{"id":51632,"date":"2020-09-12T18:03:23","date_gmt":"2020-09-13T00:03:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/moon-tree-lands-in-durango\/"},"modified":"2020-09-13T00:03:23","modified_gmt":"2020-09-13T00:03:23","slug":"moon-tree-lands-in-durango","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/moon-tree-lands-in-durango\/","title":{"rendered":"Moon tree lands in Durango"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"A
A moon tree was planted in Durango on Saturday across from the Powerhouse Science Center, along the Animas River.<\/span>Jonathan Romeo\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The moon tree has landed in Durango.<\/p>\n

For the unacquainted, Durango is home to Apollo 14 astronaut Stuart Roosa, who died in December 1994 at the age of 61 and now has a park and street bearing his name in town.<\/p>\n

As per tradition, astronauts typically bring some sort of keepsake on missions to outer space: Neil Armstrong, for instance, brought his fraternity pin and Buzz Aldrin brought a chalice, bread and wine to take communion on the moon.<\/p>\n

Roosa, however, got a little more creative for the Jan. 31, 1971, mission to the moon.<\/p>\n

\"Durango
Durango native Stuart Roosa brought about 500 seedlings on the Apollo 14 mission, hoping to see if the trees&#x2019; growth would be different from their earthbound counterparts.<\/span>Jonathan Romeo\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Roosa, a former smoke jumper for the U.S. Forest Service, decided to partner with the agency and bring about 500 seedlings into space to later plant throughout the entire U.S., and even in different countries.<\/p>\n

Of note, moon trees now grow at the White House, Independence Square in Philadelphia, the Kennedy Space Center, as well as many state capitols, universities and botanical gardens.<\/p>\n

Five different types of trees \u2013 loblolly pine, sycamore, sweetgum, redwood and Douglas fir \u2013 orbited the moon 34 times. The idea was to see if radiation exposure, extreme cold or microgravity conditions affected growth.<\/p>\n

Despite the very earnest experiment, it\u2019s been noted that moon trees bear no discernible difference from their earthbound counterparts.<\/p>\n

And though moon trees can now be found now in nearly every state, inexplicably, one has never been planted in Durango.<\/p>\n

\"Moon
Moon trees can now be found all over the country, but one has never been planted in Durango, despite the astronaut who brought the seeds to space being a Durango native.<\/span>Jonathan Romeo\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

That missing piece struck 13-year-old Alex Gnehm as odd, too, when he learned about Roosa and his moon trees last fall, said Chris Hughes, his school instructor.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlex asked, \u2018Why the heck isn\u2019t there one in Durango?\u2019\u201d Hughes said.<\/p>\n

So, they called NASA.<\/p>\n

After a year or so of coordinating, a moon tree was planted Saturday in Durango, across from the Powerhouse Science Center, along the Animas River.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat an awesome local connection to Apollo 14,\u201d said Jeff Susor, executive director of the center.<\/p>\n

Durango\u2019s moon tree is sycamore that\u2019s a second generation, grown from a graft of an original tree located in Mississippi.<\/p>\n

Roosa\u2019s daughter, Rosemary, said there are only about 80 to 90 original moon trees still living, so a few years ago, she took the initiative to start the Moon Tree Foundation to create a second generation of plants.<\/p>\n

\"Rosemary
Rosemary Roosa, Stuart&#x2019;s daughter, started the Moon Tree Foundation to create a second generation of trees in memory of her father&#x2019;s legacy.<\/span>Jonathan Romeo\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cI just thought it was so important and neat to carry on his legacy,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Rosemary Roosa, who lives in Mississippi, said she hopes to help bring a second moon tree to Durango to be planted on Earth Day next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know why it didn\u2019t happen before,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I think he would be really happy to know a moon tree has landed in Durango.\u201d<\/p>\n

The planting of the moon tree also kicks off the Powerhouse Science Center\u2019s monthly virtual lecture series about space, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 14 mission coming up next year.<\/p>\n

The first installment will be 4:30 p.m. Sunday and feature Roosa, Hughes and Steve Oswald, a former NASA astronaut who recently moved full time to Durango.<\/p>\n

The event can be viewed by going to the Powerhouse Science Center\u2019s Facebook page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

jromeo@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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