The seedling traveled around the moon before making its final landing in Idaho
If you’ve ever dreamed of visiting the moon, you can now take one small step closer without ever leaving campus.
On September 5, the Boise State Physics department planted a “moon tree” in front of the Education building — a Douglas fir seedling that traveled around the moon aboard NASA’s Artemis I mission in 2022.
“Back during the Apollo era, when the astronauts first went to the moon, NASA ran a moon tree program,” said physics professor Brian Jackson. “Apollo capsules carried seeds of different kinds of trees around the moon and brought them back to Earth.”
Jackson explained that the Artemis missions, NASA’s latest moon exploration program designed to reestablish a human presence on the moon, reinitiated Apollo’s moon tree program with 1000 seeds aboard Artemis I.
The program is designed to study the effects of outer space on the trees as they grow back on Earth.
“Our program applied to get one of these moon trees two years ago,” Jackson said. “This last spring we heard back from NASA that we were awarded one of these trees.”
Boise State’s moon tree was unveiled as part of the Physics department’s First Friday Astronomy events, a monthly series where experts share lectures on space science and exploration.
This month’s installment featured retired NASA astronaut and Boise State Distinguished Educator in Residence Steve Swanson, who delivered a lecture and helped unveil the cosmic tree seedling.
“The Artemis missions are a great thing,” Swanson said in an interview with The Arbiter. “[This event] helps students be a part of that, and it gets people excited about these missions and what NASA is doing.”
Swanson has an impressive resume. He’s been to space three times, has spent a total of 195 days in space and is a proud recipient of the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal. He has also completed multiple spacewalks and commanded the International Space Station.
Swanson can also add “social media pioneer” to that list. He made the very first Instagram post from space, a distinction he was proud to share with the audience at the First Friday Astronomy event.
Swanson’s lecture explored life aboard the International Space Station, touching on everything from groundbreaking scientific research to the everyday troubles of life in space, such as trying to eat in zero gravity.
He also shared some of the more serene moments of life in space, such as the feeling of watching Earth from above.
“We don’t see countries or borders,” Swanson said. “We see ecosystems. We see thunderstorms. Sunrises happen very quickly, but we get 16 of those every day.”
“It’s fantastic to see [Earth] on a daily basis, and to see it change over the seasons,” Swanson continued. “I wish more people could have that viewpoint of it. They might have a different perspective on our planet and how fragile it really is.”
Swanson shared with The Arbiter his experiences as an astronaut reaffirmed his belief that everyone should see the planet for what it is — the only home we have.
“Everybody worries about their own little city, state, or country,” Swanson said. “It’s not really that way, because from my view from outer space, I see it all together as one ecosystem that blends together. It’s not these divided areas — it’s just one planet.”
First Friday Astronomy events will continue throughout the year, with various guest speakers visiting campus to deliver lectures free to the public. When the weather is clear, the Physics department offers attendees an opportunity for stargazing on the quad.
October’s installment of the series will feature Drs. Ariel Graykowski, Rachel Huchmala and Patrick Treuthardt as part of the Stellar Collective, a conference designed to invite the public to explore the future of astronomy.
Braydon Dietrich, a Physics major with an emphasis in Astrophysics, attended Swanson’s lecture and said he appreciated the opportunity to learn from the experts who speak at the First Friday Astronomy events.
“It’s a very humbling thing to hear from these people and realize that they’re just people,” Dietrich said. “They’re very smart, but they’re very personal, too. [Swanson] has a lot of experience, and now he’s teaching that to everyone here. It’s a very unique experience having somebody like that out here.”
Before unveiling the moon tree, Jackson explained the program to the audience of over 100 people. He said while the main goal of the moon tree program is to study the effects of space on tree growth, there is another reason, and it all has to do with NASA’s mission to “inspire and excite the public, educate and engage.”
“The moon seems kind of far away,” Jackson said. “These moon trees are a little piece of space brought back to Earth. The program is NASA’s way of bringing that little piece of space back home, and wrapping a little wreath around the fathomless cosmos that hangs above us.”
