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Exhibit lets visitors touch real samples of moon rock

Luke Deal,at The Hold, Ipswichand
Alice Cunningham,Suffolk
News imageLuke Deal/BBC A woman with long light brown hair stands in front of a moon rock exhibition. There are signs on the wall that encourage people to touch part of the exhibition. The woman is wearing a multi-coloured blouse. Luke Deal/BBC
Emily Shepperson said the exhibition captured people's love of the Moon

People will be able to touch real pieces of rock from the moon in a new exhibition.

A touring exhibition, titled The Moon: Meet Our Nearest Neighbour, is taking place at The Hold archives centre in Ipswich until 19 September.

Visitors can explore historical moments in lunar discovery, including the 1969 landings and the space race, while also learning about how the moon influences our natural environment.

Emily Shepperson, exhibitions and interpretations officer at Suffolk Archives, said the exhibition was surprising people as it was "not necessarily what you'd expect" from an archive.

News imageGlow Inflatables A man stands in a large room filled with inflatable planets. The planets are from our solar system and are different colours and sizes.Glow Inflatables
The planets are inflatable and can be re-used in the future
News imageLuke Deal/BBC An exhibition where there are two small stations encouraging people to touch real moon rock. Luke Deal/BBC
Visitors to the exhibition can touch real pieces of rock from the moon

The exhibition includes large inflatables of the moon and the Earth, as well as the other seven planets in our solar system.

"One of the real highlights are these real examples of moon rock that people can come and touch," Shepperson said.

"They are very tiny, as examples of moon rock are, and we've got an example of light type and dark type which, combined together, is what forms those patterns that we can see on the surface of the moon or when we say can you see a face on the moon.

"I think it really captures people's attention —this idea of where these examples you can get your hands on have come from.

"It's such a distant concept of travelling to the moon, but of course it is getting closer every day with different ideas of trips and tourism to the moon."

News imageSuffolk Archives An old black and white photo of a woman resting in a sun lounger in a garden. She has dark hair and has a blanket over her. In the left hand corner there is a circle with a close up of her face. Suffolk Archives
The exhibition includes a section on Alice Grace Cook, a pioneering female astronomer from Stowmarket
News imageLuke Deal/BBC A view of a ceiling where inflatable planets have been hung up.Luke Deal/BBC
The inflatable planets hang through the building

Visitors can also learn about Alice Grace Cook, a pioneering female astronomer from Stowmarket, who in 1916 made history as one of the very first women to be elected a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society.

"Once you step inside the exhibition it gives you an idea of the range of different topics we're talking about," Shepperson continued.

"We're not just talking about the science of the moon, how it formed, what it's made of.

"We're also talking about how it influences our lives through history and right up to today and how it still informs our natural environment as well."

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