Most of us know, even if it takes a moment to do some quick math, that 12 human beings walked on the Moon’s surface and a few more came just short. It’s still an impressive feat, to be sure (and unlikely to be repeated anytime soon), but if we expand our scope somewhat, it turns out dozens of living beings remain among us that have visited our satellite without walking on it.
Caption: A set of hundreds of seeds orbited the Moon 34 times during the Apollo 14 lunar mission, which also provided this view of Earth at the Moon’s horizon. The seeds have since been planted on our planet and grown normally, though NASA hasn’t kept good records on where they all ended up. Photo by NASA
I refer to the “Moon trees” — the living remains of hundreds of seeds Apollo 14 astronaut Stuart Roosa took with him on his otherworldly voyage 40 years ago. Cool as they are, though, NASA didn’t really keep track of where all the seeds ended up. (It’s not the first time anyone’s ever
lost lunar artifacts.) Some of the tree species are long-lived and could be around for centuries to come, but many are now reaching old age. A few, including a loblolly pine at the White House, have already died.
To try to preserve these survivors from another world and era, Dave Williams of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, and a curator at the National Space Science Data Center, has embarked on a quest to locate all the missing trees. He’s created a website devoted to these trees, including the location, species, and planting date (even for trees that have died), as well as another list of second-generation Moon trees. (NASA also maintains an interactive map on its site dedicated to the trees.)
Check out the list and see if there’s any nearby you can visit. It looks like the closest ones to Astronomy magazine in Wisconsin are second-generation trees in Illinois and Iowa, which aren’t really that far, considering the trip they’ve taken. Like so much else from the Space Age, these trees won’t be around forever, so if you’re curious about seeing them, now’s the time. Of course, if you do happen to know of any not on the list, please let Williams know at dave.williams@nasa.gov. And please share any stories of visiting a Moon tree you might have in the comments section below.