MOON TREES

摘要

Of all the species on Earth, which one has visited the moon in greatest number? It's not humans. Bacteria might stake a claim, but also in contention would be ai intrepid group of trees. You'd think we'd know where they're growing now. Not so. In 1971, US Forest Service scientists were curious to see whether a journey into space would affect seec growth. They turned to Apollo 14 astronaut Stuart Roosa, who used to fight wildfires for the service. He carried roughly 500 pine, sycamore, sweetgum, redwood and Douglas fir seeds to the moon.1Upon return, nearly all of the seeds germinated. These trees were given as gifts to US states, as well as countries such as Switzerland, Brazil, and japan.