Moon Tree Naming Contest
HELP US NAME OUR MOON TREE!
In 1971, Apollo 14 astronaut Stuart Roosa brought a container of seeds into lunar orbit. The seeds were brought back to Earth and grown into 450 seedlings that were sent all around the world. Unfortunately, good records were not kept of the locations, so no one knows exactly how many are still alive!
Now blast forward to the year 2022 and the Artemis 1 mission where NASA partnered with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Services to fly five species of tree seeds around the moon. They were in orbit for almost four weeks traveling 270,000 miles. Upon returning to Earth, the seeds were germinated and grown into seedlings by Forest Service scientists.
NASA wanted good homes for all of the seedlings! They received over 1,300 applications so we were thrilled when a little baby sweet gum tree permanently landed in our space! It was planted in the fall of 2024 and we are proud to say it survived the winter!
But Houston, we have a problem! What are we going to call it?? Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to help us name our tree!
Submit your name suggestion now through Monday, August 25.
Return here to vote for your favorite Moon Tree name starting Sept. 1!
Join us for the big reveal:
Moon Tree Naming Event
CLC Lawn | Sept. 25 | 4:30–5:30 PM
This event is sponsored by US Forest Service at Land Between the Lakes.
