NASA employees plant an Artemis Moon Tree at NASA\u2019s Stennis Space Center on Oct. 29 to celebrate NASA\u2019s successful Artemis I mission as the agency prepares for a return around the Moon with astronauts on Artemis II. <\/div>\n
NASA\/Danny Nowlin<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
A tree-planting ceremony at NASA\u2019s Stennis Space Center on Oct. 29 celebrated NASA\u2019s successful Artemis I mission as the agency prepares for a return around the Moon with astronauts on Artemis II.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe already have a thriving Moon Tree from the Apollo years onsite,\u201d NASA Stennis Director John Bailey said. \u201cIt is exciting to add trees for our new Artemis Generation as it continues the next great era of human space exploration.\u201d<\/p>\n
NASA\u2019s Office of STEM Engagement Next Gen STEM\u00a0Project partnered with U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service to fly five species of tree seeds 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
NASA Stennis and the NASA Shared Services Center (NSSC), located at the site, planted companion trees during the Oct. 29 ceremony. Bailey and NSSC Executive Director Anita Harrell participated in a joint planting ceremony attended by a number of employees from each entity.<\/p>\n
The American sweetgum trees are the second and third Moon Trees at the south Mississippi site. In 2004, ASTRO CAMP participants planted a sycamore Moon Tree to honor the 35th<\/sup> anniversary of Apollo 11 and the first lunar landing on July 20, 1969.<\/p>\nThe road to space for both Apollo 14 and Artemis I went through Mississippi. Until 1970, NASA Stennis test fired first, and second stages of the Saturn V rockets used for Apollo.<\/p>\n
NASA Stennis now tests all the RS-25 engines powering Artemis missions to the Moon and beyond. Prior to Artemis I, NASA Stennis tested the SLS (Space Launch System) core stage and its four RS-25 engines.<\/p>\n
The Artemis Moon Trees have found new homes in over 150 communities and counting since last spring, and each of the 10 NASA centers also will plant one.<\/p>\n
As the tree grows at NASA Stennis, so, too, does anticipation for the first crewed mission with Artemis II. Four astronauts will venture around the Moon on NASA\u2019s path to establishing a long-term presence at the Moon for science and exploration.<\/p>\n
The flight will test NASA\u2019s foundational human deep space exploration capabilities \u2013 the SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft \u2013 for the first time with astronauts.<\/p>\n
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