Trees, long living and long standing encapsulate numerous stories. They are shrines that connect us with our past and gently inspire our future. The taller the tree, the more stories they seem to have. 

Some, however, might take us by surprise, not the tallest of their kind, not very striking, yet they hold a very unique origin story. And if you happened upon one of these trees, the only indicator of their story would be a small plaque commemorating their extra-planetary adventure.These trees are no ordinary trees. They’re Moon Trees.

What Are Moon Trees?

Moon trees are special trees found around the world, mainly in the United States, that arose from seeds that orbited the moon during the Apollo 14 mission.

On January 31, 1971, Apollo 14 launched. Among her crew was former U.S. Forest Service smokejumper Stuart Roosa. With him, Roosa carried between 400-500 tree seeds as part of a joint project between NASA and USFS. 

There were five seed varieties selected for this mission: Loblolly Pine, Sycamore, Sweetgum, Redwood, and Douglas Fir. For 33 hours, these seeds orbited the moon with Roosa in the command module and then were brought back to earth.

Moon Tree History

According to NASA, the seed containers burst during decontamination after the astronauts returned. It was feared that the seeds would no longer be viable after that. Nevertheless, they were given to Forest Stations in Gulfport, Mississippi and Placerville, California. There, many of  the seeds germinated.

The Moon Tree seedlings were distributed across the United States and in some international locations. Many of the US Moon Trees were planted during the nation’s bicentennial in 1976. In some cases, the Moon Tree was planted alongside its control, an “earth bound” version. 

Some Moon Tree sites have dedicated the trees to our future and the importance of trees. Beyond the basic needs they supply: food, air, shelter and beauty, trees are living pillars. These trees in particular mark the perseverance of mankind. There are those among our own who have ventured off this planet, and with them, these trees tell that story.

Who Was Stuart Roosa

Smoke jumper, test pilot and astronaut, Stuart Roosa was an adventurer. He was born August 16, 1933 in Durango, Colorado.

His initial career was as a smoke jumper for the USFS. During that stint, Roosa fought at least four fires.

Smoke jumpers are an elite group of firefighters who attack wildland fires, fires that fire trucks cannot easily get to. Jumpers parachute out of a plane into isolated, wild burning areas. Usually, when an alarm goes out, a smoke jumper crew won’t know where they’re being deployed or for how long. This means that upon jumping, they carry with them several pounds of equipment and essentials to sustain them for long periods.

During the early 60s, Roosa was a maintenance test pilot and later became a fighter pilot, flying the F-84F and F-100. 

He was later selected for the astronaut class of 1966 and supported multiple Apollo missions. It was Apollo 14 in 1971 where the Moon Trees came to be. And after that mission, he was backup Command Module Pilot for Apollo 16 and Apollo 17. 

The initial space missions were incredibly dangerous (they still are very dangerous). The thrill of being among the few in space doesn’t make that pill any easier to swallow. But Roosa’s career track forced him to repeatedly face the possibility of a brutal death. His tenure prepared him well for the risks that come with leaving the planet. And through it all, he brought us something back. These Moon Trees are a tribute to him, to our past and to our future.

Where to Find Moon Trees

We’ve got a table to help you plan your moon tree adventure. Here, you can find the state, city, location and date of moon tree planting. If you are a treephile, this is a great adventure to start planning.

Protip: There are three moon tree locations within an hour of Evansville Indiana, making Evansville a great stop to check off a few trees. In addition to moon trees, Evansville (and small cities nearby) is home to several Indiana state champion trees.

* Notes that as of 01/01/2020, these trees are no longer living.