Is there anything more valuable than moon rocks?

China has found a new potential source of revenue: moon rocks. Its Chang’e-6 lunar lander is on its way home bearing the first ever Chinese cargo of lunar regolith, which on earth would be priceless if the Chinese space agency followed Nasa guidelines. These say moon rocks brought back by human or robotic missions should not be sold. But they have been, and there are also moon rocks that crash-landed on Earth from meteor showers. They have been sold, too. In 2017 a trace of moon dust from Apollo 11 sold at auction for $1.8 million, and in 2020 a 13.5 kg lunar meteorite was valued by Christie’s at $2.5 million. Gram for gram, that’s dearer than gold, and the Apollo dust makes the meteorite look cheap. Bowing to the reality that fragments of the 381 kg of rocks brought back by its astronauts would find their way to market, Nasa did once value them – at over $300,000 a gram in today’s dollars based on the cost of sending a spacecraft to the moon and back. Chang’e-6 lands in Mongolia on 25 June.