Meteors - Meteorites - Meteoroids - Shooting Stars

When a meteorite is found, the ANSMET (Antarctic Search for Meteorites) team records its location, size, color, amount of fusion crust, probable type, and anything else that might be important. Some of their tools are similar to those used by the Apollo astronauts to collect samples, and some are the latest high-tech (like Global Positioning Satellite navigation). The team takes great care not to contaminate the meteorites.

After meteorites are found in Antarctica, they are carried to the Antarctic Meteorite Laboratory at NASA's Johnson Space Center. There, the meteorites are cataloged, examined, classified, and stored. This shows technicians working with meteorites in a sterile cabinet filled with dry nitrogen gas. The dry gas keeps the meteorites relatively free of contamination and keeps them from rusting.

Shooting stars or meteors are bits of material falling through Earth's atmosphere; they are heated to incandescence by the friction of the air. The bright trails as they are coming through the Earth's atmosphere are termed meteors, and these chunks as they are hurtling through space are called meteoroids. Large pieces that do not vaporize completely and reach the surface of the Earth are termed meteorites.