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Kenneth Wright: In 1971, former NASA astronaut Stuart Roosa, took about 500 tree seeds into orbit aboard Apollo 14 to study the effects of space on plant life. In 2022, NASA shot more seeds into space aboard Artemis 1 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first launch and to bring back more tree seeds to Earth for planting.
The Botanic Garden at Historic Barns Park in Traverse City is one location where one of these so- called moon trees is currently growing.
To find out more, WCMU's Tina Sawyer spoke with Matthew Ross and Meredith Ringvelski from the garden. Meredith led the conversation by explaining why the project initially didn't take root.
Meredith Ringvelski: One thing that was not talked about as much, many of the seeds from the first round didn't take very well in the northern climate because they didn't have as many types. So, our tree didn't last, the one from 1971, however, the one from the 50th anniversary, this is now its third season in our garden, and it's growing strong. We have the 50th anniversary version, second round moon tree.
Tina Sawyer: What kind of a tree is it?
Matthew Ross: Platinus occidentalis, which is a sycamore, American sycamore tree.
TS: Okay, is there any significance as to why they chose those seedlings or those seeds?
Matthew R: When they first went up, I think it was one of the trees. It's a native tree to the United States and our region, and it was one of the several trees that they selected for it. They also had used giant sequoia, Douglas fir, loblolly pine, and sweet gum. So, some pretty interesting trees. And surprisingly, a tree that we have here is the giant sequoia as well, which has a whole story all amongst itself.
TS: And what more can you tell us about your gardens? Like you're considered moon tree stewards, so how do you take care of this? And was there any effect on your soil with this tree, or is it growing just fine?
Meredith R: Our tree is growing just fine. So, one of the interesting things that came about both moon tree projects is when comparing the seeds that went up into space to the control seeds that were kept here on Earth, there wasn't as much of a biological difference as they grew up, as you would have really expected other than the first round, but it wasn't as big of a difference. So, our tree here is going just fine. It's three years old, so it's still quite small. We have it in a space that it should grow nice and tall over time.
TS: So Matthew, is there any plans to send up any more seeds into space? Have you heard anything from NASA?
Matthew R: You know, I don't get the NASA Newsweek often, but I do hope that they do. And I love the fact that it's one example of how our NASA program has affected horticulture. And I would say that there's a lot of innovation in horticulture that has come from NASA and from federal programs like the Artemis program. Working in horticulture for my entire career, a lot of the growth chamber work that's been done.
A lot of the trial and error of seeing if we can grow plants in foreign areas like Mars really actually have real-life impacts on the way that we use our horticultural technology in today's daily activities. So, there's been tons of innovation that's come out of NASA that has been agriculturally focused. And this is just one example of shooting seeds out into space and seeing what happens. And we're really glad to have the Artemis tree here at the Botanic Garden.
It's one of thousands of trees that we've planted since the garden first started in 1880 as a Northern Michigan hospital farm. And over the last 11 years, our volunteers have planted thousands of trees on our site, and we're excited to have Artemis be one of those famous trees here.
KW: That was Matthew Ross and Meredith Ringvelski from The Botanic Garden at Historic Barns Park in Traverse City talking with WCMU's Tina Sawyer.
