Future directions in meteorite research

Information presently available on meteorite composition and history and the areas in meteorite research that should be covered in future in order to shed additional light on the earliest history of the solar system are discussed. Attention is given to the work needed in the classification schemes for chondrites, the question of the identification of parent bodies of the major meteorite and chondrite types, the igneous differentiation of certain asteroids, the effects of irradiation, the solar-system chronology, and issues concerning the early solar system. Other important areas discussed include the elemental composition of chondrites, the magnetic properties of meteorites, the composition and the petrology of chondrules, the properties of primitive material surviving in chondrites, the micrometeorites, the nebula, the presolar material in meteorites, the nucleosynthesis, and the nucleocosmochronology.