We were recently contacted by Jay and Nancy Morrissette at the Maine-based Western Marine Steel with an interesting inquiry. They knew we have an Artec 3D Scanner, a wireless handless device used to scan three-dimensional objects with near-perfect accuracy. (It’s an incredibly cool device that is reminiscent of the bodiless Johnnie 5 from the 1986 classic Short Circuit.)
They called and let us know that they had a 7,000-pound meteorite that was discovered somewhere in Siberia, and they needed help determining how to best build a base to support the out-of-this-world object. Their client, the Maine Mineral & Gem Museum, wanted to put the meteorite on display, alongside some their other impressive collection of meteorites and rare minerals. But, unless you’re Bruce Willis and joined with a teamed of loveable oil-rig roughnecks, you can’t just drill a bunch of holes in a 5-billion-year-old piece of space iron. So, you need to get creative on how you can support a heavy, oddly shaped, and extremely rare, object.
We used the Artec to scan all faces of the meteor, and then used out 3D printer to produce a 1:10 scale model of the object. This helped to determine the best way a support system would work—the initial plan was to build the display stand at a certain angle, but thanks to the scale model, a better angle was found, one that would allow the museum to highlight some interesting facets of the meteorite.
The meteorite and stand are scheduled to be on display at the Maine Mineral & Gem Museum by the end of the year. And if you can’t come to Maine, the meteorite is heading on another, albeit shorter journey, soon—it will be careening toward Rockefeller Center in New York City as part of a temporary exhibit soon.