What is a Moon Tree you may be asking? It’s not just a name someone gave a plant. A Moon Tree is a tree grown from a seed that orbited the Moon! The Olympia Regional Learning Academy is the proud recipient of one of these trees, a coastal Douglas fir. During a planting ceremony Thursday, February 27, 2025, the tree was given a new home on school grounds.
Artemis I Moon Trees
The first seeds to orbit the Moon were taken up in the 1950s on the Apollo 14 mission by NASA astronaut Stuart Roosa, who happened to be a former U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service smokejumper. Smokejumpers are highly skilled wildfire fighters who parachute into remote areas with gear to start suppression efforts.
“Forest Service Chief Ed Cliff asked Astronaut Stuart Roosa to take seeds with him on the Apollo 14 Mission to study the effects of deep space on Earth-based plant life,” shares Kyrain MacMichael, a Montessori teacher at Olympia Regional Learning Academy. “They took Douglas fir, loblolly pine, American sycamore, coast redwood and sweetgum seeds on that mission, then germinated them after returning to Earth. The Apollo Moon Tree Seedlings were sent to Moon Tree Stewards all around the USA in 1975 and 1976. One of those trees is on our Capitol Campus here in Olympia.”
On November 16, 2022, the Artemis I also took seeds into space. Its mission lasted 25 days, 10 hours and 53 minutes, during which it flew by the Moon and then splashed back down to Earth in the Pacific Ocean. The seeds came from five different species of trees as part of a national STEM Engagement and conservation education initiative. The species were coastal Douglas fir, sequoia, loblolly pine, American sweetgum and sycamore trees.
“The NASA Artemis mission is very important as some of its goals are to send the first woman to walk on the Moon and send the first humans to Mars,” shares Conor Schober, director of communications and community relations for the Olympia School District.
And, it’s one of the Artemis I seeds that the Olympia Regional Learning Academy received, thanks to MacMichael, who applied to NASA for one of the seeds in September 2023. Almost a year later, they received word that they had been selected as one of the hosts for a Moon Tree seedling.
Moon Tree Planted at Olympia Regional Learning Academy, Named ‘Groot’
“I participated in NASA’s Space Exploration Educators Conference in February 2021,” shares MacMichael on why she applied for a Moon Tree. “I have always loved space exploration, getting to learn about NASA programs and opportunities to engage students in the fields related to space exploration was exciting. In one of the emails sent to participants regarding NASA artifacts, I learned about the Artemis Moon Trees.”
MacMichael decided to write a grant and was so excited when she received notice they had been accepted as a caregiver for a Moon Tree. “I believe that exploring space is amazing, but I know that Earth is our home,” she says. “I hope that in having a piece of the Artemis Missions in their care, Missions with women and men and people from diverse backgrounds, that students will be inspired to enter the fields that will make space exploration advance, especially since we live where Boeing, Blue Origin, and Microsoft call home. More importantly, I hope that as we see the desolate landscape of Mars, students will hold our Earth a little more dear.”
And for those Marvel fans, the students at the Olympia Regional Learning Academy voted to name their coastal Douglas fir, Groot.
“Our Middle School Academy and Montessori students participate in South Sound GREEN’s water quality testing, tree planting, riparian zone restoration and GREEN Congress opportunities,” shares MacMichael. “Being stewards of the Earth is something we learn as we study Native American Tribes in Washington and something we embody through practice. I believe having the Moon Tree will inspire them to connect with nature and care for the natural world around them.”
Students at Olympia Regional Learning Academy will help take care of their Moon Tree Groot. And Groot just might inspire a young future astronaut who will carry more seeds into space.
