Portland State University received a $339,573.69 research grant from a civilian federal agency (via the Shared Services Center) with an ultimate completion date of December 31, 2024. The award, made on February 27, 2019, supports a scientific research project investigating the formation and thermal history of chondrites—meteoritic rocks that are critical to understanding early solar system processes. The project comprises three primary research objectives: testing whether hot chondrules accreted to form cluster chondrites while estimating accretion temperatures, annealing extent, and shock pressures; evaluating how Type 3 and 4 chondrites were compacted, heated, and lithified through collision-related processes; and assessing the relative importance of different heating mechanisms throughout solar system history. The research will provide characterization of mineral responses to shock across various shock stages, with methodologies applicable to samples returned from asteroid missions.
This grant is highly relevant to NASA's planetary science research priorities. The work will constrain the deformation and thermal histories of chondritic materials and advance understanding of endogenically heated asteroidal bodies in the early solar system, as well as the capacity of shock events to heat and anneal chondritic rocks. Portland State University, a public research institution with extensive experience securing federal research funding from agencies including the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and NASA, performed the work at its Portland, Oregon location. No set-aside designation was applied to this competitive award.