NASA opening moon rock samples for first time in decades

NASA scientists are about to crack the vault on some precious items that few have seen and even fewer have touched.

Tucked away in a secret space at Johnson Space Center you'll find hundreds of pounds of moon rocks collected by Apollo astronauts.

Now for the first time in almost a half a century, NASA will open some of the samples and let geologists take a crack at them with 21st-century technology.

It’s the perfect way to mark this summer's 50th anniversary of humanity's first footsteps on the moon than by sharing a bit of the lunar loot.

"It's sort of a coincidence that we're opening them in the year of the anniversary," explained NASA's Apollo sample curator Ryan Zeigler, covered head to toe in a white protective suit with matching fabric boots, gloves and hat, "But certainly the anniversary increased the awareness and the fact that we're going back to the moon."

Mobile users see video on moon rocks here.