Newsroom

CORVALLIS, Ore. - The "moon tree," a Douglas-fir grown from seeds that in 1971 orbited the moon on Apollo 14, will be celebrated in a ceremony on Wednesday, Oct. 10, at Oregon State University.

The seeds were taken around the moon by NASA astronaut Stuart Roosa, an Oregon smoke jumper early in his career, as part of an experiment to see if space travel would affect seed germination. Seedlings were later grown and given to various agencies and officials around the world, and the OSU tree was planted in 1976.

A plaque will be unveiled and university officials will make presentations at the event, which begins at 2 p.m. at the east entrance to Peavy Hall. The event, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the OSU College of Forestry and the Oregon NASA Space Grant Consortium.