A Moon tree is the colloquial name for trees grown from seeds flown around the Moon during the Apollo 14 lunar mission. In 1971, Apollo 14 took about 500 seeds into space at the request of U.S. Forest Service Chief Edward P. Cliff. The seeds orbited the Moon 34 times. Five species of tree seeds made the voyage: loblolly pine, American sycamore, sweet gum, coast redwood, and Douglas fir. After the mission, the seeds were collected and sorted by the U.S. Forest Service. Approximately 450 seedlings germinated. NASA distributed the seedlings, many as part of the U.S. Bicentennial celebration in 1976. Moon trees were planted at the White House and other locations. In 2022, Artemis I also took tree seeds beyond the Moon and back.

Why are they called Moon trees?

Moon trees are trees grown from seeds that traveled around the Moon during the Apollo 14 mission in 1971. Astronaut Stuart Roosa, a former U.S. Forest Service smoke jumper, carried approximately 500 seeds into lunar orbit to study the effects of space travel on them. The seeds, which orbited the Moon 34 times, came from five tree species: loblolly pine, American sycamore, sweet gum, coast redwood, and Douglas fir. After the mission, the seeds were germinated, and the resulting seedlings were planted across the U.S. as part of the nation's Bicentennial celebrations in 1976.

Who took the seeds that became Moon trees to the Moon?

During the Apollo 14 mission (January 31–February 9, 1971), Stuart Roosa took approximately 500 seeds into space. Roosa was the command module pilot. At the request of U.S. Forest Service Chief Edward P. Cliff, Roosa carried the seeds to see how space travel's rigors would affect them. The seeds orbited the Moon 34 times but did not land on the surface. The Apollo 14 mission was crewed by commander Alan B. Shepard, Jr., lunar module pilot Edgar Mitchell, and command module pilot Stuart Roosa.

How were the Moon tree seeds taken to the Moon and brought back?

During the Apollo 14 lunar mission (January 31–February 9, 1971), approximately 500 seeds were flown around the Moon, but they were not brought to the lunar surface. Astronaut Stuart Roosa carried the seeds in a small valise containing his personal items. The seeds remained in his possession in the command module as it orbited the Moon 34 times while astronauts Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell explored the lunar surface. After the mission, the seeds were retrieved upon splashdown on February 9, 1971. The seeds were then collected and sorted by the U.S. Forest Service.

What types of trees grew from the Moon tree seeds?

During the Apollo 14 mission, seeds from five tree species were taken to the Moon: loblolly pine ( Pinus taeda ), American sycamore ( Platanus occidentalis ), sweet gum ( Liquidambar styraciflua ), coast redwood ( Sequoia sempervirens ), and Douglas fir ( Pseudotsuga menziesii ). After the mission, the seeds were germinated, producing approximately 450 seedlings. These seedlings, known as Moon trees, were distributed across the U.S. and worldwide, including locations such as the White House and the International Forest of Friendship in Kansas. In 2022, the Artemis I mission also carried tree seeds beyond the Moon, including giant sequoia seeds.

Where can you find Moon trees today and why are they important?

Moon trees are trees grown from seeds that flew around the Moon during the Apollo 14 mission in 1971. The seeds, taken into lunar orbit by astronaut Stuart Roosa, represented five species: loblolly pine, American sycamore, sweet gum, coast redwood, and Douglas fir. After the mission, the seeds were germinated, and the seedlings were distributed across the U.S. and worldwide, often planted during the Bicentennial in 1976. These trees symbolize American scientific achievement and patriotism. Many were planted without signage, leading to lost locations. NASA scientist Dave Williams created a database in 1996 to locate them, finding about 110 original trees. In 2011, Stuart Roosa’s daughter founded the Moon Tree Foundation to honor her father’s legacy and distribute second-generation Moon trees.

