How did the trees ever go to the Moon?

After the beginning of "fever", "Moon tree" fell into oblivion for about 40 years. Even many people do not know their presence.

According to National Geographic , in 1971, during a space flight under the mission of Apollo 14 , many seeds were brought along with the spacecraft.

Moon tree in Fort Smith, Arkansas - (Photo: WIKIMEDIA).

Seeds used to "visit" the Moon

At that time, Ed Cliff, director of the US Forest Agency, suggested Stuart Roosa, one of the three astronauts aboard the Apollo 14, carrying a container of 500 seeds, including popular American wood species. like strawberry, pine, red wood .

According to Stan Krugman, a scientist from the US Forest Service, the team wanted to determine if seeds after entering the universe still have the ability to germinate when returning to Earth? If so, how will they grow?

"I choose every seed that has the best health and is easy to grow in the United States. In addition to the number of seeds put into space, I split half and left on Earth to compare the development process" - Mr. Krugman said.

Krugman himself does not believe in the survival of the seeds. He said that due to being exposed to extremely low pressure environments, these particles will lose their ability to grow.

Astronaut Roosa and Apollo 14 mission - (Photo: NASA).

However, after being carefully sorted, the seed still germinates and grows into normal plants.

These seeds were then grown in many public places across the United States, such as Washington Square in Philadelphia, Lowell Elementary School in Idaho . from the late 1970s.

Some trees were used as diplomatic gifts for the United States with neighboring countries, including trees donated to Emperor Hirohito.

There are even trees planted before the White House under President Gerald Ford. At that time, Ford called these trees "the symbol of human life with scientific achievements."

Fall into oblivion .

The "moon" tree was planted in Washington Square Park in 1975 - (Photo: NASA).

After the first period of attention, the "Moon tree" was gradually forgotten, in part because they grew up to look like other plants of the same type.

By the 1990s, NASA scientist Dave Williams received an email from Joan Goble - a primary school teacher in Indiana - saying that when she went on a picnic, she stumbled upon a tree with the words "tree Moon " . Goble doesn't understand and wants to be explained.

Williams admitted that he did not even know about the "Moon tree" that was planted in that area. Even when asked many colleagues, he still did not receive the answer.

2nd generation "moon" tree at Apollo Primary School (USA) - (Photo: NASA).

Feeling sorry for the fate of anonymous "Moon trees" , Williams set out on his own in search of more "lost" trees and statistics of their actual numbers throughout the United States.

"I think this is an interesting story and would like to share with you about the achievements of space before," Williams said.

He said that he has now identified 80 plants after nearly 30 years of searching, including 19 in parks or botanical gardens, 12 in schools, 11 in public buildings. rights, 5 trees in museums, the rest are scattered in other areas .

However, this number is still very small compared to a total of about 500 seeds brought to space nearly half a century ago.

"Moon" tree at Arizona University campus (USA) - (Photo: NASA)

Currently, there has not been any extensive research on these "Moon trees" on a large scale and in a long enough time to know whether the trees will suffer from the round-trip of the Moon on board. Apollo 14 or not.

And a complete study is also Williams' destination and current work.

Among the astronauts who participated in the Moon mission, only 12 people have survived and are now over 80 years old. If the United States does not soon bring people back to the Moon, 'Moon' will be the only thing that has ever been brought to the Moon.