Research Entrance

The Research Entrance is, as its name suggests, the entrance to Glacier One. It is located in the Phendrana Drifts in Metroid Prime. It is a large room containing many pillars, wires and metal walkways and a few crates, with an upper metal-floored level. When Samus enters this room, a Sentry Drone appears and sounds an alarm. Blast shields rise, the doors lock and Space Pirates attack; these must be defeated to unlock the doors again. On later trips, the Space Pirates are replaced by Shadow Pirates, and the doors do not lock.
After Samus acquires the Thermal Visor, the room becomes very foggy, likely a tactic the Pirates employ once they know Samus has breached their compound to stop Samus from seeing the Shadow Pirates. Interestingly, whenever Samus opens the door to this room after obtaining the Thermal Visor, one Shadow Pirate can always be seen standing in place in the center of the room, with its cloaking field off. As if caught off guard however, the Shadow Pirate will soon notice Samus's nearby presence and immediately activate its stealth gear before engaging in combat. 
==Connecting rooms==
*Specimen Storage (via Purple Door)
*Map Station (via Blue Door)
*Hydra Lab Entryway (via Purple Door)
==Inhabitants==
===First visit===
*4 Space Pirates
*1 Auto Defense Turret
===Later===
*5 Shadow Pirates
*1 Auto Defense Turret
==Scans==
;Security bioscan lock:"Force Field accessible only through Space Pirate bio-imaging. Impossible to breach."
==Development notes==
thumb|right|200px|The commercial in which the room appeared.
Anthony Garcellano redesigned this room for Metroid Prime Remastered.Kiwi Talkz. "#147 - Anthony Garcellano Interview (Metroid Prime Remastered, Tony Hawk, Film, Crunch, Art etc.)" YouTube. February 28, 2023. Archived from the original on March 2, 2023. Retrieved March 23, 2023. (starts at 8:39)
There is an unused layer in this room, "3rd Pass - Elite", which spawns an Elite Pirate. This likely would have occurred on a third visit to the room, after Samus had encountered the monstrous Pirates in the Phazon Mines. Elites are also present on unused layers in Research Lab Hydra and Control Tower. The Elite Pirate's movement is limited to the ground floor. It cannot move up the low ramp except by being pushed or if using its melee swipe to move upward. It stops its movement at the base of the tall ramp leading to the second elevation and cannot be pushed up it. It will also not claw swipe its way upward, meaning it will simply stare at Samus if she is at a certain spot on the tall ramp or higher.
==Trivia==
*This room appeared in footage used in Prime Evil, the live-action Metroid Prime commercial. Footage included featured Samus walking along the foggy walkways in the game, which was recreated in live-action as part of the Frigate Orpheon, although no such area appeared there in-game.
*Oddly, during the Pirate encounter here in the GameCube version of Prime, if one single Space Pirate is killed by the Phazon Beam (via hacking), the doors immediately unlock even if there are remaining Space Pirates. 
*It is possible to enter this room for the first time after obtaining the Thermal Visor using Sequence Breaking. Doing so will have both standard Space Pirates and Shadow Pirates occupying the same room. The Shadow Pirates are not bound by the cutscene in this room and will continue to move towards Samus's initial position while the cutscene plays out.
==Gallery==
Research Entrance Map.png|Room seen on the Map.
Phendrana Drifts Screenshot (91).png
Phendrana Drifts Screenshot (105).png|A Sentry Drone appears.
File:Pirate_Labs_entry_sentry_drone.jpg|Samus is spotted by the Drone.
Phendrana Drifts Screenshot (107).png|The Door locks behind Samus.
Research Entrance Fusion Suit Sequence Break.png|Samus spots the incoming wave of Space Pirates.
Phendrana Drifts Screenshot (114).png|Space Pirates emerge to attack the intruder.
Phendrana_Drifts_Screenshot_(116).png|A Space Pirate howls at the sight of its greatest foe.
Space Pirate Prime Remaster.png|Space Pirates enter the room in Metroid Prime Remastered.
Research Entrance.jpg|The Space Pirates prepare to attack.
Research Entrance Post Thermal Pirate (Floor).png|The room after obtaining the Thermal Visor. A Shadow Pirate attempts to activate its cloaking technology as it notices Samus's presence.
Cloaked Pirate with Space Pirate.png|A Shadow Pirate seen with standard Space Pirates (via sequence Breaking).
Space Pirate and Shadow Pirate.png|Multiple Pirates attacking together.
Research Entrance Winter 2002 catalog.png|Research Entrance seen from a Nintendo Winter 2002 catalog. The screenshot appears to represent a pre-release version of this room.
==References==
Category:Rooms
Category:Phendrana Drifts
Category:Glacier One
Category:Anthony Garcellano