Astromaterials Curation

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The Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office is responsible for the curation of extraterrestrial samples from NASA's past and future sample return missions. Our mission includes the documentation, preservation, preparation, and distribution of samples from the Moon, asteroids, comets, the solar wind, and the planet Mars.

Moon rock and soil sample during collection

Lunar Sample Collection

Scientist working with sample in Curation lab

Antarctic Meteorite Sample Collection

Genesis Collection

Curation

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Lunar rocks and regolith returned from the Moon by the Apollo and the Luna missions

Meteorites collected by the Antarctic Search for Meteorites (ANSMET) Program

Cometary and interstellar samples collected during the Stardust mission to Comet Wild–2

Solar wind samples collected at the Earth-Sun L1 point during the Genesis mission

Cosmic dust grains and orbital debris collected in the stratosphere by high-flying aircraft

Space-exposed surfaces retrieved from satellites and mission spacecraft

Asteroid samples collected during the JAXA Hayabusa mission