Curating NASA's extraterrestrial samples—Past, present, and future

The NASA Johnson Space Center Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office has the unique responsibility to curate NASA's extraterrestrial samples – from past and forthcoming missions – into the indefinite future. Presently curation includes documentation, preservation, preparation, and distribution of samples from the Moon, asteroids, comets, the solar wind, and the planet Mars. Each of these sample sets has a unique history and comes from a unique environment. The curation laboratories and procedures developed over forty years have proven both necessary and sufficient to serve the evolving needs of a worldwide research community. A new generation of sample return missions is being planned and proposed to destinations across the solar system. Curation must evolve to meet the increased challenges of these new samples.