RARE samples of moon rock and lunar dust have landed at a Middlesbrough school.
Students at The King's Academy, in Coulby Newham, have been handling and learning about the samples this week.
Because of their rarity, however, news about their arrival had to be kept under wraps.
The pieces were provided by the UK's Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC).
They were collected during Nasa's manned space missions to the moon in the 1960s and 1970s when Apollo astronauts brought a total of 382kg of material back to Earth.
The samples are now used by scientists to study the moon, but Nasa decided to keep a small proportion of the rock and soil to develop lunar and planetary sciences educational packages for schools and scientific organisations.
King's Academy science teacher Lesley Wood said: "These samples are very rare and irreplaceable, so it's been incredibly exciting to have them in school.
"The opportunity to touch pieces of the moon has helped bring to life physics lessons for our students. In particular, they've been very popular with a year seven class who are working on a topic on the solar system."
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