Did you know about " Moon trees "?

The moon doesn't have trees on it, so what are these "Moon trees"? If you have any interest in astronomy, this post would be a fascinating one for you.

First of all, let me be clear that moon trees aren't planted on the moon. Actually these trees are the result of one of the most fascinating missions to the moon.

On January 31, 1971, Apollo 14 launched into the space for a trip to the lunar surface. Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell walked on the moon 5 days later. But another astronaut, named Stuart Roosa orbited above, in the command module. He was a former U.S Forest Service smoke jumper. He had hundreds of tree seeds packed in a small container in his personal kit. It was part of a joint NASA/USFS project.

Among the tree seeds, there were seeds for 5 kinds of trees. They are Loblolly Pine, Sycamore, Sweetgun, Redwood and Douglas Fir. These seeds were classified and sorted carefully. For comparing after the mission, seeds from each kind of tree were kept on Earth. Roosa had 400-500 seeds in the container for this project. After returning to Earth, these trees were sent to different places for planting. Unfortunately, while returning to Earth, these seeds got mixed. [I would elaborate on why this is important] Then these seeds were sent to the Forest Station in Gulfport, Mississippi for germination. Nearly all of the seeds were germinated successfully and 420 to 450 seeds were ready to be planted. Then these tree seeds were planted all over the world.

Why are these trees called "Moon Trees"?
These tree seeds orbited above the lunar surface. That is why they're called moon trees.

Where are this trees now?
These trees are planted in many well known places. You would be surprised to know that a Loblolly Pine tree was planted on the White House grounds. Many of the trees were sent to different parts of the world, like Brazil and Switzerland. The moon tree seeds were also presented to the Emperor of Japan. Moon trees have also been planted in Washington Square in Philadelphia and many other places.

Stuart Roosa born on 16th August 1933 and passed away in December 1994. But these tree stand still and reflects the success of Apollo 14.