Skip to content
ExplOrbitMoon Registrar

Gift Guide — Rockhounds, geologists and meteorite fans

For the collector whose shelf is missing one very special rock

Every rockhound wants a piece of the Moon, and almost none can have one: the rocks the Apollo astronauts brought home cannot legally be sold, and genuine lunar meteorites are rare and expensive. The ExplOrbit Galaxy Gift Package offers the next best thing, a named territory recorded at real coordinates on the Moon’s ancient surface, with a personalized certificate and a Moon map. The package does not contain any rock, mineral or meteorite; it is a commemorative keepsake for someone who loves them.

Shop the gift package, $129.00All gift ideas

Free standard shipping in the US.

Close detail of the cratered lunar surface in raking sunlight

What the Moon is made of

The Moon’s face is a geology lesson you can read from your backyard. The dark patches, called maria or seas, are vast plains of basalt that flooded giant impact basins roughly 3 to 3.8 billion years ago. The bright regions are the highlands, made largely of anorthosite, a pale rock rich in feldspar that is older still, around 4.4 billion years.

The six Apollo landings brought back about 842 pounds (382 kilograms) of lunar rock and soil. One of the most famous samples, the Genesis Rock collected on Apollo 15, is a piece of anorthosite roughly four billion years old. The surface of every region is blanketed in regolith, a fine, sharp dust made by billions of years of meteorite impacts.

Moon rocks that fell to Earth

When a large impact strikes the Moon, some fragments are thrown fast enough to escape its gravity, and a few eventually land on Earth as lunar meteorites. The first one recognized as lunar was found in Antarctica in 1982. Hundreds are now known, most recovered from the ice of Antarctica and the deserts of North Africa and Oman, and they are prized by collectors.

For anyone who mixes up the terms: a meteoroid is the rock while it is still in space, a meteor is the streak of light it makes burning through the atmosphere, and a meteorite is any piece that survives to reach the ground. The Geminids in mid-December are one of the richest meteor showers of the year, and the Quadrantids follow in early January, two good nights to step outside with a newly gifted Moon map.

Choose a territory by its geology

ExplOrbit territories are recorded across very different kinds of lunar terrain. Basalt seas such as Mare Tranquillitatis, Mare Imbrium, Mare Serenitatis, Mare Crisium and Oceanus Procellarum. Mountain ranges such as the Montes Apenninus, thrown up by the impact that formed the Imbrium basin. Rugged highlands around the crater Tycho. And the polar regions, where water ice has been detected in permanently shadowed craters.

Which regions are open depends on what is still unclaimed when you order. Each territory is recorded once and then retired from sale.

Gift ideas

Gift ideas for rock and mineral lovers

  • The rock tumbler enthusiast

    Their collection covers half the planet. Now it reaches the Moon, with a certificate to display beside it.

  • The meteorite collector

    A companion piece for the display case: the place in the sky where lunar meteorites come from.

  • The geology student

    A territory chosen by rock type, basalt sea or anorthosite highland, for the next field-trip story.

  • Gem and mineral club members

    A gift that starts conversations at the next club meeting or gem show.

  • Fossil and crystal hunters

    For the person who always comes home from a hike with a pocket full of stones.

  • A retiring geologist

    A lasting thank-you for a career spent reading the history written in rock.

The ExplOrbit Galaxy Gift Package

One gift box, everything included

  • One children's activity color poster, 16 x 24 inches, rolled for safe keeping
  • One ExplOrbit Moon Map, charting the near side in detail
  • One ExplOrbit Moon Passport Booklet, stamped for the journey ahead
  • One Collectible ExplOrbit Certificate of Stewardship, personalised and recording the coordinates of your territory as your pledge of stewardship for land on the Moon
  • One ExplOrbit Moon Facts Flyer, packed with bite-sized lunar science

$129.00 for everything, with free standard shipping in the US and nothing else to buy.

Choose a territory and personalizeMore gift ideas

A commemorative collectible and conservation pledge, not a claim of ownership. Is Moon land real?

Common questions

Straight answers

Does the package include a real Moon rock or meteorite?
No. The ExplOrbit Galaxy Gift Package contains no rock, mineral or meteorite. It is a commemorative keepsake set: a personalized certificate recording a named territory at real lunar coordinates, a Moon map, and printed space activities and facts.
Can you legally buy a Moon rock?
Not one collected by the Apollo astronauts. Apollo samples belong to the United States government and cannot legally be sold privately. Lunar meteorites, which reached Earth naturally after impacts on the Moon, can be bought and sold legally, but they are rare and expensive.
What is the difference between a meteor and a meteorite?
A meteoroid is a piece of rock traveling through space. A meteor is the streak of light it makes when it burns through Earth’s atmosphere, often called a shooting star. A meteorite is any part of it that survives the fall and reaches the ground.
What kind of rock is the Moon made of?
Mostly two kinds. The dark maria are basalt, volcanic rock that flooded huge impact basins around 3 to 3.8 billion years ago. The bright highlands are largely anorthosite, a pale feldspar-rich rock about 4.4 billion years old. Both are covered in regolith, a layer of dust and broken rock made by meteorite impacts.

More gift ideas

Shopping for someone else?

Made with Modulify