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Lunar Meteorite - Highland Feldspathic Breccia

INTERACTIVE 3D MODEL | ARTEMIS 16.9 - LUNAR METEORITE

We've created an interactive 3D model of the 16.9 kilogram (37 pound) lunar meteorite to allow everyone to experience this truly exceptional piece of the Moon. It was given the official name of NWA 15368 by the Meteoritical Society's Nomenclature Committee, and has informally been dubbed Artemis 16.9 in commemoration of NASA's return to the Moon.

Dustin Dickens with Lunar Meteorite NWA 15368

"The Moon has always been a place of wonder for all of us. Every culture has told the story of the Moon in their own way. It's a collective cumulative story told and retold over millennia. Together in an ancient past we looked up as a planet to it's guiding light, and marveled at its tidal forces and predictive power. In these moments our inevitable journey began. As we return to the Moon with NASA's Artemis missions, and study the pieces we have here on Earth like NWA 15368, we contribute to this collective narrative. Together we take the next bold steps, looking to the Moon again and setting our sights on a permanent staging ground for the human race to explore and study the Solar System and beyond."

 

Name: Northwest Africa 15368
Classification history: Lunar (frag. breccia)
Comments: Approved 12 Nov 2022
Writeup from: MB 111
Purchased: January 2021
Classification:
Lunar meteorite (frag. breccia)
Place of purchase: Mali
Date: January 2021
Mass After Analysis: 16975.5g
Pieces: 1
Class: Lunar (frag. breccia)
Shock stage: high
Weathering grade: moderate

History: Found in Mali by camel shepherds in January 2021 and subsequently purchased by Ahmed Salek and sold to an anonymous collector in the US.

Physical characteristics: A single stone with a dark exterior, one side partially covered in caliche. Cut surface reveals a fragmental breccia with many lithic clasts set in a glassy dark-gray ground mass.

Petrography: (D. Dickens, NMMS and A. S. Bell, CUB) This meteorite is a clast-rich polymict breccia with subhedral lithic fragments embedded in a fine-grained groundmass. Fragmental clasts sizes range from <0.1 mm to >6 mm and are primarily comprised of plagioclase, low-Ca pyroxene, pigeonite, augite, and olivine. Minor phases include kamacite and ilmenite. This meteorite is shocked with impact melt textures present.

Geochemistry: (D. Dickens, NMMS and A. S. Bell, CUB) olivine Fa38.0±2.6, Fe/Mn=100±11.4, n=8; lo-Ca pyroxene Fs20.7±0.1,Wo4.0±0.1, Fe/Mn=54±2, n=2; pigeonite Fs30.1±5.2,Wo9.5±3.7, Fe/Mn=54±1, n=3; augite Fs16.9±1.1Wo36.5±2.8, Fe/Mn=45±1 n=2; plagioclase An95.9±3.1 Ab2.9±0.7 Or1.2±3.3, n=15.


 Fe/Mn Plot for Lunar Meteorite NWA 15368 Art 17
Fe/Mn Plot for NWA 15368 Pyroxenes | Dr. A. S. Bell, CU Boulder


NWA 15368 Elemental X-Ray Maps
Elemental X-Ray Maps for NWA 15368 |  Dr. A. S. Bell, CU Boulder


Fayalite (mol%):
38.0±2.6
Ferrosilite (mol%): 20.7±0.1, 30.1±5.2, 16.9±1.1
Wollastonite (mol%): 4.0±0.1, 9.5±3.7, 36.5±2.8
Classifier: Dustin Dickens, NMMS and Aaron S. Bell, CUB
Type spec mass (g): 40
Type spec location: Cascadia
Main mass: Anonymous collector
Comments: Submitted by Dustin Dickens

Classification: Lunar fragmental breccia

Specimens: 40 g with probe mount on deposit at Cascadia, 40 g with probe mount on deposit at CUB, anonymous collector holds the main mass.

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PRESS KIT / FILE LINKS

Artemis 16.9 - Lunar Meteorite 1 page Quick Facts

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