If you drive or walk past the northside of the Flandrau Science Center and Planetarium, you’re going to notice a new tree that just got planted. The sweetgum tree grew from a seed that orbited the moon during the Artemis One Mission back in 2022.
Mark Marley is the director of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona and was at Monday’s tree planting ceremony.
“I’m never going to go to space, but having something that’s been there, that we can connect with directly is really special,” Marley said.
The University of Arizona said the seed the tree grew from traveled farther than any spacecraft designed for humans.
“They were testing the equipment, testing the spacecraft so that the next time the spacecraft flies, humans can fly on it,” Marley said.
The University of Arizona was chosen from more than 1,300 applicants.
“They carried things that were meaningful to bring back to earth,” Marley said.
The University of Arizona’s first moon tree was planted more than fifty years ago. The tree grew from a seed that was brought to the moon during the Apollo 14 Mission in 1971.