Astromaterials at JSC
by Doug Blanchard
NASA JSC
Actinig Astromaterials Curator

The JSC curatorial facility is preparing to receive new solar system samples. We are working with Discovery Missions, Genesis and Stardust, on solar wind and comet dust collectors that will be returned to Earth. And, of course, we are getting serious about the preparations for the return of Mars samples. We rearranged the division to strengthen these initiatives. We created a small Office of the Curator to spearhead our curatorial preparations and activities. The collection Curators are now Planetary Science Branch members who take responsibility for one of the collections. This gives the Astromaterials (A-M) Curator important visibility at JSC, it frees the A-M Curator to be an active advocate for sample return missions and to continue to be a research scientist, and it makes all of the resources of the division available as needed to accomplish the expanding curatorial role. We are engaged in a worldwide search and hope to name the new A-M Curator by summer.