Man first visited the moon in 1969, and as the Apollo 13 'towing bill' reminds us, it hasn't exactly been easy to get there. But the moon started visiting us long ago.
Although very rare amongst meteorites - and meteorites are very rare by any standards - fragments of the moon knocked off her atmosphere-free surface by other meteorites occasionally descend to Earth.
One of the leading lots of I M Chait's upcoming Natural History sale, as we've mentioned is an angrite. Angrites are meteorites which some have argued are likely to have been scored from the surface of Mercury.
But there is little solid evidence to back this, whilst our understanding of the moon is such that we can be sure whether something is a lunar meteorite. There are a few samples of the moon in the sale, including a flask of moon dust for an entry level collector estimated at just $500.
 Large lunar meteorite slice ($36,000) |
But there are two pieces for the serious collector too from a North African impact - each possibly in Algeria. An end piece from a meteorite is on offer here with an estimate of $22,000-24,000 for its 10.8g whilst a 25.5g slice is available with a guide price of $34,000-36,000.
As a meteorite impact on the moon has to cause rock to be ejected at 1.5 miles per second from the moon's surface, and it's then simply chance whether it lands on Earth, moon meteorites are very unlikely to decrease in value, so they make a unique investment.
However, if material even rarer and less accessible than the moon is desired, there is also a Martian meteorite available in the sale. In fact it is a complete Martian meteorite, albeit very small at 5.04g.
Originating from the lava flows of Mars, and possibly altered by seawater, the Nakhlite is expected to bring $12,000-14,000 in the sale, which takes place on May 16.
Collectors interested in the moon and moon landings may want to take a look at this portfolio of memorabilia associated with Apollo 11 and other moonwalkers.
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