Moon Trees

January 2, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

🎙️ The Voices & The Context

The Format: This is a narrative podcast episode, part of the "Terrestrials" show (a spin-off of Radiolab), hosted by Lulu Miller. It's a blend of storytelling, science, and music, designed for a general audience—including kids.
The Key Players:
- Lulu Miller (Host): The energetic, curious narrator who guides the story.
- Natalie Middleton (Storyteller/Fact-Checker): A Radiolab team member who brings the story of the "Moon Trees" to life. She is deeply invested and emotional about the subject.
- Stuart "Smokey" Roosa (The Hero): A former smokejumper, firefighter, and NASA astronaut who took tree seeds to the moon on Apollo 14.
- Alice Wong (Tribute): The episode opens with a heartfelt tribute to the late disability activist and friend of the show.
The Vibe: Joyful, Wonder-Filled, and Poignant. The episode balances a sense of cosmic adventure with deep, personal emotion. It's educational but never dry, treating its subject with childlike awe and serious respect.

🗝️ Key Themes & Topics

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What you'll learn

1 (00:00) **🎙️ Introduction: Alice Wong Tribute**
2 (06:10) **The Moon Tree Story Begins**
3 (08:07) **Smokey Roosa: From Smoke Jumper to Astronaut**
4 (10:32) **The Seeds: Smokey's Choice for Space**
5 (13:12) **Kids' Hypotheses on Space Trees**
6 (15:29) **The Journey to the Moon**
7 (22:37) **Return to Earth and the Bag Explosion**

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

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. After orbiting the moon 34 times, the seeds made it back to Earth. NASA decided to plant the seeds all across the country and then… everyone forgot about them. Until one day, a third grader from Indiana stumbled on a tree with a strange plaque: "Moon Tree." This discovery set off a cascading search for all the trees that visited the moon across the United States. Science writer, and our very own factchecker, Natalie Middleton (https://www.nataliemiddleton.org/) tells us the tale.

Read Lulu’s remembrance of Alice Wong for Transom.org: 13 questions I’ll never get to ask Alice Wong (https://transom.org/2026/13-questions-ill-never-get-to-ask-alice-wong/).

Check out Natalie’s map to find your nearest moon tree on our show page (https://radiolab.org/podcast/moon-trees)!

Help us hunt for more moon trees. If you know of an undocumented moon tree, contact Natalie at nataliemiddleton.org. Check out Natalie’s essay on Moon Trees (https://orionmagazine.org/article/moon-tree/) and Space Zinnias (https://orionmagazine.org/article/astronaut-scott-kelly-flower-experiment-space/) in Orion Magazine (https://orionmagazine.org/).

Visit NASA’s official Moon Tree Page (https://science.nasa.gov/resource/apollo-moon-trees/) for a list of all the Apollo 14 Moon Trees in the world.

To learn more about Stu Roosa or to learn more about acquiring your own half Moon Tree, check out the Moon Tree Foundation (https://www.moontreefoundation.com/), spearheaded by Stu’s daughter, Rosemary Roosa.

A reminder that Terrestrials also makes original music! You can find ‘Tangled in the Roots’ and all other music from the show here (https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab-kids/just-the-songs).

EPISODE CREDITS:

Terrestrials was created by Lulu Miller with WNYC Studios. This episode was produced by Tanya Chawla and sound-designed by Joe Plourde. Our Executive Producer is Sarah Sandbach. Our team includes Alan Goffinski,