Moon Trees! Have You got one in Your Town?

Here and there around our planet are trees that are so special they're "out of this world" or to be more precise, they've been out of this world. As seeds, these trees have been to the Moon and back. And there's a mystery attached to many of the trees because we don't know where some of them are!

What makes these trees so special is how they got to the Moon in the first place. It all began back in 1953 when Stuart Roosa took a job as a US Forest Service firefighter. He would parachute into the wilderness to fight forest fires. Stuart came to love the forests, a love that he would have the rest of his life.

A bit later, Stuart Roosa became an Air Force test pilot, a career which took him away from his precious trees, but on to an adventure few shared. Roosa became an astronaut and was scheduled to fly on Apollo 14, to launch in 1971, along with Alan Shepard and Ed Mitchell.

Every Apollo astronaut was permitted to take a few small personal things into space with them. What they chose, varied greatly. Alan Shepard chose golf balls, John Young on Gemini 3, took a corned beef sandwich. Stuart Roosa took tree seeds, a choice that delighted the Forest Service.

Roosa choice became part science and part stunt. Scientists wanted to know what would happen to the seeds if they went to the Moon. Would they sprout when they came back? But the tiny seeds would also play ambassadors, and be given as gifts as part of the bicentennial celebration in 1976.

The particular seeds selected were a wide variety. Redwoods were chosen because they are so well known. Others such as Sycamore, Douglas Fir and Sweetgum were chosen because they grew well in a variety of climates.

On January 31, 1971, Apollo 14 launched on its trip to the Moon. Roosa did not actually walk on the Moon, but remained orbiting the Moon in the command module. During the mission, he orbited the Moon, with his seeds, 34 times. Apollo 14 was a success and the scientists were as happy with the tree seeds as they were with the lunar rock samples.

During decontamination, there was a bit of a scare for the seeds. During the process the canister the seeds were in was explosed to vacuum and unfortunately the canister burst, scattering and possibly damaging the seeds. Scientists feared the seeds might be damaged, but nonetheless separated the seeds by type and sent them to the US Forest Labs. Amazingly, nearly all the seeds germinated.

During the following years, the trees not only grew, but thrived. Their growth was normal despite their zero gravity time as seeds.

And they not only grew up to be big trees, but they reproduced with Earth trees, and their offspring, called half-moon trees, were normal too.

In 1975, when the seedlings were ready to leave the lab, it seemed that everyone wanted a Moon tree! Some choices were obvious, the White House , and Independence Square. Politicians wanted Moon trees to dedicate buildings. One tree went to the Emperor of Japan. So many requests for Moon trees came in that the Forest Service had to take cuttings and produce more Moon trees!

Unfortunately, no one kept records as to where the Moon trees were sent, and you could have one near you and note know it! Most of them should still be around today as trees are long lived. Redwoods could last for thousands of years, but most trees live for a few centuries. In fact, the trees have outlived two of the humans who took them to the Moon, Alan Shepard and Stuart Roosa.

Says Jack, Roosa's son, "I think my father always knew that these trees would serve as a long-lasting, living reminder of mankind's greatest achievement--the manned missions to the Moon." Of course, if humans don't return soon, Moon trees could become the only living things on our planet that have been to the Moon. That's probably not what Stuart had in mind.

Jack, however, is optimistic: "These trees will be here 100 years from now," he says. "By then I believe we'll be planting Mars trees right beside them!"

Moon Tree Locations

* Trees no longer alive

Second Generation Moon Tree Locations

Buy Moon Tree Seedlings

The StarrySkies Lunar Eclipse Pages
Total Lunar Eclipse: Second Moon Show of the Year takes place November 8
What is a Lunar Eclipse
Why we don't have a Lunar Eclipse every month
Eclipse Facts
Rating a lunar eclipse - the Danjon Scale
Photographing a Lunar Eclipse
Myths and Lore about Lunar Eclipses
The Lunar Eclipse that Saved Christopher Columbus
Moon Facts
Moonstats - Lunar Vital Statistics
Moonwatching
Why we see only one side of the Moon - librations
Lunar Phases
Moon Tales: The Night the Moon fell - 1939 Springfield, Missouri
Moon Tales: When the Moon saved the Sun - New York 1835
Moon Trees - Have you got one in Your Town?
Multimedia Moon - Images and Video clips of the Moon
3D Moon - Catch the Moon in 3D (note: you will need 3D glasses)

Constellations

The Solar System