Moon Sycamore

Apollo 14 launched in the late afternoon of January 31, 1971 on what was to be our third trip to the lunar surface. Five days later Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell walked on the Moon while Stuart Roosa, a former U.S. Forest Service smoke jumper, orbited above in the command module. Packed in small containers in Roosa's personal kit were hundreds of tree seeds, part of a joint NASA/USFS project.

Upon return to Earth, the seeds were germinated by the Forest Service. Known as the "Moon Trees", the resulting seedlings were planted throughout the United States (often as part of the nation's bicentennial in 1976) and the world. They stand as a tribute to astronaut Roosa and the Apollo program.

Known as a Half-Moon tree, our Sycamore is a seedling from one of the original moon trees.

Did You Know?
NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island has served as the launch center for every American manned space mission and hundreds of advanced scientific spacecraft. The Apollo moon missions, the Hubble Space Telescope and the Mars Rover missions have all launched from the east coast of Florida.

Kennedy Space Center, Kennedy Space Center, FL
http://www.kennedyspacecenter.com/

Learn More about Stuart Roosa and NASA

NASA Biographical Data: Stuart Allen Roosa
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/roosa-sa.html\

IMLS Florida Memory: NASA and the Space Program Change Floridahttp://www.floridamemory.com/onlineclassroom/nasa/

Proposed Moon Sycamore - Moon Garden
When the Apollo 14 mission carried Stuart Roosa and his sycamore seeds to the moon in 1971, an observer could have watched it launch from the place where our Moon Sycamore stands today. While no plants grow on the moon, of course, our moon garden is designed to look its best in the shadows of moonlight, with white and pale-colored plants reflecting the glow of our nearest neighbor.

Examples of Proposed Plants:

Moonflower (Ipomoea alba) - The large white flowers of this vine open in the evening and exude a sweet fragrance throughout the night.

Starflower (Pentas lanceolata) - In shades of white and light pink

Angelonia (Angelonia angustifolia) - White blooms

Dusty Miller (Jacobaea maritima) - Silvery-white foliage

Caladium - ‘White Ruffles’ and other white cultivars

Impatiens - White blooms