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On 10-13 September, 2018, the Vatican Observatory hosted the first ever workshop on the Curation of Meteorites and Extraterrestrial Samples at its headquarters in the Papal gardens of Castel Gandolfo, Italy.  Organized by Br. Robert Macke SJ (UCS), curator of the Vatican meteorite collection, and Ludovic Ferrière, curator of meteorites at the Naturhistorisches Museum in Vienna, this meeting brought together an international group of meteorite and extraterrestrial sample curators to exchange ideas, discuss best practices, and to explore ways to better serve the scientific community. 

Thirty curators and collections managers from institutions around the world attended the meeting.  These institutions included museums, universities, and institutions throughout Europe, the United States, Canada, Russia, Morocco, and Japan, and represent not only meteorite collections, but also collections of materials gathered directly from space, such as the NASA Apollo moon rocks and the specimens from the Hayabusa mission to the asteroid 25143 Itokawa.

During the meeting, curators gave brief presentations about their collections, and significant time was also set aside for discussions about issues pertinent to curation.  It was an opportunity to share ideas and come together as a community of curators.
Participants visited the Pontifical gardens of Castel Gandolfo and the telescope domes located within the gardens. They also admired the meteorite collection on display at the Vatican Observatory.

By all accounts the meeting was a great success.  Discussions were lively and moved the conversation forward on a number of topics. The meeting will culminate in an article to be published in a prominent journal on meteoritics, and an important recommendation for the scientific community regarding the reporting of specimen identifiers in journal articles.

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