IT’S like looking into an alien world.

Pupils at St Amand’s Catholic Primary School in East Hendred near Wantage got a chance to see genuine samples of moon rock this week.

Eight-year-old Thomas Aspinall, who was among the youngsters to get a close look at the capsule of lunar samples, said: “They looked amazing.”

The other-worldly samples were collected in the late 1960s and early 1970s during some of NASA’s first manned space missions to the moon.

Their visit to East Hendred was arranged by the Science and Technology Facilities Council which now looks after them.

The astronomical educational pack also included a 1.2 billion-year-old piece of Mars and a 4.3 billion-year-old nickel meteorite.

The council’s chief executive officer, Prof John Womersley said: “This was a great opportunity for young people to be able to see, touch and really experience such important and exciting messengers from space – turning science fiction into science fact.

“It’s an unforgettable experience to be able to hold such an important part of science history that has made such an incredible journey over millions of miles to reach us.”