The trees grown from space-faring seeds
One of the last Apollo missions to the Moon carried seeds that were later returned to be planted back on Earth. But where many of these space-faring plants ended up is a mystery, and now the hunt is on to track them down.
In a grey plastic plant pot on a windowsill somewhere in southern England, Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) administrator Richard O'Sullivan is attempting to grow an American sycamore tree.
As anyone who's ever successfully nurtured a plant from seed knows, this is an achievement in itself. But this is no ordinary sycamore sapling. Its provenance can be traced back to a mission to the Moon in 1971, when astronaut Stuart Roosa carried 500 tree seeds in his Apollo 14 spacecraft. Trees grown from these seeds became known as "Moon Trees". Assuming the plant continues to flourish, O'Sullivan's will be a rare third-generation Moon Tree.
"The last Moon Tree that I know of, my father and I planted in Austin, Texas, at the end of the 70s," Roosa's daughter, Rosemary says (it was planted at her childhood home). "I was in the backyard and he said, 'Hey, this is the last of the Moon Tree seeds that I have, let's plant it and see what happens'. It was American sycamore and I've talked to the owner of the home and it's still growing."
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/2022 ... ring-seeds
The Space thread
- mikechamp
- Hall Of Famer
- Posts: 10132
- Joined: April 17 06, 5:05 pm
- Location: Southwestern Illinois
Re: The Space thread
Ever heard of a Moon tree? Well, there are a few growing on Earth. In fact, there's one near @heyzeus:
Online
- heyzeus
- Everday Unicorn
- Posts: 41343
- Joined: April 21 06, 10:14 am
- Location: Austin, TX
- Contact:
Re: The Space thread
If GRB will fund my expedition to the moon (tree), I will report back.mikechamp wrote: ↑February 11 22, 1:42 pmEver heard of a Moon tree? Well, there are a few growing on Earth. In fact, there's one near @heyzeus:
The trees grown from space-faring seeds
One of the last Apollo missions to the Moon carried seeds that were later returned to be planted back on Earth. But where many of these space-faring plants ended up is a mystery, and now the hunt is on to track them down.
In a grey plastic plant pot on a windowsill somewhere in southern England, Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) administrator Richard O'Sullivan is attempting to grow an American sycamore tree.
As anyone who's ever successfully nurtured a plant from seed knows, this is an achievement in itself. But this is no ordinary sycamore sapling. Its provenance can be traced back to a mission to the Moon in 1971, when astronaut Stuart Roosa carried 500 tree seeds in his Apollo 14 spacecraft. Trees grown from these seeds became known as "Moon Trees". Assuming the plant continues to flourish, O'Sullivan's will be a rare third-generation Moon Tree.
"The last Moon Tree that I know of, my father and I planted in Austin, Texas, at the end of the 70s," Roosa's daughter, Rosemary says (it was planted at her childhood home). "I was in the backyard and he said, 'Hey, this is the last of the Moon Tree seeds that I have, let's plant it and see what happens'. It was American sycamore and I've talked to the owner of the home and it's still growing."
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/2022 ... ring-seeds
- GeddyWrox
- Caught you a delicious bass
- Posts: 12947
- Joined: April 20 06, 8:43 pm
- Location: Please use blue font for the sarcasm impaired.
- GeddyWrox
- Caught you a delicious bass
- Posts: 12947
- Joined: April 20 06, 8:43 pm
- Location: Please use blue font for the sarcasm impaired.
- go birds
- -go birds
- Posts: 31896
- Joined: February 5 10, 9:54 am
- mikechamp
- Hall Of Famer
- Posts: 10132
- Joined: April 17 06, 5:05 pm
- Location: Southwestern Illinois
Re: The Space thread
I was fully expecting a Rick Astley video at the end.
Kind of disappointed.
(j/k that was cool)
Kind of disappointed.
(j/k that was cool)