A unique opportunity occurred in January of 2000, when a large meteoroid exploded and rained down pieces onto the frozen surface of Tagish Lake in British Columbia.Dr. Christopher Herd of the University of Alberta said that the first Tagish Lake samples were quickly collected from the frozen surface. They are the best preserved meteorite in the world. Dr. Michael Callahan of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center commented that they are the closest thing in purity to those collected in a space sample and return mission.