LAKE FOREST, California — To cheers and applause from children wearing spacesuits and star-spangled T-shirts, a tree that is out of this world was planted in California.
The so-called “Moon Tree” – grown from seeds flown around the moon – was wheeled in a wagon, accompanied by several students carrying shovels to help dig its new home at Santiago STEAM Magnet Elementary School in Lake Forest .
The school, which has about 500 students in grades K-12, was among those selected to receive a seedling for a giant sequoia grown from seeds flown on NASA’s Artemis I Mission in 2022.
“It’s kind of crazy,” said Emily Aguesse, a sixth-grader who took part in Monday’s ceremony welcoming the tree. “I’ve always wanted to go to space, but this motivates it even more.”
This is the second time NASA has flown seeds into space and brought them back for planting. An astronaut for the 1971 Apollo 14 mission, a former U.S. Forest Service smokejumper, bore seeds that were later grown into the first generation of Moon Trees, which were planted in states from Alabama to Washington.
While many of these seedlings were distributed to national monuments, this latest batch has been given to schools and museums to promote science and conservation education and help bring space to Earth, said Paul Propster, chief narrative architect for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
“It’s just kind of cool and fun to connect the next generation of explorers,” Propster said.
It is not known whether space travel has an effect on the way plants grow and scientists continue to study the subject, he said.
In 2022, NASA and the Forest Service flew nearly 2,000 seeds from five species of trees aboard the unmanned Orion spacecraft, which orbited the moon and traveled through space for about four weeks.
Once back on Earth, the seeds were grown into young sycamores, sweetgums, Douglas firs, loblolly pines and giant sequoias that could be shared with the public through an application process.
Nearly 150 seedlings were distributed earlier this year and another batch is expected this fall, NASA officials said.
Santiago – a science and technology-focused magnet school – planted its tree in a space-themed outdoor garden decorated with colorful rocks painted by students. The school’s parent and teacher association will have community volunteers care for the Moon Tree, which is expected to grow in size and stature for decades amid a eucalyptus grove that shades the Southern California campus.
Colorful ropes were placed in circles on the ground to show students how big the tree could grow in fifty years – and five hundred years from now.
“This tree grows with the children,” said Liz Gibson, who has three children at the school and chaired the NASA Moon Tree ceremony.