Spacefaring tree takes root at Pittsburgh's Riverview Park

A tree grown from a seed that orbited the moon is taking root in Pittsburgh.

Allegheny Observatory and Riverview Park were chosen to be the caretakers of a Moon Tree, according to Kerry Handron, special events and outreach coordinator at the observatory.

The small sweetgum tree was delivered this summer and planted Oct. 3 at the park’s Observatory Hill.

I’m here at the newly planted MoonTree in front of the Allegheny Observatory.

As you can see on the sign, it grew from a seed that orbited the moon in @NASA’s Orion spacecraft in 2022.

Now, it has a home in Pittsburgh @TribLIVE ???????? pic.twitter.com/q3tCjQIKOx

— Megan Swift (@mgswift7) October 7, 2024

“We wrote an application saying how we were going to care for the tree and how we were going to celebrate the tree,” Handron said of the competitive bid process. “NASA has only chosen a few so far, around 50 went out in the first round including Allegheny County. More will be going out next year.”

The seeds were taken to space as part of a mission striving to return people to the moom.

Decades ago, the Apollo program took people to the moon. One of the astronauts, Stuart Roosa, loved trees so he took a pocketful of them in 1971 as he orbited the moon.

“When he brought the seeds back, forestry service sprouted them, and NASA gave them to some parks,” Handron said. “That was the first generation of Moon Trees.”

The seeds orbited the moon in NASA’s Orion spacecraft in 2022, without people, to create a new generation of Moon Trees.

“NASA sent it to us really at the very end of the planting season in the spring, and the forestry people thought it would be better to wait until the fall planting season,” Handron said.

The City of Pittsburgh Forestry Division took care of the 2-year-old Moon Tree, all summer, until it was planted in front of the Allegheny Observatory, she said.

“It’s a lot about connectedness. The observatory is a building on the hill, and it’s locked part of the time, but we want to connect with the community regionally here,” Handron said. “We want to connect with the community of people who are interested in space — and this is a nice touchpoint.”

She said she made sure the tree was planted in a spot that wouldn’t impact the horizon view from the telescope housed in the observatory. It also has fencing around it to make sure deer and other rodents don’t eat it.

“NASA wants to make sure that people know about the tree, that it is used to inspire education and (look) toward going into space,” she said. “Pittsburgh is special to get our Moon Tree.”

Erica Heide, senior park ranger for the City of Pittsburgh, said the Moon Tree is around 3-4 feet tall right now, but at maturity sweetgum trees can reach between 60-75 feet tall and 40-75 feet wide.

The MoonTree in front of the Allegheny Observatory will eventually grow to be as tall and wide as this tree across the grass @TribLIVE pic.twitter.com/2xsJweOZLB

— Megan Swift (@mgswift7) October 7, 2024

“It’s an awesome way to bridge the astronomy world and the parks worlds together, so it’s a really great honor to be able to have this tree a part of our city parks in Pittsburgh,” she said.

Heide said it’s a deciduous tree, and it’s a native tree to the area, producing star-like leaves that could be mistaken for maple trees. Sweetgum trees also produce the small spiked balls that collect on the ground, which are seeds, she said.

“We expect it to thrive,” she said.

Handron said the sweetgum tree is a little bit “out of its range,” so it will be given extra water in the first few years it stands in front of the observatory.

The city’s forestry employees took care of the Moon Tree by potting it in high quality soil and making sure it got enough sun, according to Heide.

“We’re very thankful to be able to receive it — watch it grow up,” she said.

Handron said the Moon Tree adds to Pittsburgh’s space-oriented work being done at the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University, as well as Astrobotic.

“I hope going forward that the tree becomes part of the identity of Riverview Park, of Observatory Hill and of the space community here in Pittsburgh.”