Moon tree

Moon trees are trees grown from 500 seeds taken into orbit around the Moon by Stuart Roosa, the Command Module Pilot on the Apollo 14 mission in 1971. The idea was proposed to Roosa, who had been a smoke jumper, by Ed Cliff, then the Chief of the United States Forest Service.[1] Seeds for the experiment were chosen from five species of tree: loblolly pine, sycamore, sweetgum, redwood, and Douglas fir.[2][3][4][5][6]

Bicentennial Moon Tree, planted in 1975 in Washington Square, Philadelphia
Moon Tree in front of Sebastian County Courthouse, in Fort Smith, Arkansas
Plaque at the base of the Fort Smith, Arkansas, Moon Tree.
Moon Tree, Waycross, Georgia

History

After the flight, the seeds were sent to the southern Forest Service station in Gulfport, Mississippi, and to the western station in Placerville, California, with the intent to germinate them. Nearly all the seeds germinated successfully, and after a few years, the Forest Service had about 420 seedlings. Some of these were planted alongside their Earth-bound counterparts, which were specifically set aside as controls. After more than 40 years, there was no discernible difference between the two classes of trees. Most of the "Moon trees" were given away in 1975 and 1976 to state forestry organizations, in order to be planted as part of the nation's bicentennial celebration. Since the trees were all of southern or western species, not all states received trees. A Loblolly Pine was planted at the White House, and trees were planted in Brazil, Switzerland, and presented to Emperor Hirohito, among others.[2]

The locations of many of the trees that were planted from these seeds were largely unknown for decades. In 1996, a third-grade teacher, Joan Goble, and her students found a tree in their local area with a plaque identifying it as a moon tree. Goble sent an email to NASA, and reached employee Dave Williams. Williams was unaware of the trees' existence, as were most of his colleagues at NASA. Upon doing some research, Williams found some old newspaper clippings that described the initial actions taken by Roosa to bring these seeds to space and home to be planted.[3]

Williams posted a page on NASA's official website asking for public help to find the trees. The page also contained a table listing the locations and species of known moon trees. Williams began to hear from people around the United States who had seen trees with plaques identifying them as moon trees. Williams began to manage a database listing details about such trees, including their location and species. In 2011, an article in Wired magazine described the effort, and provided Williams' email address, encouraging anyone to write who might have data on existing moon trees.[4] As of 2022, efforts were continuing to identify and locate existing trees;[3] the NASA page remains active.[7]

In March 2021, the Royal Astronomical Society and the UK Space Agency asked for the help of the public to identify up to 15 Moon Trees that may be growing in the United Kingdom. As of April 2021, none of the trees that supposedly came to the UK have been identified.[8]

Current efforts

The Moon Tree Foundation is an organization run by Roosa's daughter, Rosemary, which seeks to plant moon trees in regions around the world. The foundation sponsors and hosts ceremonies to plant new trees, with seeds produced by the original generation of trees that grew from the seeds carried by Roosa.[9]

