When Buchwald compiled his Handbook of Iron Meteorites in the mid seventies of the past century, the metric scale bar was on every meteorite curator's desk. Different models can be seen with many of the specimen pictured in the three volumes of the Handbook since the metric bar is the ideal reference scale for any object larger than a man's fist.

But there was a certain kind of information the scale bar could not transport. It was limited to a two-dimensional use. When the same meteorite is shown in a series of photographs one might want to know which surface is the one presented and how it is related to the others. If a meteorite find is photographed in situ, how do we secure information on its relative position? If you have ever been confronted with the task to focus on both - not only the meteorite in situ but also a GPS or a north arrow - then you will know the problem.

Picture 2. Early type A scalecube pictured with lunar meteorite MAC81005 recovered from the MacAlpine Hills Icefield in 1981. Image courtesy of NASA

Like a deus ex machina an innovation hit the scene that could not have had a greater impact on the conventions of meteorite photography: The meteorite scalecube, calibre 10 mm. Engraved with letters representing both the cardinal points adittionally to top and bottom, the metric scalecube elevated the genus of reference tools into the third dimension.

We wanted to know who came up first with the cubic invention, so we asked NASA but nobody there lay claim to the revolutionary idea. More precisely we didn’t receive an answer at all so we must assume that NASA keeps their scalecube files restricted up to the present day. With no access to this vital information, we were forced to push forward our own clandestine investigation.

Picture 3. Same cube model, probably the same cube as used in picture 1, this time sharing company with celebrity ALH 84001. Image courtesy of NASA

Scanning through ANSMET archives, we found early photographs featuring scalecubes dating back to the time of the cold war in the late seventies. We have not yet been able to identify the mother of all cubes, but the device displayed in picture 2 is without doubt a very early version. The material seems to be solid metal, engraved letters are approx 5 mm tall and less than 5 mm wide. This version already has the vertical ‘I’ serving as a bottom indicator. The style of lettering seems to be Arial narrow. In the following we will refer to this version as the type A cube.

Picture 4. Russian cube model, unknown production date, pictured with Sikhote Alin sample. Image courtesy of Vernadsky Institute, Moscow.

On the other side of the great pond NASA’s headstart in meteorite scalecube technology did not stay unnoticed for long. The Russian academy of sciences, known for their effective intelligence, countered the US provocation with ease. Their answer was an easy to operate, technologically less complicated and aesthetically pleasing cube. Instead of Arrial Narrow the Vernadsky team used a plain Arial font. Presumably to save production capacities, they decided to spare the bottom indicator. But the major advantage of the communist version was its large letters that could be read clearly from a greater distance than the small inscriptions of the US version.

The counterblow of the Vernadsky institute must have triggered an arms race between the meteorite curators of both blocks. And NASA's reaction was quick and determined. In the early eighties a new version of the cube was launched. In order to demonstrate the regained superiority in the field of meteorite photography reference tools, a couple of images were
released that displayed their latest version.

Picture 5. Type B cube, pictured with Alan Hills 81005. Image courtesy of NASA.

The most striking innovation of the new model was the common base line of bottom indicator and capital letter. The broader font used in the new model appears to be Lucida Console. And there is one more distinguishing charactaristic of this model. The white stained gravure shows zones where the edges look a little jagged. This indicates the use of an aluminium alloy with a low share of silicium. The thin anodized layer that gives the cube its bronzed black color tends
to tear more easily when the material is worked with a milling head.

Picture 6. Vintage type A cube (right) and later type B version (left), pictured with L3 Chondrite Meteorite Hills 00506. Photo courtesy of NASA

After the cold war ended, NASA’s type A cube was put into service again. A year 2000 photography features both the older and the newer version in comparison. Particularly interesting in this photograph (picture 6) is the fact that two different versions of the cube were chosen to serve as a reference device. Could it be possible that the reputation of the powerful Space Agency ‘s meteorite documentation program based on the possession of just a single pair of cubes?

Click to continue
Part 1, "The Origin" | Part 2, "Renaissance" | Part 3, "The Next Generation"