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 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.
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.
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*
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 AgencyLoblolly 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
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 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 SquareSycamore6 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 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 *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, VirginiaKings Dominion--
Lucerne,
Switzerland		Swiss Transport MuseumSycamore15 August 1976
Silver City,
New Mexico		Gough ParkSycamore08 October 2011
Houston,
Texas		NASA Johnson Space CenterLoblolly PineFebruary 2016

An asterisk denotes a tree that is no longer alive.