Moon tree

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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

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]

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]

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.[3]

City and state Location Type of tree Planting date
Auburn University,
Alabama		 G.W. Andrews Forestry Sciences Lab Loblolly Pine* 22 October 1976
Birmingham,
Alabama		 Birmingham Botanical Garden Sycamore April 1976
Montgomery,
Alabama		 State Capitol Loblolly Pine April 1976
Troy,
Alabama		 Pioneer Museum of Alabama 5 August 1976
Tuscumbia,
Alabama		 Ivy Green 19 October 1976
Flagstaff,
Arizona		 Flagstaff Jr. High School Douglas Fir 30 April 1976
Tucson,
Arizona		 Kuiper Space Sciences Building, University of Arizona Sycamore
Ft. Smith,
Arkansas		 Sebastian County Courthouse Loblolly Pine 15 March 1976
Washington,
Arkansas		 Old Washington Historic State Park
Arcata,
California		 Humboldt State University 3 Redwoods
Berkeley,
California 		Tilden Nature Area 2 Redwoods[4] 26 July 1976
Monterey,
California		 Friendly Plaza Redwood July 1976
San Luis Obispo,
California		 Mission Plaza 30 July 1976
Sacramento,
California		 State Capitol
Cape Canaveral,
Florida		 Kennedy Space Center Sycamore*[5] 25 June 1976
Gainesville,
Florida		 University of Florida Sycamore
Perry,
Florida		 Forest Capital Museum State Park Loblolly Pine 26 April 1978
Tallahassee,
Florida		 Cascades Park Sycamore
Tallahassee,
Florida		 Doyle Conner Building Loblolly Pine
Athens,
Georgia		 Athens-Clarke County Planning Department May 1976
Waycross,
Georgia		 Okefenokee Regional Educational Service Agency[6] ca. 1976
Boise,
Idaho		 Lowell Elementary School 1977
Moscow,
Idaho		 University of Idaho Sycamore
Cannelton,
Indiana		 Camp Koch Girl Scout Camp 1976
Indianapolis,
Indiana		 Indiana Statehouse 9 April 1976
Lincoln City,
Indiana		 Lincoln State Park 1 May 1976
Tell City,
Indiana		 Forest Service Office 2 Sweetgums 1976
Atchison,
Kansas		 International Forest of Friendship Sycamore
Elmer,
Louisiana		 Palustris Experimental Forest Loblolly Pine April 1976
Piedmont,
South Carolina		 209 Green Leaf Lane Sycamore August, 1976
New Orleans,
Louisiana		 New Orleans River Walk Loblolly Pine June 1983
Bethesda,
Maryland		 Society of American Foresters 30 September 1975
Greenbelt,
Maryland		 Goddard Space Flight Center Sycamore 9 June 1977
Holliston,
Massachusetts		 Holliston Police Station April 1976
Lansing,
Michigan		 State Capitol Weeping Beech 1976
Mississippi State,
Mississippi		 The Junction Sycamore 1975
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 Park 29 July 1976
Eugene,
Oregon		 Erb Memorial Union, University of Oregon (Initially planted at Willamette Hall, moved in 1980) Douglas Fir 1976
Roseburg,
Oregon		 U.S. Veteran's Hospital 3 May 1976
Corvallis,
Oregon		 Peavy Hall, Oregon State University 1976
Salem,
Oregon		 State Capitol 30 April 1976
Salem,
Oregon		 Private Residence 2 Douglas Firs 1973
Ebensburg,
Pennsylvania		 Cambria County Courthouse Sycamore 29 June 1976
Hollidaysburg,
Pennsylvania		 Highland Hall 5 May 1976
King of Prussia,
Pennsylvania		 Lockheed Martin Space Systems Building 30 June 1976
Newtown/Langhorne,
Pennsylvania		 Core Creek Park 30 April 1976
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania		 Washington Square Sycamore* 6 May 1975
Knoxville,
Tennessee		 University of Tennessee Loblolly Pine April 1976
Sewanee,
Tennessee		 University of the South Sycamore
Tullahoma,
Tennessee		 Arnold Air Force Base Loblolly Pine
Olympia,
Washington		 State Capitol Douglas Fir
Huntsville,
Alabama		 U.S. Space and Rocket Center 5 Sycamores,
2 Pines *		 29 October 1976
Tuskegee,
Alabama		 VA Hospital (CAVHCS) Loblolly Pine * 1976
Little Rock,
Arkansas		 Forestry Commission Headquarters 15 March 1976
Monticello,
Arkansas		 University of Arkansas at Monticello 1977?
New Orleans,
Louisiana		 NASA Michoud Assembly Facility Loblolly Pine (2?) * July 1976
North Pembroke,
Massachusetts		 Historical Society Sycamore? * April 1976
Albuquerque,
New Mexico		 Civic Plaza Douglas Fir *
Illinois Valley,
Oregon		 Siskiyou Smoke Jumper Base
Washington,
D.C.		 White House Loblolly Pine * 19 January 1977
Plano, Texas Plano Senior High School Sycamore * 4 November 2009
Brasília,
Brazil		 Ibama Central Building's garden Sweetgum 14 November 1980
Santa Rosa,
Brazil		 Parque Municipal de Exposições Redwood 18 August 1981
Tradate,
Italy		 Appiano Gentile Park Loblolly Pine 10 October 2011
Bracey,
Virginia		 River Ridge Golf & Camping Club Sycamore 31 January 1971
Doswell, Virginia Kings Dominion Sycamore circa 1976 [7]
Lucerne,
Switzerland		 Swiss Transport Museum Sycamore 15 August 1976 (not planted until later)
Silver City,
New Mexico		 Gough Park 14 August 1976
Houston,
Texas		 NASA Johnson Space Center Loblolly Pine February 2016[dubious – discuss]

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. ^ a b Williams, David R. (28 July 2009). "The "Moon Trees"". Goddard Space Flight Center. NASA. Retrieved 7 August 2009.
  3. ^ Massey, Robert (2021-03-30). "Can you help us find the Moon Trees?". Royal Astronomical Society. Retrieved 2021-04-23.
  4. ^ "'Moon trees' mark Tilden Regional Park". The Mercury News. 2015-11-27. Retrieved 2021-04-29.
  5. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-03-19. Retrieved 2017-09-17.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. ^ Twitter
  7. ^ "The Moon Tree That Orbited the Moon 34 Times". 4 May 2016.

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

External links[]

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