Moon Trees

I recently discovered that there is a Moon Tree in Sacramento.

I learned that on the 1971 Apollo mission, astronaut Stuart Roosa took along 500 Douglas fir, loblolly pine, sweetgum, sycamore, and redwood seeds with him in his personal kit. He orbited the moon in the command module, Kitty Hawk, while Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell walked on the moon. 

The idea to take the seeds to the moon belonged to the Chief of the Forest Service, who had worked with Roosa when he was a smoke jumper for the Forest Service years earlier. He oversaw the project and selected the types of tree seeds that Roosa carried with him on his moon mission. When Roosa returned to earth, the U.S. Forest Service germinated the seeds and the seedlings, known as the 'Moon Trees' were sent all over the U.S. and the world as part of the 1976 Bicentennial. 

One of the redwood seedlings was planted at the state capitol in Sacramento. It is surrounded by much older and taller redwoods that stand as majestic sentinels watching over the moon tree. They aren't the only ones protecting this special tree; however, the design plans for the security pavilion at the state capitol were designed to ensure the Moon Tree's safety. I think this is so awesome that our state went to such lengths to ensure that the tree remained safe. It is flourishing in that spot and is truly one of the living monuments to Stuart Roosa, the U.S. Forest Service, and the NASA Space Program.

Unfortunately, there was no systematic tracking of where the moon trees were planted, but NASA does have a list of some of the trees, so you can check to see if there is one where you live.