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substances on Earth. The total amount of lunar meteorite material known
to exist weighs less than 17 pounds. There are only 25 lunar
meteorites, 12 of which will never be available to the public as they
are held, by treaty, in the possession of the countries involved in the
program to recover meteorites in Antarctica. Of all recovered lunar
meteorites, North West Africa 482 is the freshest ever found and the
only oriented lunar meteorite ever found. Research has determined that
the classification is crystalline impact melt breccia with lunar
highland affinities. It has glassy and vesicular melt veins and melt
pockets indicate shock subsequent to compaction by an impact event....
e.g. an impact on the moon projected this meteorite free of the
gravitational pull of the moon into space. Millions of years later, it
entered Earth's atmosphere where it eventually fell in the Western
Sahara desert. The age is approximately 4.5 billion years old. It is
the only lunar meteorite in private hands with an off-white matrix. The
other specimens have a Grey matrix and are not nearly as visually
appealing. NWA 482 has been examined and classified by UCLA's A. Rubin
and P. Warren as well as D. Kring and I. Duabar of The University of
Arizona.
E-mail Address: meteorites@att.net