Every once in a while a very special meteorite comes along
that we like to take to the University of Central Florida (UCF) so they
can measure the bulk density. They use two different methods to make
these measurements. The first is a pycnometer which uses helium
as the medium and the other method utilizes tiny glass beads. It takes approximately
1 - 1.5 hours to do both the glass bead and helium methods to measure
a sample. There are several repetitive steps needed to get enough
measurements to determine an overall average density for the meteorite.
I have taken several planetary meteorites and some very special achondrites to UCF
over the years. The scientists who I have worked with are; Dr. Dan Britt
of UCF and Vatican scientists Dr. Bob Macke and Dr. Guy Consolmagno.