One Small Step for tree, One Giant leap for Treekind : When Seeds Orbited the Moon

This is a Sycamore tree outside the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis, Indiana.

This may be an ordinary-looking tree, but this one actually once went to space. You read it right! 

In the 1950s to the 1970s the Space Race was in full swing! USSR set Sputnik 1 and the United States wanted in on some of that space action. Thus they sent humans and animals. 

They did not stop with people and animals however, they had other specimens in mind.

In 1971, Apollo 14 carried 500 seed specimens into orbit around the moon.This experiment was done to see if seeds could still germinate after orbiting the moon in space.

After the seeds' flight, they were given away to forest organizations and were planted in 1975 and 1976 to coincide with America’s bicentennial. Many seeds successfully germinated and became trees, with a lot still around today. They have been dubbed as moon trees despite never really being on the moon. One of them was outside the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. 

Some, however, were sadly torn down, mainly by those unaware of their historical significance. Conservation efforts over the years have taken place to ensure such mistakes don’t happen again. 

Recently in 2022 a new batch of seeds were sent into orbit in Artemis 1. In 2024 those seeds were also planted in various locations to bring in a new generation of moon trees!

So not only have humans and animals been to space, but trees have too!