YOUNG science boffins at Bury Grammar School were truly “on cloud nine” when rare samples of moon rocks and meteorites landed.

As part of a Science Week at the Tenterden Street school, samples including a 1.2 billion-year-old piece of Mars, a 4.3 billion-year-old nickel meteorite, and a huge Starchaser rocket were on show.

The lunar samples were provided by the UK’s Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), and were collected in the late 1960s and 1970s during some of NASA’s first manned space missions to the moon.

The Starchaser Skybolt rocket was provided by Hyde-based Starchaser Industries, which aims to become a viable business in space tourism.

The re-usable space rocket was built in 2006, and is capable of sending up 20kg of cargo to a maximum altitude of 83 miles.

Jo Solomon, head of science at Bury Grammar School Boys, said: “They were absolutely amazed by the fact that they were holding a piece of the moon, and it is great to see how it has captivated their interest. The science week aims to get young people interested and enthusiastic, and put a practical and real life slant on all some of the things they are doing in their lessons.”