In 1971, Apollo 14 carried roughly 500 tree seeds around the Moon. 55 years later, a NASA scientist has tracked down dozens of the surviving “Moon trees” still growing across America

In 1971, Apollo 14 carried roughly 500 tree seeds around the Moon as part of a side project connected to astronaut Stuart Roosa and the US Forest Service. The seeds travelled with Roosa while astronauts Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell explored the lunar surface. After the mission, the seeds were planted across the United States. They grew in schoolyards, parks, state capitol grounds and other locations. However, NASA did not maintain a complete list of where the trees were planted. Decades later, NASA scientist Dave Williams began searching for them after receiving a question from an Indiana teacher.

A question from an Indiana classroom began the search