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. Roosa, who had been a smoke jumper, was contacted by Ed Cliff, the Chief of the Forest Service[1] at the time, with the idea of taking the seeds along. Seeds for the experiment were chosen from five different species of trees: loblolly pine, sycamore, sweetgum, redwood, and Douglas fir.[2]

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

The seeds orbited the Moon, but were not landed on it.

Roosa’s daughter, Rosemary Roosa, continues on his work with the “Moon Tree Foundation.”

Locations

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 the Forest Service had some 420 seedlings after a few years. Some of these were planted alongside their Earth-bound counterparts, which were specifically set aside as controls. After over forty years there is no discernible difference between the two classes of trees. Most of the "Moon trees" were given away in 1975 and 1976 to many 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]

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 AlabamaLoblolly Pine5 August 1976
Tuscumbia,
Alabama
Ivy GreenLoblolly Pine19 October 1976
Flagstaff,
Arizona
Flagstaff Jr. High SchoolDouglas Fir30 April 1976
Tucson,
Arizona
Kuiper Space Sciences Building, University of ArizonaSycamore30 April 1976
Ft. Smith,
Arkansas
Sebastian County CourthouseLoblolly Pine15 March 1976
Washington,
Arkansas
Old Washington Historic State ParkLoblolly Pine15 March 1976
Arcata,
California
Humboldt State University3 Redwoods
Berkeley,
California
Tilden Nature AreaRedwood26 July 1976
Monterey,
California
Friendly PlazaRedwoodJuly 1976
San Luis Obispo,
California
Mission PlazaRedwood30 July 1976
Sacramento,
California
State CapitolRedwood
Cape Canaveral,
Florida
Kennedy Space CenterSycamore*[3]25 June 1976
Gainesville,
Florida
University of FloridaSycamore
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 DepartmentLoblolly PineMay 1976
Waycross,
Georgia
Okefenokee Regional Educational Service Agency[4]Loblolly Pineca. 1976
Boise,
Idaho
Lowell Elementary SchoolLoblolly Pine1977
Moscow,
Idaho
University of IdahoSycamore
Cannelton,
Indiana
Camp Koch Girl Scout CampSycamore1976
Indianapolis,
Indiana
Indiana StatehouseSycamore9 April 1976
Lincoln City,
Indiana
Lincoln State ParkSycamore1 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 ForestersLoblolly Pine30 September 1975
Greenbelt,
Maryland
Goddard Space Flight CenterSycamore9 June 1977
Holliston,
Massachusetts
Holliston Police StationSycamoreApril 1976
Lansing,
Michigan
State CapitolWeeping Beech1976
Mississippi State,
Mississippi
The JunctionSycamore1975
Waynesboro,
Mississippi
Forestry Commission NurserySycamore
DeSoto,
Missouri
Walthers ParkSycamore
Pisgah National Forest,
North Carolina
Cradle of Forestry in AmericaSycamore
Asheville Botanical Garden,
North Carolina
UNC AshevilleSycamore
South Brunswick,
New Jersey
South Brunswick High SchoolSycamore
Jefferson County,
Ohio
Friendship ParkSycamore29 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 HospitalDouglas Fir3 May 1976
Corvallis,
Oregon
Peavy Hall, Oregon State UniversityDouglas Fir1976
Salem,
Oregon
State CapitolDouglas Fir30 April 1976
Salem,
Oregon
Private Residence2 Douglas Firs1973
Ebensburg,
Pennsylvania
Cambria County CourthouseSycamore29 June 1976
Hollidaysburg,
Pennsylvania
Highland HallSycamore5 May 1976
King of Prussia,
Pennsylvania
Lockheed Martin Space Systems BuildingSycamore30 June 1976
Newtown/Langhorne,
Pennsylvania
Core Creek ParkSycamore30 April 1976
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania
Washington SquareSycamore*6 May 1975
Knoxville,
Tennessee
University of TennesseeLoblolly PineApril 1976
Sewanee,
Tennessee
University of the SouthSycamoreApril 1976
Tullahoma,
Tennessee
Arnold Air Force BaseLoblolly PineApril 1976
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 HeadquartersLoblolly Pine *15 March 1976
Monticello,
Arkansas
University of Arkansas at MonticelloLoblolly Pine *1977?
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 BaseDouglas Fir *
Washington,
D.C.
White HouseLoblolly Pine *19 January 1977
Plano, TexasPlano Senior High SchoolSycamore4 November 2009
Brasília,
Brazil
Ibama Central Building's gardenSweetgum14 November 1980
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 Dominion [5]
Lucerne,
Switzerland
Swiss Transport MuseumSycamore15 August 1976 (not planted until later)
Silver City,
New Mexico
Gough ParkSycamore14 August 1976
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. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-03-19. Retrieved 2017-09-17.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. Twitter
  5. https://huffingtonpost.com/julee-morrison/the-moon-tree-that-orbite_b_9837820.html

6. https://www.newspapers.com/image/?clipping_id=34076574&fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjM4Njc0NzEwLCJpYXQiOjE2MDA5OTIxMzMsImV4cCI6MTYwMTA3ODUzM30.B8-DAn2DGYwhD_h0YVTcszH5Ny-jUUpetfMKBbWtMVk

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