Michael Knight., age 12. Of Jonesboro., la.., for his question:

Why don't falling stars hit the earth?

A so. called falling star is usually no bigger than a grain of sand. It shines bright as a star because it is burning with terrific heat, and the small spark makes a vivid blaze against the velvety background of the dark sky. The solid minerals in the small., falling body are consumed to ashes long before it reaches the ground.

These falling specks are meteors, and millions of them fall flaming through the atmosphere  every day. A few larger ones also fall. If a meteor weighs 10 pounds or more some of it may survive the fire. It lands as a stony pebble or a lump of metallic minerals  and we call it a meteorite.