POCATELLO — The Idaho Museum of Natural History and Idaho State University campus have been selected for the out of this world opportunity to be home of one of the trees that orbited the moon during the Artemis 1 mission in 2022.
Robert Gay, educational manager at the museum, said the idea of a moon tree originated during the Apollo missions. On the Apollo 14 mission, astronauts took tree seeds with them to the moon. For the Artemis 1 mission, there were five different species of seeds on the flight.
{span}Amber Tews, assistant Director of public Relations for the Idaho Museum of Natural History, posing with the Douglas-fir Artemis {/span}{span}Moon{/span}{span} {/span}{span}Tree.{/span}
“With the Artemis missions, the moon tree program was revived,” Gay said. “With Artemis 1, they put seeds in there and flew them around the moon.”
NASA has offered universities, cities and other institutions the opportunity to have one of these trees planted just as they did during the earlier Apollo missions. The tree they received was a Douglas fir tree.
“It was shipped to us a few weeks ago,” Gay said. “It is at the green house and will be planted later this year.”
ISU and the Idaho Museum of Natural History had to go through an extensive application process in order to be selected for this opportunity. They applied in the fall of last year, and they found out they had been selected in March.
“We had to show we could take care of the tree and that we had the right conditions,” Gay said.
Everyone at the university and museum were excited when they found out they had been selected. They look forward to the day when they can actually plant the tree in the ground, and they are happy to take care of it right now.
{span}Idaho Museum of Natural History staff preparing the Douglas-fir Artemis Moon Tree {/span}{span}for replanting.{/span}
“It was a long process,” Gay said. “The mission was a long time ago, and we applied in fall or winter of last year and we hadn’t heard anything else. When we got the news in March, we were all very excited.”
The university plans to unveil the moon tree at a ceremony later this year. They don’t have an exact date finalized yet, but they hope to have more details about when it will happen soon.
“We’re trying to figure out how best to unveil the planting during ISU’s 125th anniversary,” Gay said. “I don’t think we have a confirmed date or time yet.”
Gay expressed gratitude for NASA for selecting them for this honor, and they look forward to having a moon tree on campus.
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