2022: Shropshire, UK

Base Camp: 52°38'54.6" N, 2°44'59.8" W

Expedition Members; We joined forces with a group of over 26 planetary scientists from institutions including the Natural History Museum, University of Manchester, Open University, University of Glasgow and Birkbeck University.

Final Meteorite Tally: Despite extensive search efforts, no meteorite has been found - yet!

Meteorite recovery in Shropshire © Dr Natasha Stephen

Fireball over Shropshire © Gareth Oakley, UK Meteor Network

Meteorite recovery in Shropshire © Francesca Willcocks

Walking in transect

For each field searched, we spread out in a line making sure we were separated by ~2m. We also made sure to place a reference point at the end of the line. In a straight line, we walked across the length of the field, looking in front of us and stopping if we saw anything that we thought might be promising!

When we got to the end of the field, we pivoted around the point at the end of the line and walked back up the field towards the reference point we placed down earlier! This process was then repeated until the field was covered.

All fields were searched with permission from land owners.

A needle in a haystack

Throughout the search for the Shropshire meteorite, the terrain we encountered made the process more challenging. Whilst sheep fields were just some of the many fields searched throughout the week, some areas calculated to be under the fall line were covered in 2m high rape plants! In these areas we were limited to the tracks already present through these fields.