WEBVTT - What Trees Have Been to the Moon and Back?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey,

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren Vogelbaum. Here, it's entirely possible that a

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<v Speaker 1>UFO has been somewhere near your home for decades. Yes,

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<v Speaker 1>we mean a UFO from outer space, just not the

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<v Speaker 1>flying saucer kind. The UFO we're talking about might be

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<v Speaker 1>an unidentified fur object. That's because a fur is one

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<v Speaker 1>of several varieties of tree seeds that literally took a

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<v Speaker 1>trip around the Moon in the nineteen seventies and made

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<v Speaker 1>its way back to be planted on Earth. So let's

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<v Speaker 1>talk about just how that happened. This is the story

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<v Speaker 1>of the moon trees in Stuart Rusa, a former U

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<v Speaker 1>S Forest Service smoke jumper who would parachute into forest

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<v Speaker 1>fires to help put them out, joined NASA astronauts Alan

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<v Speaker 1>Shepherd and Edgar Mitchell on the Apollo fourteen mission to

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<v Speaker 1>the Moon. Russa took with him five different varieties of

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<v Speaker 1>tree seeds on both ward, including nearly five hundred seeds

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<v Speaker 1>of douglas fir, lob lolly pine, sycamore, sweet gum, and redwood.

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<v Speaker 1>He held the seeds in metal containers inside a canvas

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<v Speaker 1>pouch as part of a joint NASA US Forestry Service

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<v Speaker 1>Project RUSA, and the seeds orbited the Moon in the

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<v Speaker 1>Kittie Hawk command module as Shepherd and Mitchell walked on

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<v Speaker 1>the Moon's surface below. While the seeds never left the

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<v Speaker 1>capsule or touched the Moon, they became known as Moon

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<v Speaker 1>trees when they returned to Earth and were germinated and

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<v Speaker 1>planted around the United States in honor of the country's

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<v Speaker 1>by centennial celebration in nineteen six. It was partially a

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<v Speaker 1>publicity stunt, but the point of the seed project was

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<v Speaker 1>to determine whether there might be a difference in characteristics

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<v Speaker 1>between these space seeds and a batch of control seeds

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<v Speaker 1>left on Earth almost immediately upon return. The experiment was

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<v Speaker 1>in jeopardy because the seed bag was exposed to a

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<v Speaker 1>vacuum and burst during the decontamination process. The seeds have

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<v Speaker 1>a old to be fairly hardy, but a total vacuum

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<v Speaker 1>isn't something that earthly trees ever planned for. Nobody knew

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<v Speaker 1>if the seeds would still be viable, and besides, the

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<v Speaker 1>seeds from all five species had scattered and intermingled, but

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<v Speaker 1>forced Service geneticist Stan Krugman, who was in charge of

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<v Speaker 1>the project separated them by hand and sent them to

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<v Speaker 1>forced service labs to be germinated, and almost all of

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<v Speaker 1>them did. After a failed attempt at growing several trees

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<v Speaker 1>in Houston, the remaining seeds were sent to the Southern

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<v Speaker 1>Forest Service Station in Gulfport, Mississippi, and to the Western

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<v Speaker 1>Station in Placerville, California. Hundreds grew into seedlings. Some of

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<v Speaker 1>the seedlings were planted along with the control seeds left

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<v Speaker 1>on earth. Now, nearly fifty years after the Apollo fourteen mission,

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<v Speaker 1>there's no discernible difference between the known plantings and their offspring. Unfortunately,

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<v Speaker 1>when the seedlings were given away, no one kept a

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<v Speaker 1>list of adopters or locations, and some were sent to

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<v Speaker 1>state forestry organizations. Others were sent to the White House,

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<v Speaker 1>Independent Square in Philadelphia and even the Emperor of Japan.

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<v Speaker 1>Lots of people requested them. Senators wanted saplings to plant

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<v Speaker 1>when they dedicated buildings. The then mayor of New Orleans,

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<v Speaker 1>Maurice Edwin Landrew, went by the nickname Moon, and he

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<v Speaker 1>managed to get a few. Two. A girl Scout troop

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<v Speaker 1>in Indiana received one. Many were planted with a plaque

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<v Speaker 1>describing the journey that they had undertaken, but even the

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<v Speaker 1>known list of moon trees that NASA keeps is a

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<v Speaker 1>best guess. Nonetheless, if you'd like to see whether any

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<v Speaker 1>of these trees still stand somewhere near you, just google

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<v Speaker 1>Moon trees known list. The NASA Space Science Data Coordinated

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<v Speaker 1>Archive keeps up a page with locations of all the

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<v Speaker 1>known trees, with living ones listed from California to Florida

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<v Speaker 1>and north as far as Massachusetts and Washington State. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>episode is based on the article Awesome Moon trees still

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<v Speaker 1>stand as Testament to Apollo fourt teen on houstuffworks dot com,

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<v Speaker 1>written by Sherry's Cunningham. Brain Stuff is production of by

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<v Speaker 1>Heart Radio and partnership with houstuff works dot com, and

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<v Speaker 1>it's produced by Tyler Clang. Four more podcasts my heart Radio,

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<v Speaker 1>visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you

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