What happened in Santa Filomena exemplifies the difficult nature of ensuring that scientists have access to meteorites that fall in Brazil. With no regulation on the topic, anyone is free to buy or sell them without scientists having a chance to examine them. To address the issue, the Chamber of Deputies is currently discussing Bill No. 4,471\/2020, which would regulate the ownership of rocks from space with the aim of ensuring that samples are also sent to Brazilian scientific institutions.<\/p>\n
Plans in Bras\u00edlia<\/strong> \u201cBoth were composed of simple text that did not properly address the complexity of the topic and failed to guarantee that meteorite samples would be analyzed within Brazil,\u201d he adds. Vesule was invited to join a working group led by the Brazilian Geology Society (SBG)\u2014of which Zucolotto is also a member\u2014that brought together researchers to discuss which points should be included in a bill of this nature.<\/p>\n \u201cWe created the working group to ensure that scientific interests were taken into account,\u201d says SBG president Elisa Rocha Barbosa, a geologist from the Federal University of Goi\u00e1s (UFG). The team was composed of people from public universities, research institutes, and amateur astronomers. Barbosa went to Bras\u00edlia three times, together with Zucolotto, to talk to politicians about the bill.<\/p>\n Maria Elizabeth Zucolotto\u2009\/\u2009National Museum<\/span>Santa Filomena meteorite, weighing 2.5 kg, which now belongs to Brazil\u2019s National MuseumMaria Elizabeth Zucolotto\u2009\/\u2009National Museum<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n The scientists’ suggestions were presented at a public hearing held by the Mines and Energy Committee in 2022. \u201cOne of the aims was to define what meteorites are and to highlight why they cannot be considered a common rock. If they were, they would belong to the federal government according to the Brazilian Mining Code,\u201d explains Vesule. The new bill provides for a national meteorite registration certificate. If it is approved, every meteorite found in the national territory will have to be registered in the country, by law. \u201cThis ensures ownership for the finder of the object, who may sell it, but guarantees a sample for the scientific institution that analyzes it,\u201d explains the specialist.<\/p>\n To this end, the bill establishes the need for institutions certified to register meteorites, which must be Brazilian research organizations, and proposes that anyone who finds a meteorite will have 180 days to register it, free of charge. In return, approximately 20% of the rock must be transferred to the institution. The text also defines that meteorites can only be removed from the country after being registered.<\/p>\n \u201cThe current situation is a no man\u2019s land. If someone finds a meteorite, puts it in their pocket, and leaves the country, we have no means of control or benefit for science,\u201d says geologist Alvaro Cr\u00f3sta of the University of Campinas (UNICAMP), who is also a member of the working group.<\/p>\n This appears to be what happened with a meteorite from Mars weighing almost 4.5 kg that was collected in the town of Socorro, Pernambuco, and was only discovered by Brazilian researchers when it appeared in October 2021 in the database of the international organization The Meteoritical Society, a global reference for meteorite records. The rock was reportedly taken to Miami, USA, and sold to a collector who chose to remain anonymous.<\/p>\n \u201cGiven its size, rarity, and the market value of this type of meteorite, it is estimated that it could have been sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars,\u201d explains Cr\u00f3sta, a member of The Meteoritical Society\u2019s board of directors. Zucolotto managed to obtain a sample of the rock weighing almost 3 grams (g) for the museum’s collection. Since it is so small, it has not been possible to carry out an in-depth study of the material\u2014ideally, fragments for study should weigh at least 30 g. Brazil currently has 88 officially catalogued meteorites. \u201cThis is a very small number considering the size of the country. Worldwide, there are more than 76,000 records,\u201d adds Cr\u00f3sta.<\/p>\n At the beginning of November, the bill was submitted to the Committee for the Constitution, Justice, and Citizenship (CCJC), which will analyze whether it is constitutional. If approved, it will go to the plenary of the Chamber of Deputies. Barbosa believes the regulation could prevent traders from buying valuable meteorites from people for the prices of common rocks.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is the public that finds meteorites, not scientists,\u201d notes Zucolotto, who receives an average of five messages per day from people across the country asking her to evaluate rocks they believe to be meteorites. She has been traveling around the country with the \u201cMeteorites on the Road<\/a>\u201d project, which promotes science and seeks to spark an interest in meteorites among the public, showing them that they could one day find them. \u201cBy investigating the composition and characteristics of meteorites, we can understand the formation and evolution of the Solar System,\u201d she concludes.<\/p>\n
\nThe bill is based partly on suggestions from scientists in the field who worked together to modify the initial text. Another bill, also from September 2020, ended up being rejected. \u201cWhen they first emerged, the two bills proposed opposing paths\u2014one was aiming to define meteorites as private property and the other as state property,\u201d explains Rodrigo Vesule, a member of the space law and policy research group at the Catholic University of Santos.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/RPF-meteoritos-santa-filomena-2024-12-1140.jpg\")