Project Title

Antarctic Search for Meteorites (ANSMET)

Summary

Event Number:
G-058-M
NSF / NASA Agreement

Program Director:
Dr. Kelly Brunt

ASC POC/Implementer:
Allison Barden / Jenny Cunningham

Principal Investigator(s)

Dr. James Karner
jameskarner21@gmail.com
University of Utah
Department of Geology & Geophysics
Salt Lake City, Utah

Project Web Site:
https://caslabs.case.edu/ansmet/

Location

Supporting Stations: McMurdo Station
Research Locations: Dominion Range

Description

Antarctic Search for Meteorites (ANSMET) is a field-based science project that recovers meteorite specimens from Antarctica. Since 1976, teams have recovered more than 23,000 specimens from surfaces along the Transantarctic Mountains. These specimens are a reliable, continuous source of new, non-microscopic extraterrestrial material and support thousands of scientists from around the globe as they seek essential “ground truth” concerning the materials that make up the asteroids, planets, and other bodies of our solar system. The study of ANSMET meteorites has extended knowledge of the materials and conditions from which our solar system was born and has revealed the geologic nature of asteroids.

Field Season Overview

A science team of six will deploy from early December 2026 to late January 2027 to search for and recover meteorites in the blue ice area at the foot of the Dominion Range mountains, at the top of the Beardmore Glacier. The team will include one grantee-hired mountaineer, who will deploy in mid-November to conduct a Twin Otter reconnaissance flight to access the team's cache, deliver snowmobile fuel, and determine a suitable Basler landing site. The mountaineer and an Antarctic Support Contract field coordinator will then put-in a small camp to groom a Basler skiway, with the rest of the team following by Basler put-in in mid-December. Basler will take out the team and collected meteorites in mid-January. Meteorites will be shipped north via United States Antarctic Program resupply vessel.

Deploying Team Members