From January 31 until February 9, 1971, Americans — and the world — watched with great interest, as the eighth crewed mission of NASA’s Apollo program worked tirelessly to land on the Moon for a third time.
Following in the footsteps of the country’s greatest failure, Apollo 13, Commander Alan Shepard, Command Module Pilot Stuart Roosa and Lunar Module Pilot Edgar Mitchell embarked on a nine-day sojourn, overcoming their own obstacles while touting hundreds of seeds that, upon return, were germinated and widely-spread among plant enthusiasts.
More than 50 years later, in memory of that mission, NASA officials have seen to it that seeds still ride shotgun into space.
And on Wednesday morning at Christian County Middle School, a group of seventh grade students planted “Artie” — a seedling sweetgum tree whose humble beginnings stem from Artemis I.
An uncrewed, integrated launch analyzing deep space exploration through the Orion program, it took off November 16, 2002, from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, traveled more than 268,000 miles from Earth, and made its return splash less than a month later in early December 2022. On board: more than 1,000 seeds of five different plants.
CCMS Science Teacher Amanda Huff, a self-proclaimed “space nerd,” wanted to find some way to bring space down to Earth for her students.
This was it.
Through this same grant process, made known by the National Association of Science Teachers, Huff also procured part of a heat shield from a space shuttle — in order to help demonstrate the perils of re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere at high speeds.
As for the seedling, Huff said she and her boyfriend watered it over the spring and early summer, and it was Christian County UK Extension Office Horticulture Agent Dr. Kelly Jackson who advised it be planted in mid-October.
While students shoveled fresh soil around the seedling, Jackson peeled back Bermuda grass and surrounded “Artie” with mulch and more potting soil — before giving it a good water. If all goes as planned, Jackson added that the tree should be 10-to-12 feet tall in less than three years, but its full size of 50 feet, or more, will be 20 years.
Asked about the kind of legacy this measure provides, Huff offered a two-part answer — noting she just wanted to give back to students in a meaningful way.
Also made possible through Superlawn & Garden, CCMS and Owens Construction, the tree is located in the right-front lawn of the CCMS campus.
