For sale to the highest bidder: A 12-pound chunk of the moon
A 12-pound (5.5 kilogram) lunar meteorite discovered in Northwest Africa in 2017 rests on a table, in Amherst, N.H. The rock, which is actually comprised of six fragments that fit together like a puzzle, was found last year in a remote area of Mauritania, but may have plunged to Earth thousands of years ago. The meteorite could sell for $500,000 or more at an online auction that runs from Thursday, Oct. 11, until Oct. 18, 2018. (AP Photo/Rodrique Ngowi)
A 12-pound (5.5 kilogram) lunar meteorite discovered in Northwest Africa in 2017 rests on a table, in Amherst, N.H. The rock, which is actually comprised of six fragments that fit together like a puzzle, was found last year in a remote area of Mauritania, but may have plunged to Earth thousands of years ago. The meteorite could sell for $500,000 or more at an online auction that runs from Thursday, Oct. 11, until Oct. 18, 2018. (AP Photo/Rodrique Ngowi)
BOSTON (AP) — Anyone who can’t make it to the moon to gather a few lunar rocks now has the opportunity to buy one right here on Earth.
A 12-pound (5.5 kilogram) lunar meteorite discovered in northwest Africa last year is up for auction by Boston-based RR Auction and could sell for $500,000 or more at the online auction that runs from Thursday until Oct. 18.
The rock classified as NWA 11789 was found last year in a remote area of Mauritania but may have plunged to Earth thousands of years ago.
The meteorite is actually composed of six fragments that fit together like a puzzle.
Geoff Notkin, star of television’s “Meteorite Men” and CEO of Aerolite Meteorites, which is selling the rock, says most lunar meteorites are the size of a walnut, so this one is “extraordinarily unusual.”
