Moon Tree Growing on The Earth

Moon trees: Growing on the Earth

•              Moon trees are trees grown from seeds taken into orbit around the Moon, initially by Apollo 14 in 1971, and later by Artemis 1 in 2022.

•              The idea was first proposed by Edward P. Cliff, then the Chief of the United States Forest Service, who convinced Stuart Roosa, the Command Module Pilot on the Apollo 14 mission, to bring a small canister containing about 500 seeds aboard the module in 1971. Seeds for the experiment were chosen from five species of tree: loblolly pine, sycamore, sweetgum, redwood, and Douglas fir.

•              In 2022, NASA announced it would be reviving the Moon tree program by carrying 1,000 seeds aboard Artemis 1.