NASA Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif., participated in a data recovery mission for one of the largest meteor events of the past 10 years.

One of Dryden's Airborne Sciences ER-2 aircraft flew to the Yukon Territory of northwestern Canada on January 21, 2000, in an effort to collect atmospheric samples of a very large meteor that exploded at an altitude of 25 kilometers (15.6 miles) on January 18, 2000. The region, near the town of Carcross, is predominantly unpopulated.

Samples of the debris cloud and vapor trail were gathered at an altitude of 65,000 feet with an instrument called the Aerosol Particulate Sampler (APS). The APS is a system of two small five-inch by four-inch paddles that deploy simultaneously from the ER-2's left wingtip. The paddles have silicone oil on them that, when exposed to the airstream for a sufficient amount of time, collect particles from the stratosphere. Then the paddles are withdrawn into hermetic enclosures to avoid contamination during the aircraft's return to Dryden. The paddles will be removed and sent to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas for analysis.

Scientists are very interested in discovering the composition of the meteor in an effort to learn more about its origins and makeup.

The Department of Defense is interested in knowing the composition of the meteor in order to calibrate sensors that detected the fireball. Collection of cosmic dust or meteorite samples would permit this.

The meteor detonated with the energy of two to three kilotons of TNT. The extremely bright fireball was detected by defense satellites and recorded on seismic monitoring instruments. The meteor produced twin sonic booms and a sizzling sound over Alaska and northwestern Canada.