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Are Meteorites as Strong as Steel?

Some of the elements abundant in the Earth are also found in meteorites that have landed. One of the most common elements in the Earth's crust, iron, is also one of the most abundant elements found in meteorites. In fact, most of the iron on Earth was deposited by meteorite impacts. Since steel is made primarily from iron, most steel contains iron that had once been hurtling through space. But just because steel is made from meteorite iron does not mean that those meteorites are as strong as steel.

Meteorites
- A shooting star is actually a meteor flying through the atmosphere.
  
  Space is filled with objects. Icy comets streak through the galaxy and rocks fly through space at amazing speeds. Chunks of rock traveling in space are called meteoroids. They may be debris from larger meteoroids, asteroids or moons. When meteoroids enter the earth's atmosphere they glow brightly from the heat of atmospheric friction caused by speeds of 150,000 miles per hour. In the atmosphere, they are called meteors. Most meteors disintegrate or burn up before impacting the earth, but some do reach the ground. Any meteor that does hit the earth is called a meteorite.
Composition
- Meteorites are naturally occurring objects that fall into three general categories based on their composition. Stony meteorites are made from mostly rocky material, but there are also stony/iron and iron meteorites. Stony/iron meteorites have roughly equal amounts of metallic iron and stony materials, while iron meteorites contain primarily nickel and iron.
Steel
- Steel does not occur naturally anywhere in the universe. It is a man-made alloy, developed for strength. Iron is the main component of steel, but unlike the natural iron in meteorites, the iron in steel has been carefully refined to combine with other materials in the alloy process to make steel. Steel is engineered to have great strength.
Material Strength
- Strength describes a material's ability to withstand stresses. Different man-made materials are designed to withstand different types of stress. Different steel alloys are engineered with specific strength properties in mind. So one steel alloy might have more shear strength, the ability to resist stress applied parallel to the material face, while another alloy may have greater tensile strength, the ability to resist stress applied perpendicular to the material face.
Meteorites vs. Steel
- Steel is used to construct buildings, bridges, vehicles and other objects. Even though steel is used in construction for different purposes, strength is usually the primary purpose for building with steel. The natural forces that create meteorites cannot consider their physical properties. Stony meteorites are basically rocks, which do not have strength characteristics equal to steel. Even iron meteorites don't have the strength of the engineered steel, which is made primarily from refined iron.

Astronomy