Pupils were given an exciting opportunity to handle pieces of moon rock which were collected during NASA's first manned space missions to the moon.

The students at Haberdashers'Aske's Boys' School in Elstree borrowed pieces of meteorites, including a billion-year-old piece of Mars rock and a four-billion-year-old nickel meteorite.

Borehamwood Times:

The samples were provided free of charge by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) and pupils and staff across the entire school had the chance to take an in-depth look at the rare pieces of rock.

One young pupil who has a dream to be the first man on Mars described seeing the space rock as 'incredible'.

Borehamwood Times:

Samples like these can tell us a great deal about the planets, from which they originate, but there is still much to learn. The STFC hopes that these experiences will encourage students to become the next generation of astronomers.