Maine airport to house moon chunk in exhibit [Video]

PORTLAND, Maine –

Fly me to the moon. Or, at least, to Maine.

Maine’s largest airport is now home to the second largest piece of the moon on Earth, according to moon rock enthusiasts who installed the extraterrestrial chunk. The moon piece is a little bigger than a rugby ball and is on loan to the Portland International Jetport from the Maine Mineral & Gem Museum.

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The moon chunk went on display at the airport on Tuesday and organizers said, jokingly, that it gives Maine travellers a chance to go somewhere no other airport can take them — the moon. The piece is housed in an exhibit alongside one of the world’s largest pieces of Mars and other samples.

“This exhibit will be full of beautiful examples of meteorite specimens from the moon, Mars and the asteroid 4 Vesta,” said Cari Corrigan, curator of meteorites at the Smithsonian Institution.

The moon chunk weighs …