NASA Johnson Space Center astromaterials collections

The laboratories that look after the Apollo Moon rocks, US Antarctic meteorites and samples from comets and asteroids.

Key facts

Where

Houston, Texas, United States

Kind

Research collection

Visiting

Mainly for researchers; some material lent to museums

At NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, the astromaterials curation laboratories look after the most valuable extraterrestrial samples in the United States. They hold most of the 382 kilograms of Moon rock and soil brought back by the six Apollo landings between 1969 and 1972, kept in clean cabinets filled with nitrogen so that they do not react with air.

The same team first receives and describes the meteorites found each season by the US Antarctic search programme, before they pass to the Smithsonian for long-term storage. It also curates comet dust from the Stardust mission, solar wind from Genesis, a share of the asteroid grains returned by Japan's Hayabusa missions, and the sample of asteroid Bennu returned by OSIRIS-REx in 2023.

This is a research facility, not a public museum, but scientists anywhere can apply for samples, and Moon rocks from the collection are lent to museums worldwide.

Highlights

• Apollo samples 382 kg of Moon rock and soil
• Bennu sample returned by OSIRIS-REx
• Antarctic meteorites first described here

Related pages

Opening times, what is on display and access to research collections change over time, so check with the institution before you visit.