Specimens of the Moon are among the rarest substances on Earth, and now offered is a complete slice of one such rock that was blasted off the lunar surface following an asteroid impact — the source of nearly all of the Moon’s craters. Lunar samples are identified by specific textural, mineralogical, chemical and isotopic signatures. Some of the common minerals found on Earth’s surface are rare on the Moon and some lunar minerals are unknown on Earth. In addition, Moon rocks contain gases captured from the solar wind with isotope ratios very different from the same gases found on Earth.

Lunar meteorites are also readily recognizable because they can be compared to the samples returned by the Apollo astronauts and unmanned Soviet and Chinese spacecraft. There are less than 2000 kilograms of lunar meteorites known to exist — all would fit in the back of a small pick-up — and a significant fraction is controlled by governmental institutions. While Apollo astronauts returned with 382 kilograms of Moon rocks, not one milligram is available for private ownership.

NWA 8022, is the 8,022^nd rock recovered in the North West African grid of the Sahara Desert to be recovered, analyzed and considered for publication — and it is different from most Moon rocks. The single 1,226 gram stone from which this slice is derived is a highly recrystallized breccia primarily composed of very fine-grained minerals, a few much larger grains of anorthite (a calcium-aluminum silicate mineral present in most Moon rocks) and exceedingly rare awaruite (which likely originated from an asteroid that slammed into the Moon). Hundreds of tiny, highly reflective metallic grains (also from an asteroid impactor) are suspended throughout the matrix. A multitude of impact shock veins transect this alluring and unusual presentation of the Moon.


The official classification of this lunar meteorite appears in the 102^nd
edition of the Meteoritical Bulletin. The write-up was done by the one of the world’s foremost classifiers of lunar meteorites, Dr. Anthony Irving.

Christie's would like to thank Dr. Alan E. Rubin at the Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles for his assistance in preparing this catalogue.
105 x 109 x 2mm (4 x 4.25 x 0.1 in.) and 38 grams