What is a monthly tree?

The lunar tree is a tree that has been grown from seeds that were sent to space with Apollo 14 in January 1971. These tree can be found in many odd corners of the world because they have proved to be very popular in people on Earth, and in addition to the original monthly trees there are a number of second generation samples. In fact, the National Aviation and Space Administration (NASA) tries to trace all monthly trees because bad records were kept in the 70s when they were distributed. He was offered the opportunity to train as an astronaut and took it, added to the list of crew for Apollo 14. All crew members could take several small personal things in the flight, and Roosa said he wanted to take the seeds of trees.

In cooperation with Forest Service, Roosa carried hundreds of Loblolly Borovice, Sycamore, Sweetgum, Redwood and Douglas seeds on the flight. Employees in Forest Service were wondering what would happen after traveling in space, and NASA thought it could be a good campaign for the publiC Relations, which connects people with a space program with a lunar tree in every main community. Roosa orbited the moon with his seeds, while his companions worked on the surface of the moon, and then the three returned to the ground, where the canister of the seeds accidentally broke and worried about their viability.

Roosa separated the seeds with a species and sent them to the biologists of forest services, who managed to germinate almost all. Requests for lunar trees immediately began to pour. A common feature at many American two -year celebrations was the Tree of the Moon and the Moon Tree to show popular with foreign dignitaries. Moon trees were planted in many American cities and sent to places like Japan, Brazil and Germany.

Forest Service United States could not satisfy the demand of the tree of the moon, so it began to spread from cuttings to create a second generation of trees. As the trees ripen, they are not noticeably different from their counterparts the ground and one would not know that the tree is the tree of the moonD The tree becomes marked with plaque. Many of the chosen species are extremely long -term, so it is likely that many monthly trees are still alive.

Although it may seem stunning, NASA has largely forgotten the Moon Tree program until several curious people contacted the agency to see if they could get cuttings. Dave Williams in Goddard Space Centers increased on this occasion, tried to trace monthly trees and maintain an exhaustive list of all verified monthly trees around the world for people's interest in NASA in this case. Williams did not have to look too far for his first tree of the month, because the Sycamore is on the Goddard Space Center.