Chunks of lunar rock can get thrown away from the moon as a result of large impacts. Once ejected, lunar meteoroids can go into orbit around the Earth, eventually being drawn by gravity to Earth’s surface. Meteorites from the moon and Mars are the hardest to find (and therefore the most valuable) because they aren’t necessarily dark in color or magnetic.
Only a few of these meteorites are available for private ownership. The lunar rock that Dr. O’Sullivan obtained fits in the palm of her hand and doesn’t look like anything special, but this small specimen offers a unique opportunity to study the physical character, mineralogy and geochemistry of a moon rock.
According to Dr. O’Sullivan, “This meteorite contains pieces from the bright, white parts of the Moon, which is older than any rock from Earth.”
Under Dr. O’Sullivan’s supervision, Craig Hulsey, a geology graduate student, will prepare moon rock samples and conduct some of these analyses as part of his Masters Degree thesis. Craig remarked that, “This sample presents a great opportunity to potentially study the side of the moon that has never been visited by humans.”
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