Re: fossils in orbit

["Richard W. Travsky" <rtravsky@uwyo.edu>]

On Tue, 27 Apr 2004, Eric Martichuski wrote:
> I just read that a coelophysis skull was taken up on the shuttle in 1989 
> (ish) and then transfered to Mir, where it orbited for some time.
> 
> Does anyone have a clue as to _why_ they did this?  A publicity stunt or 
> some zero-gee paleontological research or what?

Actually, it was 1998.

 http://www.cnn.com/TECH/9801/11/dinosaur.in.space.ap/

 January 11, 1998

 PITTSBURGH (AP) -- In a case of the Flintstones meets the Jetsons,
 dinosaur bones are taking a ride on the space shuttle.

 Retired astronaut Jay Apt, now director of the Carnegie Museum of Natural
 History, offered a 214-million-year-old Coelophysis skull to NASA for the
 upcoming mission of the space shuttle Atlantis, which lifts off January
 22.

 "This remarkable opportunity to marry the Earth's history with
 humankind's future is what the Museum of Natural History is all about,"
 Apt said.

 The 8-inch-long skull will not be the object of any study but is included
 among several lightweight items taken on each shuttle flight for the
 novelty of being in space, said National Aeronautics and Space
 Administration spokeswoman Audrey Rivers. 
 ...


Short bio of Dr. Apt is at

 http://www.annonline.com/interviews/980121/biography.html