A hand-sized skull meticulously carved by hand by artist Lee Downey and made from Tranquillityite, a mineral once found only on the moon. It was named after Mare Tranquillitatis (Sea of Tranquility), the place from which the rock samples were brought back during the 1969 Apollo 11 Lunar mission. It is possibly one of the rarest minerals on Earth. Until its discovery in Australia in 2011, Tranquillityite was the last mineral brought from the
Moon which was thought to be unique.
Tranquillityite is made up of iron, silicon, oxygen, zirconium, titanium and tiny bits of calcium and yttrium, a rare earth element. The skull is a deep dark grey with a mottled finish that evinces grey-green speckles throughout this fascinating and historic piece.