Antarctic Meteorite Sample Request Guidelines

Requests for US Antarctic Meteorite samples are welcomed from research scientists of all countries, regardless of their current state of funding for meteorite studies. Student requests should have a supervising scientist listed to confirm access to facilities for analysis. All sample requests will be reviewed in a timely manner, and these fall into two categories:

1) Many requests for equilibrated ordinary chondrites and other more common or large meteorites can be reviewed and assessed by the NASA Antarctic Meteorite Curator, and allocated in the course of several weeks to a month.  

2) However, some meteorites are protected because of their small size or their rarity.  These meteorites are referred to as "special" and cannot be allocated unilaterally by the NASA Curator.  Instead, the requests are reviewed and assessed by the Meteorite Working Group.  This group meets twice a year – in late September and mid-March – to discuss meteorites that fall into this category.  The deadline for submitting a request is generally three weeks before the scheduled meeting. The Antarctic meteorite "special list" is updated at every meeting; samples can move off the list if a particular meteorite type becomes more common, and new samples are typically moved onto the list if they are unusual finds, or become low in available mass.

How to Request:

An electronic request form must be filled out for any Antarctic meteorite sample.  Each request should accurately refer to meteorite samples by their respective identification numbers and should provide detailed scientific justification for proposed research. Specific requirements for samples, such as sizes or weights, particular locations (if applicable) within individual specimens, or special handling or shipping procedures should be explained in each request. Some meteorites are small, of rare type, or are considered special because of unusual properties. Therefore, it is very important that all requests specify both the optimum amount of material needed for the study and the minimum amount of material that can be used. Requests for thin sections which will be used in destructive procedures such as ion probe, laser ablation, etch or even repolishing, must be stated explicitly. Consortium requests should list the members in the consortium. All necessary information should be typed on the electronic form, although informative attachments (reprints of publication that explain rationale, flow diagrams for analyses, etc.) are welcome.

ELECTRONIC REQUEST FORM

The purpose of the sample request form is to obtain all information the JSC curatorial staff and MWG needs prior to their deliberations to make an informed decision on the request.

Please note that the form has signature blocks. These should be used only if the form is sent via FAX or postal service to us. We prefer to have the requests sent by e-mail to: JSC-ARES-MeteoriteRequest@nasa.gov. Please type "MWG Request" in the e-mail subject line.

Requests received after the deadline may possibly be delayed until the following MWG meeting.

Samples can be requested from any meteorite that has been made available through announcement in any issue of the Antarctic Meteorite Newsletter (beginning with 1 (1) in June, 1978). Many of the meteorites have also been described in five Smithsonian Contributions to Earth Sciences: Nos. 23, 24, 26, 28, and 30. A table containing all classification as of February 1992 is published in Meteoritics 29(1) p. 100-143 and updated as of April 1996 in Meteoritics and Planetary Science 31, p. A161-174; 33, A221-A239; 34, A169-A186; 35, A199-A225; 36, A293-A322; 37, A157-A189. The most current listing is contained on this site.