Brookside Elementary School is home to a "Moon Tree," making it the first school in Massachusetts to get such a tree in nearly 50 years.
"Moon Trees" grow from seeds that were carried to the moon and back, according to a press release from the Dracut Public Schools. There are seven different tree species of Moon Trees.
The tradition started in 1971 when Stuart Roosa, an astronaut, took seeds on the Apollo 14 mission, Dracut Public Schools Superintendent Steven Stone said. The seeds orbited the moon during the eight-day flight and were planted across the globe once the Apollo returned to Earth.
The seeds are a symbol of human exploration and scientific achievement, Stone said.
The tree planted at Brookside is from an Artemis I Sweetgum seed that flew on Artemis I in 2022.
"The seed traveled further than any spacecraft made for humans, totaling a 25-and-a-half day journey beyond the Moon and back," Stone said.
This is the first Moon Tree to be planted in Massachusetts since 1976 when a tree was planted in Holliston, Stone said. The tree was given to Brookside Elementary School by the U.S. Forest Service and NASA.
The school applied for the Moon Tree after a third-grade teacher told Brookside Elementary School Principal Monica Poitras about it, Stone said. Students at the school welcome the tree on Nov. 1.
Jason Lampron of Mill City Iron Fabricators donated fencing materials to surround the tree, Stone said. And Lowe's Home Improvement in Salem, New Hampshire donated interior wire fencing and mulch.