Montgomery’s Moon Tree Marks 49th Anniversary at Alabama State Capitol
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Saturday, April 19, marked the 49th anniversary of the planting of Montgomery’s Moon Tree on the grounds of the Alabama State Capitol.
The loblolly pine was planted in 1976 and is one of several trees grown from seeds that traveled to the moon aboard NASA’s Apollo 14 mission, according to the National Space Science Data Center. Known as Moon Trees, the seeds were part of an experiment to see if space travel would affect their growth.
After returning to Earth, the seeds were germinated and planted at locations across the country as living symbols of the space program. Alabama is home to five original Moon Trees. On March 20 of this year, a sixth was planted in Huntsville.
(Photos courtesy of Tim Lennox)
