NASA discovers 'moon tree' alive and well in Potter County

Growing in anonymity at Coudersport Area Recreation Park, this sycamore tree returned from the moon as a seed. Until recently, NASA had lost track of this tree and dozens more like it. The sycamore could still yield scientific data on the impact of weightlessness and exposure to lunar influences on plant growth.

Potter County's "moon tree" has been discovered by NASA.

Grown from a seed that flew to the moon more than 35 years ago, the tree was among dozens reported as missing by NASA until last week.

That's when a Coudersport man happened across NASA's plea for information. He contacted NASA with background material and photographs, all welcomed by the scientist who has been trying to track down these unique trees for more than five years.

The Potter County moon tree, a sycamore, is alive and well inside a circle of fenceposts at Coudersport Area Recreation Park. The tree might still prove to be important in yielding additional scientific information to researchers.

It all dates back to Jan. 31, 1971, when Apollo 14 blasted off to the moon. On board were astronauts Stuart Roosa, Ed Mitchell, and Alan Shepard.

Astronaut Stuart Roosa took seeds to the moon in 1971. One of them arrived as a seedling in Potter County, where Carol Patterson -- shown at her recent 90th birthday party -- nursed it back to health.

Roosa brought along a canister full of tree seeds. This was part of a joint project between NASA and the U.S. Forest Service to see if being in space would cause certain species to grow differently.

These seeds were later germinated, analyzed, and given out to dozens of communities in 1976 during the country's Bicentennial celebration.

Potter County's moon tree was teetering on the brink of death when it was rescued by Carol Patterson, wife of thenjudge Perry Patterson, who operated a tree nursery near Colesburg.

Under her tender loving care, the seedling took root and was eventually healthy enough to be transplanted. With little fanfare, it was placed at CARP, where is has remained for three decades.

"The tree barely survived," recalled Mrs. Patterson. "We don't have the best climate for sycamores, but this one did make it."

After astronaut Roosa died in 1994, Dr. Dave Williams, from NASA's National Space Science Data Center, took an interest in the moon trees. An innocent inquiry from an Indiana schoolteacher sent Williams into the NASA records. He found that the whereabouts of most of the trees - redwood, Douglas fir, sycamore, sweet gum and loblolly pine - remained unknown.

NASA scientists had long ago decided that the seeds, after orbiting the moon 34 times, sprouted and grew normally.

Dr. Williams believes that, with DNA analysis technology now available, it's time to reexamine the trees that can be located.

By testing the trees today, he said, scientists would have a better idea of the long-term effects of space on botanical specimens' genetic structure. The information could be applied to other species, as well, he pointed out.

Many of the trees he has found are without a marker, indistinguishable from their completely terrestrial counterparts. The highly prized space souvenirs were planted in gardens, schoolyards, on office campuses and museum grounds all around the country.

"I'm sure there are a lot out there in local parks and next to buildings that people are walking by every day without realizing it," Williams said.

Potter County's sycamore is now about 35 feet tall, surrounded by pines near the park caretaker's mobile home at CARP.

NASA continues botanical experiments in space. Scientists were surprised when they inspected samples of fire moss that were on board the space shuttle Columbia.

"On Earth, moss filaments normally grow in an unruly fashion," NASA reports. "On Columbia, they formed a distinctive clockwise spiral like no moss on Earth."

Such information could be important for scientists working on creation of a selfsustaining environment in space.

Aside from the moon trees, Apollo 14 was a success. Scientists were delighted with the mission's geology experiments and the collection of moon rocks that were brought back to earth.

Follow-up experiments on the moon trees could analyze the composition of their offspring, called "half-moon trees."

"There might be subtle differences yet to be discovered," Dr. Williams said.

Astronaut Stuart Roosa's son, Jack Roosa, said he would like to see his father's legacy continue.

"I think my father always knew that these trees would serve as a long-lasting, living reminder of mankind's greatest achievement - the manned missions to the moon," Roosa said. "Some of these trees will be here 100 years from now. By then, I believe we'll be planting Mars trees right beside them."