{"id":11242,"date":"2014-11-17T12:58:34","date_gmt":"2014-11-17T17:58:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.cos.ucf.edu\/?p=11242"},"modified":"2016-12-01T13:14:34","modified_gmt":"2016-12-01T18:14:34","slug":"meteorites-comets-new-crew-capsule-space-exploration-abuzz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/meteorites-comets-new-crew-capsule-space-exploration-abuzz\/","title":{"rendered":"UCF Physicist Contributes to Recent Meteorite Research"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"suttersmillphoto400x200\"<\/a>It\u2019s a big month for space exploration. Among the headlines: the successful landing of a spacecraft on a comet, the stunning findings unearthed in meteorites recovered from California, and the rollout of NASA\u2019s next-generation Orion crew capsule expected to take its test flight in December.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an exciting time to be involved in space exploration,\u201d said Mehmet Yesiltas, a University of Central Florida physics doctoral student who recently co-authored one of 13 papers<\/a> dedicated to findings made from the Sutter\u2019s Mill meteorite.<\/p>\n

The journal Meteoritics & Planetary Science dedicated this month\u2019s issue to the Sutter\u2019s Mill discoveries because the findings were so unusual. The materials found within the rocks include chemicals that were heated and cooled. Usually chemicals found in meteorites are one or the other, but not both.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mix suggests complex events in space that asteroids and comets undergo and it also suggests that primitive asteroids and comets may hold chemical clues to understanding how our solar system first formed,\u201d Yesiltas said.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s one reason why the European Space Agency\u2019s Rosetta mission that landed on a comet Nov. 13 and upcoming NASA and Japan Space Agency missions OSIRIS-REx <\/a>\u00a0 and Hayabusa 2<\/a> to collect and bring back asteroid samples are also generating excitement.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike my dissertation work, the Rosetta mission gives an opportunity to peek into formation and evolution of life\u2019s building blocks, and therefore formation of life,\u201d he said. \u201cAsteroids and comets may have bombarded early Earth, delivering their chemical composition to Earth via meteorites. Primitive asteroids like the targets of OSIRIS-REx and Hayabusa 2 may have even more clues.\u201d<\/p>\n

But deciphering these clues is no easy task. From recovering enough samples to using sophisticated techniques with advanced equipment, the process takes time and effort and often the findings generate more questions than answers.<\/p>\n

Yesiltas spent months studying the Sutter\u2019s Mill samples at the Synchrotron Radiation Center at University of Wisconsin-Madison and at the Material Characterization Facility at UCF to get the best analysis and infrared images possible.<\/p>\n

Yesiltas\u2019 research area of focus is meteorites, but he eagerly awaits the results of the Rosetta mission and looks forward to the discoveries to be made through OSIRIS-REx, Hayabusa 2 and even manned flights of the future.<\/p>\n

Yesiltas\u2019s collaborators on the Sutter\u2019s Mill paper include: Yoko Kebukawa from the Yokohama National University in Japan, Robert Peale from UCF, Eric Mattison and Carol J. Hirschmugl from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Peter Jenniskens from the SETI Institute and NASA Ames Research Center. Jenniskens is the lead investigator for the Sutter\u2019s Mill Meteorite Consortium and also a lead author or collaborator on all the papers in the journal.<\/p>\n

Yesiltas has a master\u2019s degree in physics from Florida State University and a bachelor\u2019s degree from Ondokuz Mayis University in Turkey. He joined UCF in 2011 to seek a Ph.D. and as a research assistant. He spent his summer of 2012 at NASA\u2019s Ames Research Center working on the infrared spectroscopy of meteorites He expects to earn his Ph.D. in physics from UCF in 2015.<\/p>\n

Read original story from UCF Today here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s a big month for space exploration. Among the headlines: the successful landing of a spacecraft on a comet, the stunning findings unearthed in meteorites recovered from California, and the rollout of NASA\u2019s next-generation Orion crew capsule expected to take its test flight in December. \u201cIt\u2019s an exciting time to be involved in space exploration,\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":11243,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[31,38,40,13,14,15,27,28,29],"tags":[2237,2262,2376,3240,3246,3457,3608,3750],"class_list":["post-11242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-news","category-breaking-news","category-graduate-student-news","category-news","category-physics-departments","category-planetary-sciences","category-stem","category-top-news","category-ucf-news","tag-mehmet-yesiltas","tag-meteoritics-planetary-science","tag-nasa","tag-sutters-mill","tag-synchrotron-radiation-center","tag-ucf","tag-ucf-physics","tag-university-of-wisconsin-madison"],"yoast_head":"\nUCF Physicist Contributes to Recent Meteorite Research - College of Sciences News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/meteorites-comets-new-crew-capsule-space-exploration-abuzz\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UCF Physicist Contributes to Recent Meteorite Research - College of Sciences News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It\u2019s a big month for space exploration. Among the headlines: the successful landing of a spacecraft on a comet, the stunning findings unearthed in meteorites recovered from California, and the rollout of NASA\u2019s next-generation Orion crew capsule expected to take its test flight in December. \u201cIt\u2019s an exciting time to be involved in space exploration,\u201d […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/meteorites-comets-new-crew-capsule-space-exploration-abuzz\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"College of Sciences News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-11-17T17:58:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-12-01T18:14:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2014\/11\/suttersmillphoto400x200.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"231\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Judy Froehlich\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Judy Froehlich\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/meteorites-comets-new-crew-capsule-space-exploration-abuzz\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/meteorites-comets-new-crew-capsule-space-exploration-abuzz\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Judy Froehlich\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/d0a56f308c46b7b3e18f52d6ef199e82\"},\"headline\":\"UCF Physicist Contributes to Recent Meteorite Research\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-11-17T17:58:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-12-01T18:14:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/meteorites-comets-new-crew-capsule-space-exploration-abuzz\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":525,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/meteorites-comets-new-crew-capsule-space-exploration-abuzz\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/29\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/suttersmillphoto400x200.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Mehmet Yesiltas\",\"Meteoritics& Planetary Science\",\"nasa\",\"Sutter's Mill\",\"Synchrotron Radiation Center\",\"UCF\",\"UCF Physics\",\"University of Wisconsin-Madison\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Alumni News\",\"COS News\",\"Graduate Student News\",\"News\",\"Physics\",\"Planetary Sciences\",\"STEM\",\"Top News\",\"UCF News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/meteorites-comets-new-crew-capsule-space-exploration-abuzz\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/meteorites-comets-new-crew-capsule-space-exploration-abuzz\\\/\",\"name\":\"UCF Physicist Contributes to Recent Meteorite Research - 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