posted 01-19-2025 10:08 PM               

Moon Tree Launch

Moon Tree Dedication
Jan. 31, 2025, 5:00 - 7:30 p.m.

Moon Tree Launch (event for kids)
Feb. 1, 2025, 12:00 - 2:30 p.m.

On the Apollo 14 Launch Anniversary, two more Moon Trees land in Nassau Bay! More seeds that went to the Moon will be dedicated to former residents:

• Astronaut Buzz Aldrin (second man on the moon)
  
• George Abby (Director of NASA 'Astronaut Maker')

Guest speaker Rosemary Roosa, (daughter of Apollo 14 Astronaut Stu Roosa and President of the Moon Tree Foundation) and more.

This incredible addition to the community is sponsored by the Nassau Bay Parks and Rec's Keep Nassau Bay Beautiful Committee Project to Honor Nassau Bay's Space Heritage.

The fascinating history behind the Moon Trees reaches back to Apollo 14, the NASA Mission that was launched in the late afternoon of January 31, 1971. During the mission, astronauts Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell would become the fifth and sixth men to walk on the moon. While Shepard and Mitchell explored the surface, astronaut Stuart Roosa – Rosemary Roosa's father – orbited above. On his command module, he carried hundreds of seeds that would eventually become "Moon Trees."

"The seeds Stuart Roosa took into space were brought back, planted, and successfully grew into trees that are 60-75 feet tall today," Mossman said. "As they grew and matured, the Moon Tree Foundation was formed and began planting the seeds and growing saplings. Over time, they were able to take the DNA from those trees and create new offspring. This means the trees we're getting should have the same DNA as those original trees."