An American sycamore grown from a seed that flew aboard Apollo 14, one of the original moon trees, stands at the Cradle of Forestry, situated on the Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina. (USDA Forest Service & NASA photo) CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA’s Artemis program has deep figurative roots that go back to the Apollo moon missions of the 1960s and 1970s.
And soon, it will have literal roots as well.Tucked away aboard Artemis I are 1,000 seeds representing five different tree species, and they’re in for quite a ride."We’re working with the U.S.
Forest Service," explained Rob LaSalvia, NASA’s manager for STEM partnerships for the Office of STEM Engagement. "They’ve actually helped us identify a bunch of tree seeds that we’re going to launch with Artemis and then return to Earth and sort of have an environmental education moment around these space-flown trees.
So they’re going to help us grow them into seedlings and then we’ll distribute them."One thousand tree seeds are sealed in packets like this for Artemis I's trip around the moon. (NASA photo) RELATED: Snoopy returning to space as ‘zero-G indicator’ on Artemis I flightThe Artemis I mission is due to blast off as soon as Saturday on an uncrewed test flight around the moon.