Scientists Recover Fragment of Asteroid 2018 LA in Botswana

On June 23, 2018, an international team of experts from Botswana, South Africa, Finland, and the United States successfully recovered a meteorite in Botswana’s Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR).

The meteorite is a fragment of asteroid 2018 LA, which collided with Earth on June 2, 2018, creating a fireball that exploded over Botswana shortly after entering the atmosphere. The event was witnessed by residents in Botswana and neighboring countries and recorded on multiple security cameras.

Asteroid 2018 LA was detected in space just eight hours before impact by the Catalina Sky Survey, operated by the University of Arizona and sponsored by NASA’s Planetary Defense program. This marks only the third time an asteroid destined to hit Earth was detected early and only the second time fragments have been recovered. After the asteroid disintegrated, its fragments were scattered by wind over a wide area. Calculations of the fall zone were conducted independently by Peter Jenniskens of NASA’s SETI Institute and by Esko Lyytinen and Jarmo Moilanen from the Finnish Fireball Network (FFN).

The first fragment was discovered after five days of meticulous searching by geoscientists from the Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST), the Botswana Geoscience Institute (BGI), and the University of Botswana’s Okavango Research Institute (ORI). Park rangers from the Department of Wildlife and National Parks assisted and ensured protection in the reserve.

The find is significant both scientifically and for improving Earth’s asteroid defense systems. Jenniskens, who joined the search in Botswana, worked with Oliver Moses (ORI) to collect security footage to better pinpoint the fireball’s explosion. The joint expedition was led by Professor Alexander Proyer (BIUST), with coordination by BGI senior curator Mohutsiwa Gabadirwe. Professor Roger Gibson from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa also aided in locating the fall zone. The meteorite was ultimately spotted by BIUST geologist Lesedi Seitshiro, and searches for additional fragments are ongoing under the leadership of Dr. Fulvio Franchi (BIUST) and Tomas Kohout (FFN, University of Helsinki).

Meteorites are legally protected in Botswana. The recovered fragment will be curated by the Botswana National Museum and further studied by a research consortium coordinated by the Botswana Geoscience Institute.