To the Moon and Back
Idaho Museum of Natural History to Plant Artemis I Moon Tree
The Idaho Museum of Natural History and Idaho State University are custodians of an Artemis Moon Tree, which will be planted on the Hutchinson Quad outside the Museum the first week of September as part of the University’s 125th Anniversary celebrations. The moon tree represents a long legacy of ISU’s work with NASA, and was grown from a seed that orbited the Moon as part of NASA’s Artemis I mission in 2022.
Five species of tree seeds flew aboard the Orion spacecraft during the successful uncrewed Artemis I test flight in 2022 as part of a national STEM Engagement and conservation education initiative. The Artemis Moon Tree species included sweetgums, loblolly pines, sycamores, Douglas-firs, and giant sequoias. The seeds from the first Artemis mission have been nurtured by the USDA into seedlings to be a source of inspiration for the Artemis Generation of students and future space explorers.
The IMNH became custodians of Douglas-fir Artemis Moon Tree that was nurtured by USFS Lucky Peak Nursery in Boise, Idaho. In order to help the seed be healthy and maintain its root microbiome the nursery retrieved soil amendment from the Island Park Douglas-fir forest.
Before it takes root in its permanent location, thanks to the generosity of Life Sciences Greenhouse Manager, Sunshine Denney, the Douglas-fir she fondly calls “Lunafir” was temporarily housed and cared for in the Life Sciences Greenhouse.
The Moon Tree education initiative is rooted in the legacy of Apollo 14 Moon Tree seeds flown in lunar orbit over 50 years ago by the late Stuart Roosa, a NASA astronaut and Mississippi Coast resident. The Artemis Moon Tree will become part of the IMNH outreach tour programs, bringing additional space exploration to campus and challenging K-12 and college students to ask questions about what it means for a seed to have traveled to the moon and back. By engaging children with these types of questions early, we normalize their engagement with big ideas that expand beyond their daily lived experiences and offer glimpses of possible futures. “We applied for the Moon Tree because it represents everything IMNH and ISU stand for: education, research, and the drive to explore beyond what we know,” said Robert Gay, IMNH education manager.
The ISU campus community has a long connection with NASA and space exploration. ISU faculty and researchers are frequently involved in various space related projects, including geology research, biological sciences, and education outreach programs aimed to engage students with our area's participation and space exploration. ISU professor and department chair, Shannon Nawotniak, has served as the geology co-lead for various NASA projects and is currently leading the Idaho Exploration and Science Lunar Analog to support future missions to the moon.
The Artemis Moon Tree project was sponsored by NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement Next Gen STEM Project partnered with U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service.
More than just planting a tree, the Artemis Moon Tree is an opportunity to watch a symbol of the future grow on our campus.