HOW MUCH IS AN ASTEROID WORTH?

    Peekskill, New York, 1991. A 26 pound meteor from the asteroid belt tore through the trunk of a red Chevy Malibu. The meteorite fetchedsixty-nine thousand dollars. The Chevy, a total wreck, sold for ten thousand dollars.

    It is estimated that a kilometer-size, nickel-iron asteroid contains7 billion tons of iron, 1 billion tons of nickel, and enough cobalt to supply theentire world for 3000 years. The total value at today's prices would be about five trillion dollars!