NASA’s moon trees all over the United States – here’s how to find them – BGR

• During the Apollo 14 mission to the Moon, hundreds of tiny seeds boarded the Kitty Hawk Commando Model.
• The seeds survived their journey into space, hung out in orbit around the Moon, and eventually traveled back to Earth with the crew.
• NASA grew the seeds and many of them were sent all over the United States called “Moon Trees,” and they are still doing very well today.

---

NASA’s Apollo missions to the Moon broke new ground for not only the U.S. space agency, but for mankind as a whole. As a result of the many trips to the lunar surface, many astronauts went out exploring the Earth’s large natural satellite on foot, as they traveled home around high above them. On the Apollo 14 mission, Commando Kitty Hawk carried special loads as it orbited the moon.

On board Kitty Hawk, Stuart Roosa’s personal pilot kept hundreds of seeds of different varieties. The seeds, which included loblolly pine, sweetgum, redwood, Douglas fir, and sycamore, survived the journey into space as well as the journey home. Once back on hard ground, the seeds were propagated and planted thanks to a partnership between NASA and the U.S. Forestry Service. Today, many of these trees are found throughout the United States, and are still alive and well.

Today’s main deal Amazon keeps selling out those black AccuMed masks – now they’re back in stock! Price:$ 26.25 Available from Amazon, BGR may receive a commission buy now Available from Amazon BGR may receive a commission

In a new blog post, NASA explains how the seeds came to be transported into space, and where the trees that came from those seeds are located. It may sound like a simple test, but as NASA points out, it was not without its own unique challenges. When the seeds were brought back to Earth, almost the entire project was removed:

After the mission, the canister fell through decontamination processes, and the seeds were mixed together. The test environment was in danger, and the seeds were feared dead. Nevertheless, they were sent to Forest Service offices in Gulfport, Mississippi, and Placerville, California, to see if any of them could grow and grow into young trees. About 450 trees were grown.

NASA says the shoots were donated to several institutions, including schools and universities across the country. Some were also offered for parks and government facilities, and a pair of trees even found their way to Brazil. Most were sent in the years immediately following the Apollo 14 mission in the 1970s, but a few were deployed in the 1980s, with the most recent being deployed in 1986.

If you know how far away your nearest Moon Tree is, you can hop over to NASA’s Moon Tree page and browse the various plantations, find out what kind of trees have been grown in those places , and exactly where each moon tree is. Today, plants are regularly grown aboard the International Space Station, but the roots of all plants that grow in space go back to those special seeds that spent a few days traveling to the Moon.