Lyle castens, age 10, of Flat River, Mo.: for his question:

What are meteorites made from?

Not so long ago, meteorites were divided into two or perhaps three classes. But lately, experts have taken a closer look at thes7  fallen space travelers. Each has Its own story to tell, and all meteorites do not fit into the old classes. A few of them contain hydrocarbons somewhat like the compounds used to build living cells.

Almost every museum has a few meteorites on display. Some of them are massive lumps of pitted metals, dark as lead. These are the metallic meteorites. On an average, they are made from 92% iron, 7% nickel and a trace of cobalt. These Elements, of course, are found on the Earth. But the metals in a meteorite are shaped from masses of round grains and granules called chondrules. These granular meteorites are called chondrites. Stony meteorites are made from rocky minerals such as silica and magnesium oxides. some of these minerals are like the common minerals of the Earth's crust. Hundreds of meteorites strike the Earth Each day, but only a few are found. Most of these, Perhaps 90% of them, are stony meteorites. A few are made Entirely from metals. There is a third group Of meteorites in which metals and stony miaerals are mixed together.  Scientists are now studying still another group of meteorites. They have been named the carboriaceous chondrites because they contain carbon and their material is in the form of granular chondrules. The carbon in these meteorites may be in the for of hydrocarbons similar to the basic compounds used to build living cells.

This is amazing news. We naturally wonder how these life building chemicals got into these rare  meteorites. These  meteorites are made of a fragile material like sooty black clay. Perhaps, as they rested on the ground, Some  of the Earth's own carbon compounds seeped into their soft pores. Perhaps they were  in the chondrite when it landed on the Earth. If this is so, then other worlds may have the basic

Chemicals to build living cells. No one  can be  sure until we  know more about meteorites and the substances from which they are made. All the solids, liquids and gases in the universe are made from 100 or so basic chemical elements. Iron, nickel and more than 30 other Elements have been found in Meteorites. Some  meteorites contain trapped nitrogen, hydrogen or other gases. Same contain silica and other compounds found on Earth. A few contain hydrocarbons. So far, meteorites have given us nothing new. They seem to be  made from materials just like  those from which our own world is made.