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Moon tree

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Bicentennial Moon Tree, planted in 1975 in Washington Square, Philadelphia
Moon Tree in front of Sebastian County Courthouse, in Fort Smith, Arkansas
Plaque at the base of the Fort Smith, Arkansas, Moon Tree.

Moon trees are trees grown from 500 seeds taken into orbit around the Moon by Stuart Roosa during the Apollo 14 mission in 1971.[1] As the Command Module Pilot on the Apollo 14 mission, and because he was a former smoke jumper, Roosa was contacted by Ed Cliff, who was the Chief of the Forest Service[2] at the time, and who proposed the idea of taking the seeds along. Seeds for the experiment were chosen from five different types of trees: Loblolly Pine, Sycamore, Sweetgum, Redwood, and Douglas Fir.[1]

Trees used

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 twenty 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 and 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.[1]

City and state Location Type of tree Planting date
Auburn University,
Alabama		 G.W. Andrews Forestry Sciences Lab Loblolly Pine * 22 October 1976
Birmingham,
Alabama		 Birmingham Botanical Garden Sycamore April 1976
Montgomery,
Alabama		 State Capitol Loblolly Pine April 1976
Troy,
Alabama		 Pioneer Museum of Alabama Loblolly Pine 5 August 1976
Tuscumbia,
Alabama		 Ivy Green Loblolly Pine 19 October 1976
Flagstaff,
Arizona		 Flagstaff Jr. High School Douglas Fir 30 April 1976
Tucson,
Arizona		 Kuiper Space Sciences Building, University of Arizona Sycamore 30 April 1976
Ft. Smith,
Arkansas		 Sebastian County Courthouse Loblolly Pine 15 March 1976
Washington,
Arkansas		 Old Washington Historic State Park Loblolly Pine 15 March 1976
Arcata,
California		 Humboldt State University 3 Redwoods
Berkeley,
California		 Tilden Nature Area Redwood 26 July 1976
Monterey,
California		 Friendly Plaza Redwood July 1976
San Luis Obispo,
California		 Mission Plaza Redwood 30 July 1976
Sacramento,
California		 State Capital Redwood
Cape Canaveral,
Florida		 Kennedy Space Center Sycamore 25 June 1976
Gainesville,
Florida		 University of Florida Sycamore
Perry,
Florida		 Forest Capital Museum State Park Loblolly Pine 26 April 1978
Tallahassee,
Florida		 Cascades Park Sycamore
Tallahassee,
Florida		 Doyle Conner Building Loblolly Pine
Boise,
Idaho		 Lowell Elementary School Loblolly Pine 1977
Moscow,
Idaho		 University of Idaho Sycamore
Cannelton,
Indiana		 Camp Koch Girl Scout Camp Sycamore 1976
Indianapolis,
Indiana		 Indiana Statehouse Sycamore 9 April 1976
Lincoln City,
Indiana		 Lincoln State Park Sycamore 1 May 1976
Tell City,
Indiana		 Forest Service Office 2 Sweetgums 1976
Atchison,
Kansas		 International Forest of Friendship Sycamore
Elmer,
Louisiana		 Palustris Experimental Forest Loblolly Pine April 1976
New Orleans,
Louisiana		 New Orleans River Walk Loblolly Pine June 1983
Bethesda,
Maryland		 Society of American Foresters Loblolly Pine 30 September 1975
Greenbelt,
Maryland		 Goddard Space Flight Center Sycamore 9 June 1977
Holliston,
Massachusetts		 Holliston Police Station Sycamore April 1976
Mississippi State,
Mississippi		 The Junction Sycamore 1975
Waynesboro,
Mississippi		 Forestry Commission Nursery Sycamore
DeSoto,
Missouri		 Walthers Park Sycamore
Pisgah National Forest,
North Carolina		 Cradle of Forestry in America Sycamore
Asheville Botanical Garden,
North Carolina		 UNC Asheville Sycamore
South Brunswick,
New Jersey		 South Brunswick High School Sycamore
Jefferson County,
Ohio		 Friendship Park Sycamore 29 July 1976
Eugene,
Oregon		 Erb Memorial Union, University of Oregon (Initially planted at Willamette Hall, moved in 1980) Douglas Fir 1976
Roseburg,
Oregon		 U.S. Veteran's Hospital Douglas Fir 3 May 1976
Corvallis,
Oregon		 Peavy Hall, Oregon State University Douglas Fir 1976
Salem,
Oregon		 State Capitol Building Douglas Fir 30 April 1976
Salem,
Oregon		 Private Residence 2 Douglas Firs 1973
Ebensburg,
Pennsylvania		 Cambria County Courthouse Sycamore 29 June 1976
Hollidaysburg,
Pennsylvania		 Highland Hall Sycamore 5 May 1976
King of Prussia,
Pennsylvania		 Lockheed Martin Space Systems Building Sycamore 30 June 1976
Newtown/Langhorne,
Pennsylvania		 Core Creek Park Sycamore 30 April 1976
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania		 Washington Square Sycamore* 6 May 1975
Knoxville,
Tennessee		 University of Tennessee Loblolly Pine April 1976
Sewanee,
Tennessee		 University of the South Sycamore April 1976
Tullahoma,
Tennessee		 Arnold Air Force Base Loblolly Pine April 1976
Olympia,
Washington		 State Capitol Building Douglas Fir
Huntsville,
Alabama		 U.S. Space and Rocket Center 5 Sycamores,
2 Pines *		 29 October 1976
Tuskegee,
Alabama		 VA Hospital (CAVHCS) Loblolly Pine * 1976
Little Rock,
Arkansas		 Forestry Commission Headquarters Loblolly Pine * 15 March 1976
Monticello,
Arkansas		 University of Arkansas at Monticello Loblolly Pine * 1977?
New Orleans,
Louisiana		 NASA Michoud Assembly Facility Loblolly Pine (2?) * July 1976
North Pembroke,
Massachusetts		 Historical Society Sycamore? * April 1976
Albuquerque,
New Mexico		 Civic Plaza Douglas Fir *
Illinois Valley,
Oregon		 Siskiyou Smoke Jumper Base Douglas Fir *
Washington,
D.C.		 White House Loblolly Pine * 19 January 1977
Plano, Texas Plano Senior High School Sycamore 4 November 2009
Brasília,
Brazil		 Ibama Central Building's garden Sweetgum 14 December 1980
Tradate,
Italy		 Appiano Gentile Park Loblolly Pine April 2011
Bracey,
Virginia		 River Ridge Golf & Camping Club Sycamore 31 January 1971

An asterisk (*) denotes a tree that is no longer alive.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Williams, David R. (28 July 2009). "The "Moon Trees"". Goddard Space Flight Center. NASA. Retrieved 7 August 2009.
  2. ^ Williams, Gerald; Severance, Carol; Lewis, James G. (2009-06-18). "Chiefs of the U.S. Forest Service". Forest History Society. Retrieved 7 August 2009.
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