[meteorite-list] Search for first U.S. lunar meteorite

[Adam Hupe]

It is true that if you depend on a magnet, you will not find a planetary 
meteorite.  I found the small 50 gram half of NWA 1195 in a Moroccan discard 
pile, same for other planetary pieces.  It was placed there because it was not 
magnetic and did not have a crust. They sent rocks that bothered them from 
discard piles to have us look at them.  They have an outstanding memory and when 
we told them that one of the stones was an incomplete Martian and forwarded them 
an image of it, they searched and found the larger half a few meters from where 
the the first was found.

We told the Moroccans to send us any out of place stones and stop depending on 
magnets.  They soon began to put more value on the visual characteristics which 
in turn increased their yield greatly. The problem is that a lot of terrestrial 
rocks started showing up in our loads and we had to explain why they were not 
meteorites. This process took years until they became experts at finding them.  
It cost my brother, Greg and I tens of thousands of dollars to study these 
pieces with an occasional surprise showing up.  We would then patiently explain 
what characteristics to look for when a winning piece showed up.  


Being able to recognize Lunar/Martian meteorites in the field is a process in 
which the Moroccans have become experts.  The yield has dropped significantly 
the last few years so most of the readily accessible areas have been searched.  
They have to go further and further out in order to find them and there comes a 
point where this becomes logistically impossible.   Just over a decade ago, no 
planetary meteorites were recognized as coming from NWA.  


It is time to search North America before it becomes off-limits.

Best Regards,

Adam