Moon tree

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Moon tree

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Don Vaughan

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History

The first seeds fly to the Moon

Apollo 14, crewed by commander Alan B. Shepard, Jr., lunar module pilot Edgar Mitchell, and command module pilot Stuart Roosa, launched on January 31, 1971. Roosa, a former U.S. Forest Service smoke jumper, had been asked by Forest Service Chief Edward P. Cliff to take approximately 500 small seeds with him on the mission to see how they would be affected by the rigors of space travel. The seeds were stored in a small valise containing Roosa’s personal effects; they remained in his possession on the command module until splash down on February 9, 1971. Despite their name, the seeds were not brought to the lunar surface but rather orbited the Moon 34 times while Roosa waited for the return of Shepard and Mitchell.

Seeds from five tree species made the voyage: loblolly pine (Pinus taeda), American sycamore (Platanus occidentalis), sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua), coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens), and Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii). All survived the journey, but there was some concern when the seed packets burst in a vacuum chamber during the mandated post-mission decontamination, the last for an Apollo mission.

Back on Earth

The Apollo seeds were collected and sorted by the U.S. Forest Service, and almost all successfully germinated, producing approximately 450 seedlings in total. Most of the seedlings grown during the first round of plantings, however, died due to inadequate facilities; the remaining seeds were subsequently sent to research stations that were better equipped for plant propagation. Ultimately, researchers found no detectable differences between the Moon trees and those grown from the experiment’s control seeds left on Earth.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was responsible for distributing the Moon tree seedlings, and many were given away during the U.S. Bicentennial in 1976. Moon trees were planted at the White House; in Washington Square Park in Philadelphia; at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania; in the International Forest of Friendship in Atchison, Kansas; at Arlington National Cemetery; and at various universities and NASA centers. Internationally, Moon trees were planted in Switzerland and Brazil and were gifted to Emperor Hirohito of Japan. Pres. Gerald Ford sent a telegram to many of the recipients of Bicentennial Moon trees. It read:

…This tree which was carried by Astronauts Stuart Roosa, Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell on their mission to the moon, is a living symbol of our spectacular human and scientific achievements. It is a fitting tribute to our national space program which has brought out the best of American patriotism, dedication and determination to succeed.

Planted in this community in our bicentennial year. May this young tree renew our deep-rooted faith in the ideals of our Founding Fathers and may it inspire us to strive for the kind of growth that benefits our own citizens and all mankind.

Unfortunately, many Moon trees were planted without identifying signage, and the locations of most of the trees have been lost. In 1996, following an inquiry from a third-grade teacher in Cannelton, Indiana, NASA scientist Dave Williams created a database of known Moon trees around the world. Often relying on archival newspaper clippings from the 1970s, NASA has located about 110 of the original Moon trees, of which nearly 30 have died in the decades following their planting.

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In 2011 Stuart Roosa’s daughter Rosemary founded the Moon Tree Foundation to honor her father’s legacy and to distribute second-generation Moon trees grown from seeds or cuttings of the original plants. Twelve such trees were planted at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida after the original Moon tree there was destroyed by Hurricane Irma in 2017.

Seeds on the Artemis missions

In 2022 Artemis I commemorated the Apollo 14 mission by taking approximately 1,000 tree seeds beyond the Moon and back for a total flight distance of 2.3 million km (1.4 million miles). Instead of coast redwood seeds, the Artemis I seeds included giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) seeds, which are more common in parks and arboretums. Seedlings germinated from the Artemis I seeds will be donated to public and educational institutions across the United States.

Artemis II was similarly laden with seeds for its crewed mission around the far side of Moon in 2026. The National Tree Seed Centre in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, sent about 2,600 seeds from five key Canadian tree species to raise awareness the threats posed by climate change, habitat loss, and invasive species to forest systems. Seeds of Eastern white cedar (Thuja occidentalis), red maple (Acer rubrum), Eastern white pine (Pinus strobus), white birch (Betula papyrifera), and lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) made the journey with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen. They are intended to be planted at prominent locations.

Don Vaughan

Moon tree

The first seeds fly to the Moon

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Back on Earth

Seeds on the Artemis missions