What if we told you that you can now own a piece of the moon? Sounds fascinating, right? It is true though; you can now actually own a moon rock if you have $2.5 million to spend. This is one of the biggest pieces of the lunar meteorite that you will find and it went on sale this week in Christie’s private sale.
The moon rock more formally known as NWA 12691 has a weight of more than 13.5kg and is considered to be the Earth’s fifth largest lunar meteorite. It was broken from the Moon’s surface after the impact of an asteroid or comet and then made its way to Earth. It was discovered in 2018, lying in the Sahara desert.
Up until now, only 650 kilograms of moon rock has been discovered on Earth. James Hyslop is Christie’s head of science and natural history, and said, ‘The experience of holding a piece of another world in your hands is something you never forget. It is an actual piece of the moon. It is about the size of a football, a bit more oblong than that, larger than your head.’ The moon rock has been studied by scientists who have confirmed that it does come from the Moon.
It was cross-examined using samples that were brought back to Earth during the Apollo space missions. Hyslop said, ‘In the 1960s and 1970s the Apollo program brought back about 400 kilograms of moon rock with them and scientists have been able to analyze the chemical and isotopic compositions of those rocks and they have determined that they match certain meteorites.’
Meteorites are rare and only 1 in 1000 originate from the Moon. This makes the moon rock being sold by Christie quite a rare piece indeed. Hyslop also mentioned that ‘they (Christie’s) are expecting tremendous enthusiasm in the moon rock from natural history museums all over the world.’
