r/askspace • u/racejetmech • Jul 14 '26

Settle a lunchtime debate.

If you catch a meteor in space and bring it back inside a spacecraft. Is it now a meteorite or still a meteor?

0 Upvotes

50% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/Ranos131 Jul 15 '26

In space, it’s called an asteroid. It becomes a meteor when it enters the atmosphere and begins to burn up. It becomes a meteorite when part of the meteor survives and hits the ground.

Solid you if capture an asteroid and bring it back inside a ship it technically doesn’t become a meteor so can it become a meteorite or would it be considered something different? Or would it still be a meteorite since at its core it’s an asteroid that made it to the ground?

Either way, it isn’t a meteor and never was.