Welcome to Lunar Rock!


Greg Hupé (left) and Adam Hupé Asteroid Cafe in Seattle 2002.
Greg Hupé (left) and Adam Hupé Asteroid Cafe in Seattle 2002.
 
LunarRock.com was originaly built in 2001 to showcase one particular meteorite from the moon, Northwest Africa 482 (NWA 482). My brother, Adam, and I wanted to share the story so the site was created as a vehicle in which to deliver the history behind its time in space and to chronicle its terrestrial residence on Earth before being discovered by nomadic Berbers in Northwest Africa and its eventual purchase and distribution to a dedicated group of investors. The site also hosted scientific findings and a gallery of images. It worked out very well for my brother, Adam and I as we invested in nearly half of the available positions which enabled us to receive the 312 gram main mass. It immediately became the ‘Crown Jewel’ of The Hupé Collection which began in the mid 90s.

Soon after our success with the recovery of NWA 482, Adam and I struck out on our own and started buying hundreds of kilos of suspect meteorites from Morocco, sometimes flying there personally to pick them out. The beginning offered mostly ordinary chondrites, occasional achondrites and many terrestrial stones. The slow beginning did not deter us and we were motivated by our closest scientists and friends, Drs. Tony Irving and Scott Kuehner from the Univerity of Washington in Seattle. Early on, Tony presented us with a lofty goal in the summer of 2001, motivating us to find (or purchase) a new planetary meteorite.

  Northwest Africa 482 lunar meteorite.
Northwest Africa 482 lunar meteorite.
We were soon rewarded with our purchase of a group of suspect meteorites from a Moroccan partner and within that box was a small bag of stones. We sent these to Tony and it did not take long to discover we had
Drs. Tony Irving and Scott Kuehner at UW microprobe laboratory.
Drs. Tony Irving and Scott Kuehner at UW microprobe laboratory.
  our first Martian meteorite discovery! These would later be assigned the designation, Northwest Africa 1110. Within a few months of analysis, it became apparent that this new discovery was likely paired to one that a French team had been analyzing just days before ours was sent to the laboratory. We felt a little down by missing the chance to ‘be first’ by only a few days. This emboldened us further and we started to buy even more material from the Sahara desert.

In the beginning months of 2002, we traveled to Morocco many times to hunt for and purchase suspect meteorites or received many parcels by overseas shipments. We were rewarded with our
very first planetary meteorite that had never been discovered before. It was another Martian meteorite which has since been named, Northwest Africa 1195. We realized the dream in a relatively short period of time!

The following decade Adam and I began to further ramp up our efforts to recover as many new meteorites as we could afford. We would take outrageous risks in purchasing suspect planetary or unusual stones,
most often being rewarded with many new types of meteorites, a lot of beautiful ordinary ones and occasional Earth rocks. When taking into account our persistence, dedication and risk taking, our efforts were rewarded many times over with nearly two dozen new meteorites from the Moon and Mars!

After twelve years, I decided I wanted to give the LunarRock.com web site a complete makeover to celebrate and highlight all of the planetary meteorites from The Hupé Collection. These are a special group that Adam and I were personally responsible for their discovery or instrumental in bringing them to ‘first light’ within the
  Grouping of some planetary masses.
Grouping of some planetary masses.
meteorite community. I wanted a new web site so that collectors and scientists could enjoy viewing the images and reading the many scientific papers highlighting these special meteorites.

I am honored and privileged to present to you the new and improved... Lunar Rock web site!

Greg Hupé


Member - International Meteorite Collectors Association (IMCA)  Member - International Meteorite Collectors Association (IMCA)
 
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