Due to the Moon having no atmosphere, asteroid and comet impacts on its surface are common. Impacts can cause fragments of ‘lunar rocks’ to be launched off the Moon’s surface at >2.4 km/s (lunar escape velocity) and start a journey to Earth. Before landing on the planet’s surface, the material has to survive the intense heat of impact.

The rarity of lunar material is due to the frequency of impacts. There are approximately 5 impacts per million years large enough to eject lunar meteorites; however, these impacts can cause craters as large as 450 metres in diameter (around a quarter of a mile). Lunar meteorites make up less than 0.1% of all that have been recovered—and the total mass of moon meteorites that have ever been discovered on Earth is estimated to be about 150 kg.

Meticulous examination of lunar meteorites' elemental and isotopic composition—which closely resembles that of samples taken by NASA astronauts, surface landers, and rovers—makes identification of these objects conceivable.

In Koller International Auction’s 2024 ‘Out of this World’ sale, another sample of Adjabiya 001, this time weighing 2182 grams, sold for an impressive 175,000 CHF (approximately £156,000). The specimen smashed its presale estimate of 60,000-80,000 CHF.