Museum visitors to touch part of the moon and Mars
Trustees of the Natural History MusemVisitors to London's Natural History Museum will be able to touch a piece of the moon and the planet Mars at a new exhibition.
The museum is opening its first display dedicated to space exploration, with more than 60 objects on view - including a parachute NASA used to practice transporting an asteroid to Earth.
Visitors can see fragments of an asteroid and even smell pods that recreate the scents of space.
Professor Caroline Smith, lead scientist on the exhibition, said there was "more evidence than ever before" that life could exist beyond Earth.
She said the latest findings from space missions and data held in the museum's meteorite collection have contributed to their understanding.
"We are over the moon to share what we know so far about the search for life in space," she said.
Space: Could Life Exist Beyond Earth? opens on Friday, with tickets costing up to £16.50.
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