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Maine’s largest airport has a new “destination” to offer its travelers: the moon.
The Portland International Jetport is now home to the second-largest piece of the moon on Earth.
The piece is part of a new exhibit titled “Fly Me to the Moon,” which opened to the public on March 26.
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The piece of the moon is on loan from the Maine Mineral & Gem Museum (MMGM).
It’s joined by a piece of Mars, representing “samples of the most beautiful extraterrestrial substance yet discovered.” The meteorite is “celebrated for its striking resemblance to Edvard Munch’s ‘The Scream,’” said a joint release from the jetport and MMGM.
The new exhibit features the second-largest piece of the moon on Earth. The meteorite dubbed “The Scream” is in the center. (Courtesy Portland International Jetport)
“We are thrilled to have ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ at the Jetport,” said Paul Bradbury, director of the airport. “We love celebrating unique aspects of Maine, and the MMGM is certainly among them.”
Darryl Pitt, a music executive from New York City who sourced all the meteorites, said he “loved” the Portland International Jetport, and thought it was an excellent location to “provide a peek at MMGM’s treasures.”
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Pitt told Fox News Digital that the new exhibit is the “coolest eclipse add-on” for anyone who is traveling to the state ahead of the April 8 eclipse.
The Portland International Jetport is Maine’s largest and busiest airport. Maine is one of the states that will experience “totality” during the upcoming eclipse. (Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images)
Maine is one of the states that will experience “totality” during the upcoming eclipse.
“And by the way, the largest piece of the moon on our planet isalsoin Maine!” said Pitt.
“The Maine Mineral & Gem Museum in Bethel has more of the moon than all of the natural historymuseums in the world, combined,” he said.
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Bethel is located in western Maine, about 70 miles northwest of Portland.
“Maine is not just about lobsters anymore … It’s where the moonlives,” said Pitt.
The centerpiece of the new exhibit is a meteorite dubbed “The Scream.”
This meteorite is known as “The Scream,” as it resembles the famous Edvund Munch painting. (Courtesy MMGM)
This meteorite “says ‘hello!’ and lures travelers to come closer and check out one of the more fascinating exhibits you will see in any airport in the world,” he said.
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Pieces of the moon and Mars are quite rare, Pitt told Fox News Digital.
Only about 3,000 pounds of the moon is known to exist on Earth, which includes samples brought back during the Apollo missions.
“All of it would fit in the back of a large SUV,” said Pitt.”And there are only a half ton of samples of the planet Mars on Earth.“
“Fly Me to the Moon” will be on display for the next five years.
For more Lifestyle articles, visit www.foxnews.com/lifestyle.
Christine Rousselle is a lifestyle reporter with Fox News Digital.
