SB3

More than ten thousand tons of extraterrestrial objects, ranging in size from a few microns to a few meters in diameter, enter Earth’s atmosphere annually. A small fraction of these objects yields free samples of extraterrestrial matter—meteorites—for laboratory study. The majority of these objects burn up or ablate completely in the Earth’s atmosphere, appearing as visible meteors in the night sky. By recording meteor activity, recovering meteoritic material, and modeling the processes of atmospheric entry, ablation, and fragmentation, we can directly measure the flux, physical properties, and compositional diversity of small planetary impactors. The rapid advancement of observational, modeling, and analytical techniques has elevated meteoritical science to one of the primary avenues for investigating the nature and origin of interplanetary matter and its parent bodies. This session aims to serve as a platform for presenting fundamental results and innovative concepts spanning atmospheric observations, numerical modeling, meteorite recovery, and laboratory-based geochemical and physical characterization of impacting object remnants. In doing so, the session seeks to foster interaction across distinct communities and to highlight the interdisciplinary impact of ongoing and future research efforts within the broader planetary science framework.