NASA Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office

NASA Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office
Name	NASA Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office
Formed	1979
Jurisdiction	United States
Headquarters	Johnson Space Center
Parent agency	National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Contents

NASA Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office

The NASA Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office preserves, documents, and distributes extraterrestrial samples returned by Apollo program, Luna program, STARDUST, OSIRIS‑REx, and other missions, supporting research by institutions such as Smithsonian Institution, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and University of Arizona. It operates within the Johnson Space Center framework and coordinates with agencies and organizations including European Space Agency, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Russian Federal Space Agency, National Science Foundation, and Department of Energy to manage provenance, access, and long‑term stewardship. The office balances scientific access for investigators from institutions like Brown University, University of California, Berkeley, University of Chicago, Harvard University, and Stanford University with obligations to preserve samples for future research and missions such as Artemis program and Mars Sample Return.

History and mission

The office evolved from early curation efforts following the Apollo 11 return and formalized policies inspired by lessons from Luna 16, Hayabusa, Viking program, and later sample missions like Genesis (NASA) and Hayabusa2. Its mission statement reflects guidance from National Research Council (United States), coordination with Office of Science and Technology Policy, and compliance with National Aeronautics and Space Act provisions. Key milestones include establishment of cold curation capabilities in response to discoveries from Antarctic meteorite collection and the need to preserve volatiles identified in Comet Wild 2, Bennu, and Ryugu. Oversight and program reviews have been conducted with involvement from Academy of Sciences, European Space Research and Technology Centre, and advisory panels linked to Lunar and Planetary Institute.

The office is organized into acquisition, curation, analytical support, and outreach groups that liaise with centers such as Marshall Space Flight Center, Goddard Space Flight Center, Ames Research Center, and Kennedy Space Center. Facilities include cleanrooms, gloveboxes, and cold storage built to standards used by National Institute of Standards and Technology, Smithsonian Institution conservation labs, and cryogenic infrastructure comparable to Large Hadron Collider‑style temperature control for sample integrity. Specialized laboratories at the Johnson Space Center support isotopic analysis, petrography, and organic geochemistry with instrumentation provided in collaboration with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and university partners.

Holdings encompass lunar regolith and rocks from Apollo 11, Apollo 12, Apollo 15, Antarctic meteorites curated from ANSMET, returned cometary grains from STARDUST, interplanetary dust particles collected via Long Duration Exposure Facility, asteroid samples from Hayabusa, Hayabusa2, and OSIRIS‑REx, and curated fragments from atmospheric collection programs tied to Genesis (NASA). The collection includes curated subsamples allocated to investigators at institutions such as California Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Arizona, University of Hawaiʻi, and University of New Mexico, and maintains documentation in databases compatible with standards from International Council for Science and metadata schemas used by Smithsonian Institution archives.

Acquisition protocols are coordinated with mission principal investigators (e.g., teams from Jet Propulsion Laboratory and NASA Goddard), international partners like European Space Agency and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and sample return managers from missions such as OSIRIS‑REx and Hayabusa2. Request procedures require peer‑reviewed proposals submitted to allocation panels including experts affiliated with American Geophysical Union, European Geosciences Union, Lunar and Planetary Institute, and funded through grants from National Science Foundation or NASA Science Mission Directorate. Distribution follows chain‑of‑custody documentation comparable to protocols used by United States Geological Survey and legal procedures coordinated with National Archives and Records Administration for long‑term provenance.

Curation emphasizes contamination control and contamination knowledge using approaches derived from standards at National Aeronautics and Space Administration, International Organization for Standardization, and laboratory best practices established by California Institute of Technology and Massachusetts Institute of Technology teams. Protocols include ISO‑class cleanrooms, reagent blanks, witness plates, and nested containment modeled after procedures from Genesis (NASA) and Stardust sample handling, along with cryogenic curation for volatiles from OSIRIS‑REx and Hayabusa2. Analytical methods utilize instruments developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Arizona State University, Brown University, and Carnegie Institution for Science to document contamination history and maintain sample integrity for future missions like Mars Sample Return and Artemis program.

The office supports research through sample allocation to investigators at Harvard University, Yale University, Columbia University, Princeton University, and international universities, facilitating publications in journals such as Science (journal), Nature (journal), Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, and presentations at conferences including American Geophysical Union and Lunar and Planetary Science Conference. Education and outreach partnerships involve the Smithsonian Institution, National Air and Space Museum, National History Museum, London, and programs with museums in Tokyo and Paris to display non‑consumptive exhibits while preserving reference materials. Training programs for curators and students collaborate with Lunar and Planetary Institute, Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Division, and university departments.

Policy and legal frameworks governing samples reference agreements with international partners such as European Space Agency, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Roscosmos, and protocols influenced by instruments like Outer Space Treaty and guidance from Office of Science and Technology Policy. The office works with legal counsel from NASA Office of the General Counsel, coordinates export‑control compliance analogous to International Traffic in Arms Regulations, and participates in multilateral working groups under aegis of United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs and scientific committees of the International Astronomical Union to harmonize curation standards, sample sharing, and custodial responsibilities for future cooperative missions.