Northwest Africa (NWA) 11474 lunar meteorite fragment, comprised of lunar feldspathic breccia with red patches known as caliche stain (weathering), caused by exposure to the desert environment. The as-found fragment weighs 10.3 grams and measures approximately 33 mm x 26 mm x 11 mm. Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed by Geoff Notkin of Aerolite Meteorites Inc. and the TV show Meteorite Men, as well as a specimen identification card.
NWA 11474 was found in the dry deserts of Northwest Africa and acquired in Mauritania in May of 2017. Classification work was done by Dr. Carl Agee of the Institute of Meteoritics at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, and published in the 'Meteoritical Bulletin,' the official reference source for all meteorites recognized by academia, later that year. As a fragmental breccia with white clasts rich in feldspar, set in a dark grey matrix, NWA 11474 is one of the most visually interesting lunar meteorites. Breccias are rocks made up of shattered pieces of other rocks that have been cemented back together into a new form by heat and/or pressure. Lunar meteorites are specimens of our nearest celestial neighbor that were blasted off the surface by other meteorite impacts (which also result in the moon's many craters), then journeyed the quarter-million miles to Earth and—against all odds—survived a fiery descent through our atmosphere to be found by meteorite hunters. They are known to be from the moon because of their close geologic match to Apollo return samples.
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