Moon Trees

January 2, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

In 1971, Apollo 14 astronaut Stuart "Smokey" Roosa carried a small fireproof bag containing 500 tree seeds to the moon. He was the command module pilot, orbiting while his crewmates Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell walked on the lunar surface. The seeds—sweet gum, loblolly pine, redwood, sycamore, and Douglas fir—were chosen because they could grow across the entire United States. No one knew whether deep space would kill them, warp their DNA, or change how they grew. The seeds survived the journey, but during the decontamination process back on Earth, the bag exploded. Scientists planted them anyway, and nearly all 500 sprouted. The resulting saplings were distributed across the country, planted at the White House, state capitals, NASA centers, Girl Scout camps, and private residences. Then, for decades, most people forgot they existed.

The Man Who Brought Seeds to the Moon

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What you'll learn

1 (00:00) **Episode Introduction & Tribute to Alice Wong** - Host Lulu Miller honors the late Alice Wong, a disability activist and friend of Radiolab, and introduces the episode about the moon as a tribute to her.
2 (06:10) **The Moon Tree Origin Story** - The episode begins with the fantastical premise of a seed being launched to the moon and back, becoming a "moon tree."
3 (08:07) **Smokey Roosa: From Smoke Jumper to Astronaut** - The story of Stu Roosa, a firefighter and tree-lover who became an Apollo 14 astronaut.
4 (10:02) **The Seeds Go to the Moon** - In 1971, Roosa brings a bag of 500 tree seeds on Apollo 14 as a personal item.
5 (13:12) **Kids' Hypotheses on Space-Grown Trees** - Children offer imaginative predictions for how trees might change after space travel.
6 (15:27) **The Apollo 14 Mission** - The seeds launch with the Apollo 14 crew in 1971.
7 (22:22) **Return to Earth and the Explosion** - The seeds survive the journey but the bag explodes during decontamination.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Guests on this episode

Mark Kelly

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,