Locations
City and stateLocationType of treePlanting date
Auburn University,
Alabama		G.W. Andrews Forestry Sciences LabLoblolly Pine*22 October 1976
Birmingham,
Alabama		Birmingham Botanical GardenSycamoreApril 1976
Montgomery,
Alabama		State CapitolLoblolly PineApril 1976
Troy,
Alabama		Pioneer Museum of Alabama5 August 1976
Tuscumbia,
Alabama		Ivy Green19 October 1976
Flagstaff,
Arizona		Flagstaff Jr. High SchoolDouglas Fir30 April 1976
Tucson,
Arizona		Kuiper Space Sciences Building, University of ArizonaSycamore
Ft. Smith,
Arkansas		Sebastian County CourthouseLoblolly Pine15 March 1976
Washington,
Arkansas		Old Washington Historic State Park
Arcata,
California		Humboldt State University3 Redwoods
Berkeley,
California		 Tilden Nature Area 2 Redwoods[10] 26 July 1976
Monterey,
California		Friendly Plaza RedwoodJuly 1976
San Luis Obispo,
California		Mission Plaza30 July 1976
Sacramento,
California		State Capitol
Cape Canaveral,
Florida		Kennedy Space CenterSycamore*[11]25 June 1976
Gainesville,
Florida		University of FloridaSycamore
Keystone Heights,
Florida		Keystone Heights LibrarySycamore[12]1984
Perry,
Florida		Forest Capital Museum State ParkLoblolly Pine26 April 1978
Tallahassee,
Florida		Cascades ParkSycamore
Tallahassee,
Florida		Doyle Conner BuildingLoblolly Pine
Athens,
Georgia		Athens-Clarke County Planning DepartmentMay 1976
Waycross,
Georgia		Okefenokee Regional Educational Service Agency[13]ca. 1976
Boise,
Idaho		Lowell Elementary School1977
Moscow,
Idaho		University of IdahoSycamore
Cannelton,
Indiana		Camp Koch Girl Scout Camp1976
Indianapolis,
Indiana		Indiana Statehouse9 April 1976
Lincoln City,
Indiana		Lincoln State Park1 May 1976
Tell City,
Indiana		Forest Service Office2 Sweetgums1976
Atchison,
Kansas		International Forest of FriendshipSycamore
Elmer,
Louisiana		Palustris Experimental ForestLoblolly PineApril 1976
Piedmont,
South Carolina		209 Green Leaf LaneSycamoreAugust, 1976
New Orleans,
Louisiana		New Orleans River WalkLoblolly PineJune 1983
Bethesda,
Maryland		Society of American Foresters30 September 1975
Greenbelt,
Maryland		Goddard Space Flight CenterSycamore9 June 1977
Holliston,
Massachusetts		Holliston Police StationApril 1976
Lansing,
Michigan		State CapitolWeeping Beech1976
Mississippi State,
Mississippi		The JunctionSycamore1975
Waynesboro,
Mississippi		Forestry Commission Nursery
DeSoto,
Missouri		Walthers Park
Pisgah National Forest,
North Carolina		Cradle of Forestry in America
Asheville Botanical Garden,
North Carolina		UNC Asheville
South Brunswick,
New Jersey		South Brunswick High School
Jefferson County,
Ohio		Friendship Park29 July 1976
Eugene,
Oregon		Erb Memorial Union, University of Oregon (Initially planted at Willamette Hall, moved in 1980)Douglas Fir1976
Roseburg,
Oregon		U.S. Veteran's Hospital3 May 1976
Corvallis,
Oregon		Peavy Hall, Oregon State University1976
Salem,
Oregon		State Capitol30 April 1976
Salem,
Oregon		Private Residence2 Douglas Firs1973
Ebensburg,
Pennsylvania		Cambria County CourthouseSycamore29 June 1976
Hollidaysburg,
Pennsylvania		Highland Hall5 May 1976
King of Prussia,
Pennsylvania		Lockheed Martin Space Systems Building30 June 1976
Newtown/Langhorne,
Pennsylvania		Core Creek Park30 April 1976
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania		Washington SquareSycamore*6 May 1975
Knoxville,
Tennessee		University of TennesseeLoblolly PineApril 1976
Sewanee,
Tennessee		University of the SouthSycamore
Tullahoma,
Tennessee		Arnold Air Force BaseLoblolly Pine
Olympia,
Washington		State CapitolDouglas Fir
Huntsville,
Alabama		U.S. Space and Rocket Center5 Sycamores,
2 Pines *		29 October 1976
Tuskegee,
Alabama		VA Hospital (CAVHCS)Loblolly Pine *1976
Little Rock,
Arkansas		Forestry Commission Headquarters15 March 1976
Monticello,
Arkansas		University of Arkansas at Monticello1977?
New Orleans,
Louisiana		NASA Michoud Assembly FacilityLoblolly Pine (2?) *July 1976
North Pembroke,
Massachusetts		Historical SocietySycamore? *April 1976
Albuquerque,
New Mexico		Civic PlazaDouglas Fir *
Illinois Valley,
Oregon		Siskiyou Smoke Jumper Base
Washington,
D.C.		White HouseLoblolly Pine *19 January 1977
Plano, TexasPlano Senior High SchoolSycamore *4 November 2009
Brasília,
Brazil		Ibama Central Building's gardenSweetgum14 November 1980[14]
Santa Rosa,
Brazil		Parque Municipal de ExposiçõesRedwood18 August 1981
Tradate,
Italy		Appiano Gentile ParkLoblolly Pine10 October 2011
Bracey,
Virginia		River Ridge Golf & Camping ClubSycamore31 January 1971
Doswell, Virginia Kings DominionSycamorecirca 1976[15]
Lucerne,
Switzerland		Swiss Transport MuseumSycamore15 August 1976 (not planted until later)
Silver City,
New Mexico		Gough Park14 August 1976[16]
Houston,
Texas		NASA Johnson Space CenterLoblolly PineFebruary 2016

An asterisk (*) denotes a tree that is no longer alive.

See also

References
  1. Williams, Gerald; Severance, Carol; Lewis, James G. (2009-06-18). "Chiefs of the U.S. Forest Service". Forest History Society. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 7 August 2009.
  2. Williams, David R. (28 July 2009). "The "Moon Trees"". Goddard Space Flight Center. NASA. Retrieved 7 August 2009.
  3. We Almost Forgot About the Moon Trees: A collection of tree seeds that went round and round the moon was scattered far and wide back home, by Marina Koren. The seeds orbited the Moon, but were not landed on it. The Atlantic, January 31, 2022.
  4. The Mystery of the Missing Moon Trees: 15 years after NASA astronomer David Williams started searching for them, hundreds of trees grown from space-faring seeds are still missing. The “moon trees,” whose seeds circled the moon 34 times in Apollo 14 astronaut Stuart Roosa‘s pocket, were welcomed back to Earth with great fanfare in 1971. February 10, 2011, wired.com.
  5. "Race Against Time to Find Apollo 14's Lost Voyagers: 'Moon Trees'". Science Daily. February 10, 2011.
  6. Black, Richard (19 July 2005). "Trees... from the Moon". BBC News.
  7. The "Moon Trees", official NASA website, accessed Feb 3, 2022.
  8. Massey, Robert (2021-03-30). "Can you help us find the Moon Trees?". Royal Astronomical Society. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  9. Moon tree Planting ceremony, official website of Moon Tree Foundation, accessed February 3, 2022.
  10. "'Moon trees' mark Tilden Regional Park". The Mercury News. 2015-11-27. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
  11. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-03-19. Retrieved 2017-09-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. "Keystone Heights Moon Tree". Retrieved 2022-03-11.
  13. Georgia Forestry Commission, Twitter, July 9, 2019
  14. Correio Braziliense, November 15, 1980
  15. "The Moon Tree That Orbited the Moon 34 Times". 4 May 2016.
  16. 'Moon Tree' dedication here Sunday, Silver City Daily Press, August 14, 1976
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