CHELYABINSK, Russia - Divers have pulled a huge - and heavy - fragment of what scientists say is the meteorite that struck here Feb. 15 from a lake bed near this Russian city. The fragment weighed around 1,256 pounds, but the exact weight isn't clear because the meteorite split into three smaller pieces and broke the scales during the weighing attempt.
Reports in Russian and British news media say scientists believe this is definitely a piece of a meteor that streaked across the Russian sky causing a shock wave that shattered windows and injured 1,200 people. If confirmed, it would be one of the largest meteorite fragments ever recovered. Rocks that fall from space are called meteors while they are in the air and meteorites once they hit the ground.
Divers found the fragment in Lake Chebarkul in September, but the recovery was hampered by the fact that it was buried in mud and visibility was zero. The recovery team reportedly pumped mud out of the area for 10 days before the lift was made.
Scientists around the world, including those working for NASA in Alabama, were fascinated by the Russian meteor. Its passage across the sky was recorded on numerous car dash cameras, and the shock wave generated was recorded on security cameras in businesses across the city. The meteor wasn't spotted as it approached the Earth because it came out of the sun.
Estimates are that the meteor was the size of a school bus as it streaked across the sky, and the shock wave released 470 kilotons of energy. That's 30 times the power of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.