Photo: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
There are so many aspects to every space mission that, more often than not, some of them get lost in the history books. How many people from the current generation remember, for instance, that hundreds of tree seeds were taken to the Moon by Apollo 14?
The third mission to the Moon took off in 1971 with Alan Shepard, Edgar Mitchell, and Stuart Roosa on board. Like both other missions before them, two of the astronauts, Shepard and Mitchell, descended down to the surface of the Moon while Roosa stayed in orbit, overseeing their actions.
Roosa, a former U.S. Forest Service (USFS) smoke jumper, had with him small, sealed plastic bags containing up to 500 seeds from five tree species: Loblolly Pine, Sycamore, Sweetgum, Redwood, and Douglas Fir.
They were taken up there as part of a joint project between NASA and USFS, one that tried to find out whether tree seeds that were sent to space were still viable.
Despite the long journey in zero-g and an incident that caused the bags to burst open once Apollo 14 was back on Earth and undergoing decontamination, it seems most of them still ended up as trees.
Starting with 1976, when America celebrated its bicentennial, these seeds were planted all across the nation (full list of locations here). Later, they would be shipped to other countries as well, including Brazil, Switzerland, and Japan.
Presently known as Moon Trees, these trees are even found in the UK. At least, that is what the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) believes, and in the spirit of that belief, it launches a cry for help of sorts.
RAS says there could be up to 15 Moon Trees on UK soil, but the problem is it has no idea where they could be. Finding them is even more challenging considering how there are no records of the seeds coming to the UK, which is why the organization is asking for the public’s help.
Roosa, a former U.S. Forest Service (USFS) smoke jumper, had with him small, sealed plastic bags containing up to 500 seeds from five tree species: Loblolly Pine, Sycamore, Sweetgum, Redwood, and Douglas Fir.
They were taken up there as part of a joint project between NASA and USFS, one that tried to find out whether tree seeds that were sent to space were still viable.
Despite the long journey in zero-g and an incident that caused the bags to burst open once Apollo 14 was back on Earth and undergoing decontamination, it seems most of them still ended up as trees.
Starting with 1976, when America celebrated its bicentennial, these seeds were planted all across the nation (full list of locations here). Later, they would be shipped to other countries as well, including Brazil, Switzerland, and Japan.
Presently known as Moon Trees, these trees are even found in the UK. At least, that is what the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) believes, and in the spirit of that belief, it launches a cry for help of sorts.
RAS says there could be up to 15 Moon Trees on UK soil, but the problem is it has no idea where they could be. Finding them is even more challenging considering how there are no records of the seeds coming to the UK, which is why the organization is asking for the public’s help.
There could be as many as 15 Moon Trees in the UK – trees grown from seeds flown around the Moon by NASA astronaut Stuart Roosa in 1971. But where are they now?
— Royal Astronomical Society (@RoyalAstroSoc) April 20, 2021
The RAS & @spacegovuk would love to know - if you have any information, get in touch!https://t.co/PjJLJdmsUK pic.twitter.com/sOM4k82FYv
Google News