Astronaut Stuart Roosa transported loblolly pine, sycamore, sweetgum, redwood, and Douglas fir seeds inside his personal kit while orbiting the Moon. Researchers successfully germinated the batch on Earth after canisters ruptured during decontamination procedures. The resulting seedlings were dispatched to diverse locations, including the White House, foreign nations, and university campuses. Without an original centralized registry tracking their exact distribution, these enduring specimens remain living tributes to the Apollo program and Roosa's legacy.
Key points
Decades of observation confirmed no discernible physical differences between the space-tr…: Decades of observation confirmed no discernible physical differences between the space-traveled trees and their Earth-bound controls.
The living seedlings were planted widely across the globe to coincide with the nation's 1…: The living seedlings were planted widely across the globe to coincide with the nation's 1976 bicentennial celebration.
A lack of systematic record-keeping left the surviving trees scattered as uncataloged mem…: A lack of systematic record-keeping left the surviving trees scattered as uncataloged memorials to Stuart Roosa and Apollo 14.
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Apollo 14 launched in the late afternoon of January 31, 1971 on what was to be our third trip to the lunar surface. Five days later Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell walked on the Moon while Stuart Roosa, a former U.S. Forest Service smoke jumper, orbited above in the command module. Packed in small containers in Roosa's personal kit were hundreds of tree seeds, part of a joint NASA/USFS project. Upon return to Earth, the seeds were germinated by the Forest Service. Known as the "Moon Trees", the resulting seedlings were planted throughout the United States (often as part of the nation's bicentennial in 1976) and the world. They stand as a tribute to astronaut Roosa and the Apollo program.
The project began after Roosa was chosen for the Apollo 14 mission. Ed Cliff, Chief of the Forest Service, knew of Stuart Roosa from his days as a smoke jumper and contacted him about bringing seeds into space. Stan Krugman of the Forest Service was put in charge of the project and selected the seeds for the experiment. Seeds were…
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