Honoring Roosa and his Moon Trees

American Forests, Spring, 2005

Col. Stuart A. Roosa, the astronaut and smoke-jumper who carried tree seeds to the moon and back aboard Apollo 14, was remembered along with other astronauts with the planting of a 6-foot descendant of his Moon Trees at Arlington National Cemetery. The sycamore is intended to honor all NASA's deceased astronauts.

Astronauts, by virtue of what they do, inspire our imagination. Roosa, a member of the U.S. Air Force who served as command module pilot for the mission, chose to bring some of that magic to a more tangible level. When Apollo 14 launched January 31, 1971, Roosa carried with him hundreds of loblolly pine, sycamore, sweetgum, redwood, and Douglas-fir seeds. The seed project honored the U.S. Forest Service, for whom Roosa worked early in his career as a summertime smokejumper.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Roosa's dream of a "Moon Trees" project appeared to be in doubt when Apollo 14 returned to earth and her contents underwent decontamination. In the process the seed packets burst open and it was feared the seeds had died. A Forest Service staff geneticist planted them anyway, and the seeds sprouted. In 1975, a moon seedling, a sycamore, was planted in front of the Forestry Science Building at Mississippi State University.

After that, hundreds of so-called Moon Trees were planted around the country--many as part of the nation's Bicentennial in 1976--including at the White House, NASA facilities, state capitols, and at Valley Forge. Moon trees were planted in Brazil and Switzerland and another given to the Emperor of Japan. The Arlington Cemetery tree is a descendent of the Mississippi State sycamore.

Roosa passed away in December 1994; he had planned to plant Moon Sycamore descendants during a spring 1995 tree-planting tour with AMERICAN FORESTS. Before his death Roosa expressed hope that Moon Tree descendants could encourage Americans to dream as big as the moon while planting trees to improve the quality of life on earth.

The February planting was hosted by the Roosa family. In announcing the event, son Christopher Roosa noted the recent anniversaries of several space program tragedies--the Apollo I fire and the Challenger and Columbia disasters.

"We also recently marked the 10th anniversary of my father passing away," he said. "By planting this tree, we want to honor how he and the other astronauts enriched our lives. They were dedicated, professional patriots who lived their lives on the edge of the envelope. They inspire us to reach for the stars in our own way."

In attendance at the planting were representatives from NASA, the U.S. Forest Service, the military, and students from Cannelton (Indiana) Elementary School, where one of the original Moon Trees, a sycamore, is planted at Camp Koch Girl Scout Camp.

Although NASA did not keep track of where all the Moon Trees went, it is hoping to track them down now. It has located a few dozen, but hundreds were planted. Anyone knowing the location of a Moon Tree--or wanting to know more about the trees--should visit: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/moon_tree.html