A small Douglas fir seed drifts down off of a tree.

The seed is miniscule, less than an eighth of an inch small.

That seed will probably only travel half a mile at most before it begins to grow.

Compare that to the incredible journey of the Moon Tree seeds!

OR

Potential Perils on the Journey of the

Pseudotsuga menziesii

    Plucked from a parent tree in Oregon

    Prepared and packed with pines in Texas

    Put in the pilot's PPK in Florida

    Propelled with precision to the Moon

    Parachuted to the perfect position in the Pacific

    Presumed perished but patiently picked up in Texas

    Planted in a plot in Placerville where he prospered

    Presented with a plaque for public posterity

A small three inch by six inch cylinder was packed with about 600 seeds to be taken to the Moon aboard Apollo 14. Stack 728 of the six inch cylinders on top of each other and that would be the same height as the 364 foot tall, gigantic Saturn V Launch Vehicle. A pound of seeds would contain about 36,000 seeds, and if you counted out 226,892,016,000 seeds, they would weigh about 6,302,556 pounds and equal the weight of a Saturn V. This cylinder traveled over half a million miles in the care of the Command Module pilot, Stuart Roosa.

____________________________ 364 FEET

S P A C E C R A F T   A N D   S A T U R N   L A U N C H   V E H I C L E

T A L L E S T   T R E E

2 5 0   F E E T   A V E R A G E   D O U G L A S   F I R

4 3   F E E T

OREGON MOON TREE