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Narrator: Recently, a team of scientists and volunteers from NASA Ames Research Center

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searched for debris left in the wake of a large meteor that plummeted

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into Northern California on April 22, 2012.

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To expedite their search, researchers enlisted the services of an airship called "Eureka"

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for an airborne survey of the debris field.

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During a five hour flight, they searched a 300-square mile area.

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They used a sophisticated video camera system that is commonly used

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to cover sporting events.

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Researcher were also conducting ground surveys to look for fragments.

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Within days, a NASA team was able to find and identify a fragment

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as a type of meteorite known as a carbonaceous chondrite.

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Peter Jenniskens: It is a really special meteorite,

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because this particular one contains all the goodies

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that scientists are interested in: the amino acids, all the compounds

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that could have made life possible on our planet.

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Narrator: Because meteorite fragments will quickly degrade when exposed to the elements,

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the rush to find them as soon as possible began.

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One of the larger fragments was discovered in the de Haas family pasture.

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Merv de Haas: I'm glad they found it there.

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I'm glad it's a piece that's going to be valuable to science

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and I'm looking forward to hearing some of the results from it.

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Along with the de Haas fragment, over 20 specimens have been recovered.

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Some of the largest are now undergoing tests in a lab at Ames Research Center.

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This discovery could provide clues as to what our planet may have been made from

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and how life could have begun on Earth.