ONE OF THE RAREST TYPES OF LUNAR METEORITE

Lunar material is some of the rarest material to exist on our planet — only ꦉ1,536 kilograms (3,386 🐷lb) of confirmed lunar meteorites currently exist on Earth. And, while six of the Apollo missions brought back 382 kilograms (842 lb) of so-called "Moon rocks" from their combined voyages, these samples of the Moon are unavailable for private ownership. As a result, any piece of lunar material is exceedingly rare and highly sought after by both institutions and private collectors.

The total amount of NWA 11524 is only 820 gram🍰s, a miniscule amount of material. In addition, NWA 11524 comes from a parti𝄹cularly rare lunar subgroup, the basaltic breccias. Because of the two different textures found in this meteorite, it has been suggested that NWA 11524 was in fact two lunar meteorites that collided and fused together in space, giving it a very distinctive and aesthetic look.

Until the first lunar meteorite was identified on Earth on January 17, 1982, the geologic history and surface composition of the Moon could only be studied from samples collected during the Apollo and Soviet Luna missions. Since these ꦇwere exclusively harvested from the central near side of the Moon, the 1982 discovery proved to be a crucial scientific breakthrough. Thanks to the progressive retrieval on Earth of meteorite fragments originating from all areas of the Moon, invaluable and previously unattainable information about lunar geology has since become available.

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