Meet the room where meteorites collected in Antarctica are stored

The Smithsonian Institution, in partnership with NASA and the National Science Foundation, often funds annual explorations for Antarctica, at which time several meteorites that once fell on the region's frozen ground are collected. These small “treasures” need to be kept under tightly controlled conditions to prevent contamination with microorganisms or substances that could disrupt future research.

And how to preserve hundreds of meteorites from external threats? That's what the video above tries to answer, with images from the lab used for storing these samples. The room is so sterile that it would leave any paranoid about cleanliness disappointed with itself.

In addition to the tables and structures that resemble operating theaters, space samples are stored in compartments filled with pressurized nitrogen. To handle the “pebbles”, special gloves are used, fixed to the “cabinet” structure. It may seem like an exaggeration, but so much care is eventually understood as we become aware that these meteorites offer answers about the origin of our solar system. Therefore, the more conserved the better.