Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans, Louisiana
21 July: The Marshall Star reported on a Bicentennial celebration
at MSFC's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, La., that included planting
of a "moon" tree to commemorate the 7th anniversary of the first Apollo landing.
Michoud was the place where giant Saturn moon rockets were fabricated.
Participating in the program were Lt. Gov. James Fitzmorris of La., MSFC Director
Dr. William R. Lucas; and Robert Littlefield, manager of the Michoud facility.
The tree was a pine grown from seed carried to the moon and back in 1971 on the
Apollo 14 mission as part of research into effects of weightlessness on seed
germination. The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture has planted the returned seeds, and
the seedlings had been set out in various public areas over the U.S. such as in
Philadelphia's Washington Square. As the tree was planted in front of the
Michoud administration building, a time capsule was deposited to be opened during
the nation's Tricentennial in 2076. The capsule contained documents, tapes, and
pictures relating to the space program.(Marshall Star,21 July 76, 4)
From NASA SP-4021, Astronautics and Aeronautics, 1976
Moon Tree Home Page
![[NASA Logo]](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090119115603im_/http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/logo/nasa_logo.gif)
Author/Curator:
Dr. David R. Williams, dave.williams@nasa.gov
NSSDC, Mail Code 690.1
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD 20771
+1-301-286-1258
NASA Official: Ed Grayzeck, edwin.j.grayzeck@nasa.gov
Last Updated: 09 March 2005, DRW