When scientist Landon Knolls approached Jimmy Sierra and White’s Engineer Dan Geyer about the idea of using metal detectors to locate meteorites in Antarctica, it sparked their interest. Deciding the GMT would be best suited for the extreme temperatures down to -50C, they set to work customizing and testing. Special battery packs, Teflon-coated wires and special solder were incorporated. At Jimmy Sierra’s Forest Knolls shop, they used dry ice in special ice chests to test operation and performance at the extreme temperatures found in the Antarctic.

This was the first time metal detectors had been used in Antarctica, so Landon and his team made the trip last December not knowing whether they would find any meteorites. They adapted common gold-finding theories to locate likely areas and by the trips end, they had found several of the space rocks with the GMT’s. To avoid environmental contamination, the meteorites were located with GPS, but left in place.

The next expedition is scheduled for 2013 using White’s metal detectors once again. Landon plans to bring refrigeration equipment to retrieve the pristine meteorites so they can be transported to the lab for analysis. For information on joining the 2013 expedition, go to: landonnoll.com