On Ice: Meteorite Field Season back in season

A quick note, since this story is yet to be written: Antarctic meteorite collection (at least, by US teams) has finally restarted after the pandemic. Meanwhile the Japanese and the Belgians (jointly, sure) were back out last season. This should highlight- no, spotlight- how budget cuts have left the NSF and related orgs in disarray. Years of neglect have meant that this key line of investigation dried up and shut off. For those of you not in the loop: Antarctica is not only the top source of meteorites, it’s a greater source than all other sources put together… and it’s a FRACTION of what a space mission is. This includes lunar meteorites and Martian meteorites (…not just the publicized ALH84001). You read that… samples from these bodies for “free.” Except, that is, the shipping-and-handling in the form of expeditions that, ultimately, come from national governments.

I suppose I could state, positively, that Yes! We will get more meteorite harvests. But I feel the need to state, explicitly, that this is yet another example of penny-wise, pound-foolish misdirection of space science by non-space scientists:

Will Boeing and Northrop Win $82 Billion From NASA?
NASA finally admits what everyone already knows: SLS is unaffordable

In case you haven’t drawn a conclusion: this isn’t about science. At best, this is funneling billions to certain legislators’ districts (I’m looking at you, Orrin Hatch); that is, pork. At worst, this is …oh, I can come up with worse, but I’ll spare you the trip down the rabbit hole for the weekend. That’s down a hole, not up:

Senate bill cuts other NASA programs to fund SLS and Orion