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“These are irreplaceable national treasurers because we’re not going back to the moon any time soon,” saidMs. Kratz in respect of lunar rocks made up of exotic-sounding Orange Soil, Highlands Soil, Mare Soil,Breccia and Anorthosite. “This is space exploration for a new generation because today’s kids haven’texperienced the excitement in the same way as another generation had during Apollo.”But the most exciting chapter of space exploration, could be in the future, said Professor Irving Robbins,director of the astrophysical observatory at the College of Staten Island, who will give a multimediapresentation Monday for all ages that he has dubbed “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Asteroids andComets.”The chips of meteorites on display the Center, some of which came from chunks of spacerock that fell toearth in Mexico in 1969, contain minerals increasingly difficult or impossible to find on Earth.“There is a tremendous amount of wealth out in the Astrobelt,” said Robbins, describing a place in spacebetween Mars and Jupiter with millions of asteroids — “chunky little bodies,” some of which are 1,000 milesacross. “I’m going to be speaking about one value, awareness: There is a bigger universe than just StatenIsland.”Energy-starved earthlings should look to comets for hydrocarbons, ammonia and methane for fuel, and theorganic compounds integral to fertilizer and synthetic gasoline, Robbins said.“So when the price of gas is $50 a gallon, there are resources waiting for us out there,” said Robbins. “If wedon’t exploit them, we’re going back to the stone age. The future of humanity is in space.”After Robbins speaks from 1 to 2 p.m. on Monday, his faculty colleague Professor Alan I. Benimoff, who didhis Ph.D. thesis on lunar rocks, will present “The Nature and Origin of the Moon” from 2 to 3 p.m.© 2011 SILive.com. All rights reserved.Page 23 of 157