I wondered the same thing but then I concluded it was coincidental. If you're trying to filter for meteorites, you're going to be using that exactly hardware (a wire mesh basket), using a level of magnification that gives a view of the retained object, whose size is similar to the mesh screen hole diameter.
I would imagine that the props department went to a nearby micrometerologist who gave them a basket with a micron mesh and maybe some small volcanic rocks.
good memory :)