Sale to the highest bidder: a 12-pound moon

BOSTON (AP) – How much would you pay for a piece of moon?

Anyone who can not go to the moon to pick up some lunar rocks now has the opportunity to buy one here on Earth.

A 12-pound (5.5 kg) lunar meteorite discovered in northwestern Africa last year is auctioned by Boston-based RR Auction and could sell for $ 500,000 or more at a online call for tenders launched from Thursday 18 October to 18 October.

It's "one of the world's largest commercially available meteorites in the world," and one of the largest pieces of the moon ever sold, RR said.

The classified rock NWA 11789, also known as "Buagaba", was discovered last year in a remote region of Mauritania, but it was probably immersed in the Earth there are thousands of years ago. ; years.

The meteorite is actually composed of six fragments that fit together like a puzzle. The largest of these pieces weighs about 6 pounds.

Most lunar meteorites found are about the size of a nut or golf ball, said Geoff Notkin, star of the television channel "Meteorite Men" and CEO of Aerolite Meteorites, which sells the rock.

"As soon as we saw this, we realized that it was extraordinarily unusual," he said. "This is close to a unique discovery in a lifetime."

It is also one of the few known lunar meteorites with what the experts call a "partial melting crust", caused by the overwhelming heat that warms the rock when it goes down in the water. atmosphere.

"It's actually grilled on the outside," Notkin said.

Another thing that sets it apart from most meteorites is the fact that it is "unpaired". Sometimes different pieces of the same meteorite are discovered at different times, and these examples are called "matched". An unpaired meteorite is more desirable for collectors and perhaps more valuable for science.

The meteorite would be a good addition to any natural history museum, but do not be surprised if a private collector detects it, said Robert Livingston, executive vice president of RR.

"This is the only way for a private collector to get their hands on a piece of moon, because the moon rocks reported by astronauts are the property of the US government," he said.