WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah — Space exploration just got a lot closer to Neil Armstrong Academy in the West Valley. On Friday, NASA gifted the school with a Moon Tree, a special Douglas-fir sapling that traveled all the way from space.
The Moon Tree began its journey as a seed aboard the historic 2022 Artemis I mission. Those out-of-this-world seeds orbited the moon from November to December 2022.
After the mission, NASA and the U.S. Forest Service retrieved the seeds and were sent to Forest Service nurseries across the United States. Organizations nationwide were invited to apply to have their own Moon Tree.
David Pendleton, 4th grade teacher at Neil Armstrong Academy who applied to receive the Moon Tree, says this recognition is fitting for the school.
“We've always kind of had that angle, talking about space and the moon and space exploration,” Pendleton said. “It's very fitting. And so, this just kind of strengthens that bond between us and that idea of innovation and exploration and stretching beyond your own capabilities and potential.”
According to NASA, the awarding of Moon Trees to organizations around the country this year is a nod to Apollo 14 mission. In 1971 NASA astronaut Stuart Roosa, the command module pilot for the Apollo 14mission and a former U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Services carried tree seeds into lunar orbit. The Apollo 14 Moon Trees were grown into seedlings by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Services and eventually distributed to varying organizations and national monuments.
“It is very cool because it's not any tree,” said 4th grader Alyx Martinez. “It's a tree that orbited the moon. It makes me really happy that we were one of the few schools that got chosen to have it here.”
The school says they will form a committee of teachers and staff members tasked with taking care of the Moon Tree so it thrives over the next years and decades. The students will also be able to study it in their classes.
For Pendleton, the tree isn't just a symbol of the advances in space exploration, but also a reminder of the community's stewardship in caring for this special tree.
“It's definitely a source of pride,” Pendleton shared. “For me, it's special, and it'll be neat to have this here for years to come and know that students and teachers and families and members of the community can come and see the tree and tell their kids about it.”
