Moon Trees
In 1971, a red-headed, tree-loving astronaut named Stu ‘Smokey’ Roosa was asked to take something to the moon with him. Of all things, he chose to take a canister of 500 tree seeds.
Listen to Podcast
Apollo 14 carried nearly 500 seeds to the Moon in 1971. Artemis I carried the next generation in 2022. We're tracking where they stand and helping the next generation take root.
Explore MissionsSomewhere within driving distance of most American kids, there is a tree that has been to the Moon and back. You can stand next to it. You can put your hand on the bark. You cannot do that through a screen. In an age when childhood is increasingly spent inside apps designed to hold attention rather than reward it, the Moon Trees offer something rarer than any feed can deliver: a living, breathing object you have to travel to, look up at, and experience with your whole body. We built this project to help people find them.
American Sycamore
Coast Redwood
Douglas Fir
Giant Sequoia
Loblolly Pine
Sweetgum
In 2023, Radiolab aired an episode called "Moon Trees", the story of Stuart Roosa, his pocketful of seeds, and a Forest Service scientist named Stan Krugman who tried to keep track of where the trees ended up. We listened and started looking for the trees ourselves. This site is what came of that. Thanks to the Radiolab team for the story that sent us looking.
In 1971, a red-headed, tree-loving astronaut named Stu ‘Smokey’ Roosa was asked to take something to the moon with him. Of all things, he chose to take a canister of 500 tree seeds.
Listen to PodcastField notes on the tiny seeds that took a trip around the dark side of the moon
Read EssayShare a photo or confirm a tree's location. Measure a tree, check on one that hasn't been verified recently, or photograph it across the seasons. Research a missing tree, develop a school unit, host a planting, or help build the registry.
There are Moon Trees within driving distance of most of the country, and many of them aren't marked. Go see one, snap a photo, and drop a pin. You'll be helping build the first complete record of where these trees still stand.
Submit a TreeA few simple measurements, trunk circumference, height, canopy spread, turn a photo into science. Do it once and you've contributed a data point. Do it every year and you've helped track how a tree that went to the Moon is growing back on Earth.
Find a TreeThe Moon Trees aren't the only reason to put the phone down. Here are a few more.
The Perseids in August, the Geminids in December. A blanket, a dark field, and a few hours of looking up.