The origin of one young tree growing at the San Antonio College campus is rooted in outer space.
A loblolly pine germinated from one of 2,000 seeds ferried aboard NASA’s Artemis 1 uncrewed mission that orbited the moon in late 2022 was planted on the college campus during a dedication ceremony held by the Scobee Education Center and the William R. Sinkin Eco Centro last month.
Rick Varner, Scobee Center director, and Eco Centro director Rose Flores oversaw the planting of the tree, which is named Artie after Artemis 1.
Varner led the community college’s efforts to receive a space-germinated tree seed, which he and Flores said represents the promotion of environmental sustainability and of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
The young tree now resides near the Scobee Center in the Challenger Holt Memorial Garden, which honors the seven astronauts who died in the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster and the late Bob Kelley, an astronomer who oversaw the SAC planetarium for nearly 40 years.
Varner said the planting of this unique tree is a reminder of humans’ curiosity about space and space travel.
“The tree with the Challenger garden is a living memorial to the persistence of people who work in the space community,” Varner said.
NASA first sent tree seeds into space in the 1970s as part of an experiment to research how weightlessness affects seed germination and growth. Back then, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s forest services grew seeds that flew as part of the Apollo 14 lunar mission into seedlings for planting at sites worldwide.
Varner recalled working at the Maryland-based NASA Goddard Space Flight Center years ago when he encountered a tree that sprouted from one of the Apollo 14 mission seeds.
In the more recent moon tree seed initiative, NASA partnered with the Department of Agriculture to place aboard the Orion spacecraft seeds of five different tree species representing various climates across the lower 48 United States: loblolly pine, American sycamore, sweet gum, coast redwood and Douglas fir.
This time around, the tree seeds spent four weeks in space during a 270,000-mile journey. More than 230 sites have so far received a sapling from the Artemis 1 mission.
NASA solicited educational institutions, community organizations, museums, science centers and government agencies for “moon tree custodianship” proposals, an opportunity for which Varner applied on SAC’s behalf in 2023.
“I was confident of our chances because of where our memorial garden site is located on campus,” Varner said.
After SAC was chosen, the college received its loblolly pine sapling in May 2024. Varner and colleagues agreed to wait until a proper time to plant the sapling outdoors.
Staff from Eco Centro, a community and environmental sustainability center, agreed to care for the young tree until it was big enough to plant near the planetarium.
Eco Centro staffers put the sapling into a pot with rollers for easy transportation. The tree has grown two feet since its arrival on campus.
Flores said loblolly trees grow in San Antonio, but the species is native to East Texas, where it does well in the locally acidic soil.
“People would come into our building, take Artie out for a little walk, even take pictures with him,” Flores said. “Artie was popular when he was with us.”
Flores said while the moon tree symbolizes humans’ scientific pursuits, it also reflects the support that organizations such as Eco Centro have for regenerative and urban agriculture.
“Planting Artie has given us the opportunity to talk more about the importance of trees in an urban environment,” Flores said. “We’ve been experiencing hotter summers in San Antonio lately. There’s a need to increase our local tree canopy, especially in downtown.”
The March dedication ceremony was attended by young families joining a campus-organized Head Start Family Day event.
Varner and Flores said they were delighted by how excited the younger attendees were about Artie.
Varner said some parents snapping photos of their children next to the young tree pledged to bring the children back to the site in a couple of decades so they can produce “before and after” photos contrasting a young and mature tree.
“Anything we can do that’s positive in the community, not just for people interested in STEM, is great,” he added.
Flores echoed Varner’s sentiments: “This is why we plant trees — for people to enjoy and to learn from them.”
