The Forgotten Trees That Orbited the Moon

What the film says

1. Forest Service chief Edward P. Cliff proposed the idea, and Apollo 14 command module pilot Stuart Roosa carried about 500 tree seeds in 1971.

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2. The seeds were loblolly pine, sycamore, sweetgum, redwood and Douglas fir.

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3. Roosa was a former smokejumper.

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4. Apollo 14 landed on February 5, 1971; Shepard hit golf balls; Roosa orbited in command module Kitty Hawk, which made 34 lunar orbits.

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5. Seeds went to Forest Service stations in Gulfport, Mississippi and Placerville, California; there were about 420 seedlings, with no discernible difference from Earth-bound controls.

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6. Most were given away in 1975–76 for the Bicentennial; a loblolly pine was planted at the White House; trees went to Brazil and Switzerland and one was presented to Emperor Hirohito.

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7. A Moon tree stands in front of the Sebastian County Courthouse in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

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8. In 1996 third-grade teacher Joan Goble emailed NASA and reached Dave Williams, who didn't know about the trees; he found old newspaper clippings and posted a page asking the public for help.

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9. A Moon Tree (a sycamore planted in 1977) stands at the Goddard Space Flight Center Visitor Center.

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10. Roosa died in December 1994.

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11. Artemis I (2022) carried tree seeds around the Moon aboard Orion: sycamore, sweetgum, Douglas fir, loblolly pine and giant sequoia.

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12. Applicants had to apply through NASA's Artifacts Module and were reviewed by a joint NASA–Forest Service panel.

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13. An Apollo Moon tree (sycamore) grows at the Cradle of Forestry, Pisgah National Forest, North Carolina.

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14. Stuart Roosa's daughter, Rosemary Roosa, plants offspring of the original Moon trees through her nonprofit, the Moon Tree Foundation.

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