The Moon is covered in craters from impacts by asteroids. Everyone knows that. Sometimes rocks get flung into space, and just occasionally, they find thier way to Earth.
Then someone gets rich.
NWA 12691, one of the largest known Moon rocks of all at a hefty 13.5kg/29.7 pounds, went on sale this week at London auction house Christie’s for £2 million/US$2.5 million.
Why so expensive? Between 1969 and 1972, NASA’s six Apollo missions brought back 382 kilograms/842 pounds of Moon rock. Meanwhile, only about 650kg of lunar meteorites have been found—of which NWA 12691 is the fifth-largest.
Moon rock is among the rarest substances on Earth; after all, it has to first make a had to travel at least 384,400 km/238,900 mile journey through space to get there.
Much larger than anything returned by the Apollo astronauts, NWA 12691 was found in January 2017 around the Western Saharan, Algerian and Mauritanian borders. It was actually one of 30 lunar meteorites found—a haul weighing 103.77 kg in total.
Available for immediate purchase via Christie’s Private Sales, NWA 12691 was part of a large meteorite shower across the region, which is responsible for nearly half of all known lunar meteorites.
“I’ve been lucky enough to handle a few lunar meteorites at Christie’s over the years, but every time I see this specimen in the warehouse the sheer size of it bowls me over,” said James Hyslop, Christie’s Head of Science & Natural History. “Weighing over 13.5kg, it is so much larger than anything else that has ever been offered before. The experience of holding a piece of another world in your hands is something you never forget.”
The biggest Moon rock brought back to Earth by Apollo astronauts was one called “Big Muley,” which weighs 11.7kg/26 pounds and was found by Apollo 16 astronaut Charlie Duke at Plum Crater at the Moon’s Descartes Highlands in 1972.
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
Forbes, May 2, 2020
Tags : Moon rock, Western Sahara, Christie’s,
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