Welcome to my sidequest series Beyond the Grave where I take you past the boundaries of the cemeteries and out into the world of roadside attractions, oddities and more. Hope you like it!
Have you ever heard of Moon Trees? Like, yes, trees that once went to space and are now out and about around the country!
I found out about them about 10 years ago and now I try to find one whenever I’m traveling around, usually in a capital city. I’ve visited about a dozen in total so far and that doesn’t include the one that’s located just down the way from my office here in Athens, Georgia. Check it!
The story begins in 1971 with the launch of the Apollo 14 mission. Apollo 14, marking the third time humans set foot on the Moon, saw the collection of 94 pounds of rocks and soil, the facilitation of several experiments, the first (and only) attempt at Moon golf, and (you guessed it) the birth of the Moon Trees.
Interested in studying how spaceflight impacted plant growth, the U.S. Forest Service sent about 2,000 seeds to the Moon aboard Apollo 14. They chose five different species of tree for the mission: loblolly pine, sweetgum, sycamore, redwood, and Douglas fir. Specifically, these seeds were carried amongst the personal belongings of astronaut Stuart Roosa, a former Forest Service employee. Flying alongside the crew, the seeds launched on a nine-day mission, orbiting the Moon 34 times before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.
Upon the seeds’ return to Earth, they were collected and germinated by the Forest Service. Starting around 1976, the baby “Moon Trees” were distributed across the country and planted in celebration of the nation’s bicentennial, landing at state capitol buildings, university campuses, parks, police stations, museums, and even private residences. Thanks to lobbying by the Athens Sertoma Club, one was planted in Athens at 120 Dougherty Street, which at the time was home to the Athens Regional Public Library but now houses the Clarke County Planning Department. – source
Winterville, Georgia is just down the way and they have a teeny tiny moon tree that just arrived last year. That means Clarke County has two Moon Trees! I don’t have a photo of the newest addition because it looks like branch stuck in the ground (it’s a sapling afterall) and there’s no signage as of yet. If you pop by the library they’ll point it out to you but at the moment it’s still trying to get rooted on earth after all those space travels!
Sadly, the Athens Moon Tree is under the ever widening gaze of expansion [not progress, expansion…there’s a difference and that’s obvious in this town] and it looks like its days are numbered. You can read all about it via the latest Flagpole article. There’s talk of seedling replacement and the like but you can’t really justify cutting down a healthy tree and sugarcoating it IMHO. Can you tell I ain’t happy about this?
If you’re in town or are planning to visit then I’d be sure to stop by and give this Loblolly a fond goodbye as it’s a See It Before It’s Gone kinda thing.
And you can read more about Moon Trees on NASA’s site. They also list all of the trees still living, those that died and those that are ‘status unknown’ aka lost. How 1970s of them to lose track of trees that were exposed to mysterious things in space…
120 W Dougherty Street
Athens, Georgia
and
115 Marigold Lane
Winterville, Georgia
