Moon Trees

As command module pilot for the 1971 Apollo 14 mission, Stuart Roosa was one of 24 people to travel around the Moon* in the heroic first age of lunar exploration. He was also a former U.S. Forest Service smokejumper, and he carried into lunar orbit about 500 seeds to test the effects of spaceflight on the resulting trees. Upon returning to Earth, almost all the seeds germinated successfully, and many of the seedlings were distributed widely for the 1976 U.S. Bicentennial. After 50 years, no differences have been noted between Moon trees and Earth trees.

NASA repeated this experiment for the 2022 Artemis I test flight. While we await the next 4 people to travel around the Moon, during Artemis II later this year, I recently visited Asheville Botanical Garden to see its Apollo Moon Tree. It was a clear and unseasonably warm February day, and I found the sycamore barren of leaves but apparently healthy, only distinguishable by the plaque at its base.

*Luna is arguably a better name for Earth’s natural satellite.

At the Asheville Botanical Garden with a sycamore tree planted from a seed that travelled around the moon with astronaut Stuart Roosa during Apollo 14 in 1971.