Rice University researchers studying meteorite that landed in southeast Texas
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- It's one of those things that's hard to forget, especially if you were there.
Just a little less than a month ago, pieces of a meteorite landed across parts of southeast Texas. Now, Rice University has devoted a team of scientists to study them.
One member of that team said many meteorites are more than 4 billion years old and contain elements that could help scientists better understand how Earth formed.
On March 21, ABC13 reported that parts of it crashed through a woman's roof. According to NASA, it became visible over southwest Montgomery County, then moved at 35,000 miles an hour before breaking apart near the Cypress Station area, where she lives. The pieces being studied at Rice University are different parts of the same meteorite.
RELATED: Woman living near Cypress Station says piece of meteor went through her home's roof
Linda Fries, part of the research team, said it's incredibly rare to get your hands on pieces like these because meteorites are recovered only about 10 times a year.
"We want to understand how we got to be on Earth. How? Why is the Earth the way it is? Why is it unique? And meteorites are the start to answering that question because they basically provide us with all the tools that we need to understand how things began," Fries said.
According to NASA, if you find a piece of the meteorite, use clean gloves or aluminum foil to pick it up, and keep it in a zip-lock bag so it's not exposed to humidity.
