Antarctic Search for Meteorites Program (ANSMET) 2025-26 Field Season Cancellation

Antarctic Meteorite Newsletter – Volume 48 No. 2 November 2025

ANSMET is sorry to report that we’ve been cancelled for the 2025-26 field season- we were informed of the NSF decision in early August. This is not exactly a shock, considering there have been significant funding cuts to NSF (and NASA) this year- and we are one of about 25 field projects that could not be supported in Antarctica this year.

While not too surprising, the cancellation is disappointing because we had been working with NSF and contractors for the previous seven months on a very detailed field plan for the season and we had selected four outstanding volunteers to round out the field team. The selected team had committed to and done lots of prep work for the two-and-a-half-month expedition; to be cancelled late in the game is tough.

But, to end this update on a positive note…NASA is still funding the ANSMET program and has declared it wants to continue support for Antarctic meteorite searches in the future! Furthermore, NSF has also indicated they intend to logistically support Antarctic meteorite searches in the future.

The ANSMET program will celebrate its 50-year anniversary in 2026, and the 3-agency agreement, which outlines the roles of NASA, NSF and the Smithsonian Institution (SI) in executing an annual Antarctic meteorite search, also expires in 2026. Hopefully NASA, NSF and SI can hammer out an updated agreement, ANSMET can get back into the field, and the project can continue to recover meteorites in Antarctica for many years to come!

— Jim Karner, University of Utah
NASA Astromaterials: ANSMET Report April 2025

Astrobiology, Astrogeology, Antarctica,