A NASA scientist is trying to trace some of the 200-or-so trees that have been grown from redwood seeds that were taken on the Apollo 14 mission to the moon.
So far Dave Williams has been able to trace 40 of the so-called ‘moon trees’, which are now fully grown and are no diffferent from ordinary trees.
The seeds went into orbit with astronaut Stuart Roosa as a tribute to the US Forest Service. Roosa was captain of the mother module Kitty Hawk on the 1971 mission but neither he nor the seeds landed on the moon.
Instead they orbited the planet 34 times before returning to earth where the seeds were sent to Forest Service laboratories. Four years later the saplings were in great demand – with moon trees being sent to prestigious locations, including the White House.
However, no records were kept and now attempts are being made to discover their whereabouts worldwide.
