Le Voyage dans la Lune/A Trip to the Moon

October 22, 2002 11:51 AM

Le Voyage dans la Lune/A Trip to the Moon A tree grows in Houston. Apparently a cache of tree seeds were carried into space by an American astronaut in the early 1970s. They were carried home, planted, grown into seedlings, and distributed around the country, mostly in honor of the 1976 bicentennial. Anyway, no one took note of where the moon trees went. A curious NASA scientist is on the hunt for the locations of the moon trees. Do you have a moon tree in your town? Do you have a documented historic tree in your area? Are your local trees protected? Does this make local residents irate?
posted by jengod (13 comments total)

Moon Tree - august 16th 2002 - http://www.metafilter.com/comments.mefi/19225
posted by devbrain at 11:53 AM on October 22, 2002

That's a very pleasant and matter-of-fact way to point out a double-post. Kudos.
posted by Samsonov14 at 12:01 PM on October 22, 2002

I don't know about moon trees, but here at MIT most of the trees are barcoded, including "a direct descendant of the tree under which Isaac Newton is said to have conceived the theory of gravity [as a] gift of the National Bureau of Standars to Edward O. Vetter '42." (online source). I have no idea who the guy in the photo is.
posted by whatzit at 12:04 PM on October 22, 2002

Why do they have barcodeds on the trees?
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood at 12:10 PM on October 22, 2002

Why do they have barcodes on the trees?
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood at 12:10 PM on October 22, 2002

err...
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood at 12:13 PM on October 22, 2002

But do they have pancakes on the trees?
posted by languagehat at 12:25 PM on October 22, 2002

What's this about moon pancakes?
posted by Robot Johnny at 12:31 PM on October 22, 2002

Steve: I haven't really figured that out. It's one of those mysteries of the way the school works. Most likely, it's because all "valuable" property has a barcode/number tag. Not that anyone could walk away with some of the gigantic trees that have been tagged.
posted by whatzit at 12:48 PM on October 22, 2002

No, no, moon pies. Tree pancakes. (Maple, I hope?)
posted by me3dia at 12:50 PM on October 22, 2002

i only know of one trip to the moon, as a film major. what is this "tree" of which you guys speak?
posted by oog at 2:18 PM on October 22, 2002

"Moon pies - what a great time to be alive."
posted by thunder at 3:31 PM on October 22, 2002

i for one welcome our new moon tree overlords.
posted by sgt.serenity at 4:55 PM on October 22, 2002