50 years ago this week, the Apollo 14 crew flew their mission to the Moon. Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell were the third pair of astronauts to walk on the lunar surface. They conducted two moonwalks in the Frau Mauro highlands, collecting rocks and setting up science experiments, as well as broadcasting the first color TV images from the Moon.
Meanwhile, Stuart Roosa remained in orbit as the Command Module pilot. But Roosa wasn’t alone while circling above the Moon.
The crew of the Apollo 14 lunar landing mission: Alan B. Shepard Jr., center, commander; Stuart A. Roosa, left, command module pilot; and Edgar D. Mitchell, lunar module pilot. The Apollo 14 emblem is in the background. Credit: NASA
In his personal preference kit, Roosa brought along five varieties of tree seeds, about 400 seeds in total. After the mission, those seeds were germinated and grown, with between 200-300 seedlings and saplings planted across the country and around the world, between 1975 and the early 1980s. But exactly where all those “Moon Trees” were planted has been lost. NASA has been trying to locate and document any of those trees, and find out whether any are still living.
“It’s possible you might live near a Moon tree and you don’t know about it,” said NASA scientist Dave Williams, who works at Goddard Spaceflight Center.
Williams has documented the locations of about 80 of these trees. If anyone knows of a Moon Tree or remembers attending a planting ceremony for a Moon Tree not already on his list, Williams would love to hear from you.
Branches of a Sycamore Moon Tree located at the University of Arizona. Image courtesy of Geoff Notkin.
The story of the Moon Trees started before Stuart Roosa became an astronaut. He had served as a smoke jumper for the US Forest Service, parachuting into areas to help fight wildfires. After Roosa was chosen to be part of Apollo 14, the Forest Service approached him and asked if he’d consider being part of a small experiment: would he bring tree seeds along to the Moon, and after the flight, the Forest Service would oversee the project to see if the seeds would germinate after being in weightlessness.
“The seeds were kept in a container about the size of a soda can, and it was sealed so they were never in the vacuum of space,” Williams said. “They also had seeds that remained back on Earth, so they did plan a type of controlled experiment, but no one really expected there to be any difference in the seeds.”
However, everything brought back from the Moon had to be decontaminated in a vacuum chamber, and during the decontamination process, the seed cannister burst open, with the seeds scattering about – and so the seeds actually were exposed to vacuum – which was not part of the original experiment!
“The seeds were germinated and grown in greenhouses,” Williams said, “and in some sense they did do a science experiment, but it was mainly a public relations kind of thing.”
The Sycamore Moon Tree at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Credit: NASA.
The seedlings and saplings were given to congressional members and foreign ambassadors. They were planted at town halls, parks and libraries, as well as at NASA centers, universities and state capitals across the US.
There were five different types of tree seeds: Loblolly Pine, Sycamore, Sweetgum, Redwood, and Douglas Fir. A Loblolly Pine, which has since died, was planted at the White House. Trees were planted in Brazil, Switzerland, and presented to the Emperor of Japan, among others.
The Moon Tree clone at Washington Square in Philadelphia, which was planted in 2011 and has since been removed. This picture was taken in 2017. Credit: Nancy Atkinson
The first Moon Tree ever planted was a Sycamore at Washington Square in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1975 in preparation for the US Bicentennial in 1976. The original tree planted there died, but a clone was planted in 2011; the clone was not thriving and was removed in 2019. The original plaque still remains, with plans to plant another clone tree.
There were plans to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 14 flight at Goddard Space Flight Center, where another Moon Tree is planted, but the plans fell through due to the pandemic.
From personal experience, seeing and touching a Moon Tree is a wonderful experience, which beautifully provides a connection to both the Apollo program and also the effect it had on our appreciation of our own planet Earth. I’ve had the chance to visit three Moon Trees: one at Kennedy Space Center, the clone in Philadelphia a few years ago, and another Sycamore that stands on the University of Arizona campus in Tucson, just outside of the Flandrau Science Center & Planetarium. The tree was shown to me by Geoff Notkin, author, adventurer and co-star of the Discovery Channel’s Meteorite Men series. Notkin is also the president of the National Space Society and is CEO of Aerolite Meteorites Inc, a company that provides meteorite specimens to researchers, museums, and collectors worldwide.
“I’ve long been fascinated by the Moon Tree story, and after I moved to Tucson, I was almost speechless to discover there was a Moon Tree in my adopted home town!” Notkin said. He agreed that seeing a Moon Tree is an experience in itself.
Geoff Notkin with the Moon Tree, several years ago at the University of Arizona. Image courtesy of Geoff Notkin.
“It was almost a metaphysical experience to put my hand on the trunk of the tree, which was grown from a seed that was flown to the Moon,” he said. “I have held any number of space rocks in my hands – both NASA samples and lunar meteorites — and I have to say, none of them were as thrilling as touching the Moon Tree! Something in me connected deeply with Stuart Roosa’s story and the idea to take these seeds with him to the Moon.”
Notkin is working on a book about the Moon Trees and Stuart Roosa’s story (Roosa, sadly, passed away in 1994), in attempt to tell the entire tale and possibly locate more of the trees. But the hunt for more Moon Trees might be as challenging as hunting for meteorites. Without good records of where all the trees were planted, the whereabouts of the trees today are mostly unknown.
“As space exploration enthusiasts, we’re usually very caught up in the technical aspects of spaceflight,” Notkin told me. “But to me, it is so mesmerizing that there is a tangible natural history result from this experiment. These trees are out there – all around the world – and in their own quiet way, they are celebrating the might of the Apollo program.”
If you know of any additional Moon Trees that aren’t already listed here, or if you recall attending a tree planting ceremony for a Moon Tree, see this NASA website on how to get your tree documented. If you’ve got a Moon Tree story, we’d love to hear it! Share your story in the comments below or on Universe Today’s social media sites.
Lead image caption: The plaque at Washington Square in Philadelphia commemorating the planting of the first Moon Tree.
The author by the Moon Tree at the University of Arizona in 2017. Image taken by Geoff Notkin.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
