This image was taken in the Tuam county pavement. Ireland.
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Just 50 years ago this weekend Apollo left 14 crater Fra Mauro on the surface of the moon to begin its three-day journey back to Earth in their spaceship “Kitty Hawk. ”
As well as 94 lbs / 43 kg of moon rock, the team brought home something that has been largely lost in history – “Moon Trees.”
What was Apollo 14?
Apollo 14 – the third time a team that landed on the Moon – remembers its commander Alan Shepard playing golf on the Moon.
The first American to enter space a decade earlier, he became – at 47 years old – the oldest person to orbit the Moon.
But have you ever heard of Apollo 14’s “Moon Trees”?
The sycamore moon tree planted at Mississippi State University in 1975 is the parent tree for many … [+]
NASA / Will Bryan
What is a moon tree? ‘
Stored in Stuart Roosa Order Model Pilot bags – which orbited the Moon while Shepard and Lunar Model Pilot Edgar Mitchell walked on top of it – contained a canister containing approximately 500 seeds of loblolly pine, gum sweet, redwood, Douglas fir and sycamore.
Roosa had worked as a “smoke jumper” – a firefighter who parachutes to remote wildfires to act as a first line of defense – and wanted to honor the U.S. Forestry Service.
The idea was to see what effect a lack of weight would have on the seeds. After orbiting the moon 34 times and returning to Earth, the seeds were propagated to about 420 seeds. In 1975-76 they were donated to schools, universities, parks and government offices throughout the USA.
Then the “Moon Trees” were lost.
So where are they now?
Moon trees have been planted all over the U.S. and around the world.
NASA
Where are the ‘Moon Trees?’
Roosa’s “Moon Trees” are not accessible. In fact, only about 56 “moon trees” are known to be alive (and 13 are known to have died, including a loblolly pine at the White House).
Is there a “Moon Tree” near you? The places are pretty random – they include police stations, scout camps and forest service offices (as well as Brazil, Japan and Switzerland). Those linked to the US space program include:
- Executor at Goddard Space Flight Center, Maryland.
- Executor at the mouth of the Kennedy Center, Florida.
- Loblolly pine in the gardens of NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Florida.
- Five sycamores and two pine cones at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center, Alabama.
Many have a memorial plaque – like this one – and many have spawned “Half-Moon Trees.”
Thomas Elias (L), Director of the U.S. National Arboretum and Alan Ladwig (R), Chief Advisor to the … [+]
AFP through Getty Images
What is a half-moon tree? ‘
“Half Moon Trees” are trees grown from the seeds of Moon Trees. ”
There are 24 well-known “half-moon trees” across the U.S., including one in Arlington National Cemetery, which was buried in 2005 on the 34th anniversary of the release of the Apollo 14 mission.
Another was placed at the National Arboretum in Washington, DC in honor of “Earth Day” and the 40th anniversary of NASA’s Apollo Program on April 22, 2009 (pictured above).
“The historical missions of the Apollo program were all about heavy study and incredible scientific discovery,” said Brian Odom, working as NASA’s Chief Historian. “Apollo 14 included the widest range of scientific experiments up to that point of the program. ”
“But in the case of Roosa’s ‘Moon Trees’, that is what the astronauts took with them on the lunar journey that left such an inevitable mark on the landscape back on Earth.”
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.