The Trees That Went to the Moon
Hundreds of seeds circled the Moon aboard Apollo 14. They grew into trees all over America, and then nearly everyone forgot where they were planted.
What was reported
Stuart Roosa, the command module pilot of Apollo 14 in 1971, had once been a smokejumper, fighting forest fires from the air. He took about 500 tree seeds with him in a small canister, as part of a project with the US Forest Service, and they circled the Moon while his crewmates walked on its surface.
Back on Earth, the seeds were grown into seedlings and given away in 1975 and 1976, planted at schools, parks and government buildings across the United States and a few other countries. But no one kept proper records.
Explanations offered
In 1996, a NASA scientist, David Williams, began trying to track down the 'Moon trees' after a teacher asked about one, and dozens have since been found. Many others have been lost. They grew just like ordinary trees: their trip around the Moon didn't change them.
- When
- February 1971
- Where
- In orbit around the Moon, aboard Apollo 14
- Witnesses
- Stuart Roosa and the US Forest Service
- Status
- Partly lost
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.