NWA 13974 is a lunar meteorite recovered in Northwest Africa in 2021! Lunar meteorites are rocks ejected into space by asteroid impacts on the moon. Some of this debris was captured by the gravitational pull of the Earth. This particular specimen weighs .9g.

Multiple complete individuals ranging in size from 1 - 800 g were found in the Western Sahara. Adam Aaronson purchased the samples in Temara in 2021 and the scientific analysis was published by Gattacceca J., McCubbin F.M., Grossman J., Bouvier A., Chabot N.L., D'Orazio M., Goodrich C., Greshake A., Gross J., Komatsu M., Miao B., and Schrader D. (2022) The Meteoritical Bulletin, No. 110. Meteorit. Planet. Sci. 1-4.

This lunar material had fragmented into smaller pieces during entry of Earth's atmosphere, and these are some of those fragments.

This frame measures 4"X3" and can be shipped worldwide! 

SCIENTIFIC DATA VIA METEORITIC SOCIETY:

Physical characteristics: Exterior of the 20% of the samples is light orangish-gray in color and shows voids, some of which are circular in profile. The cut face shows the interior is darker grey and shows a brecciated texture. Other samples found on the surface are reported to have a shiny black wind-ablated exterior.

Petrography: Description and classification (A. Love, App) Sample is a complex breccia composed of rounded to irregular-shaped, mm-sized lithic and anhedral mineral clasts surrounded by a melt matrix. Lithic clasts include: anorthosite, norite, troctolite, brecciated and shock melted clasts. Mineral clasts are dominantly anorthite with minor zoned olivine. Matrix areas within the thin section show some regions with flow-textured glass and fine vesicles. Additional minerals are: <1vol% FeNi grains, chromite, ilmenite, sulfide, secondary barite and calcite.

Geochemistry: (A. Love, App) Olivine (Fa29.1±6.8, Fe/Mn=66-92, n=29); low Ca pyroxene (Fs21.3±3.2Wo4.4±0.5, Fe/Mn=49-55, n=7); pigeonite (Fs24.4±4.0Wo9.0±3.9, Fe/Mn=48-59, n=13); high Ca Pyroxene (Fs11.7±2.1Wo38.6±6.3, Fe/Mn=40-47, n=4); plagioclase (An97.2±0.7Or0.1±0.1, n=18).

Classification: lunar (feldspathic melt breccia A-S3, low weathering). Textures and mineral compositions (Fe/Mn ratios for Olivine and pyroxene and An content of plagioclase) indicate sample is a melt breccia of lunar origin.

Specimens: Aaronson holds 7889 g comprising the 800 g main mass and additional samples. David Sherman holds 684 g and J. Sinclair holds an additional 166 g. A 40 g specimen is held at the Moroccan ministry of Mines and Environment in Rabat. A 20.2 g type specimen, a polished mount and thin section are on deposit at App.