A SCIENCE teacher who organised a space week said both parents and pupils were “enchanted” after she managed to get rocks from Mars and the moon.
Vicky King, head of science and maths at Deepdene Prep school in New Church Road, Hove, said the aim of the week was to capture children’s imaginations with real rocks from outer space.
Children also got to dress up in space-themed costumes as part of the school’s “moon week”.
The lunar samples were collected in the late 1960s and early 1970s during some of NASA’s first manned space missions to the moon.
During these missions, 382kg of material was brought back to Earth.
Vicky got in touch with an organisation called the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) which organises the transportation of highly-valuable rocks from outer space for pupils to view at schools.
She booked it nine months ago due to the massive waiting list of schools.
She said: “They’re pretty priceless, not just because they’re such rare curiosities but also because of the amount of money that Nasa has spent on getting these rocks. The samples that were collected by astronauts who visited the moon.
“You have to think about all the costs involved in getting them to the moon, and that cost is then transferred to the moon rocks themselves. We had to be very careful to keep them secret and safe.
“Holding a piece of Mars or the moon in your hand is awe-inspiring. A lot of the parents said it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.”
One of the rocks from Mars was 1.2 billion years old, while students also got to see a 4.3 billion-year-old nickel meteorite. The rocks were kept in special cases to protect them.
Vicky added: “The week was brilliant, it really captured the children’s imaginations so well. Not just the children but the teachers and parents as well.
“Everyone was just enchanted at these rocks which have come from space, the moon and Mars as well. My main aim as a science teacher is to inspire children, I’m hoping in the future we may have inspired some children to go into astrophysics or aeronautics!”
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