We have some out of this world news to share! Our Magnolia Midlands GYSTC Regional Center, along with the Fulford Center at East Georgia State College, was one of the NASA selected organizations from across the country to receive a Moon Tree seedling that flew around the Moon on the agency’s Artemis I mission in 2022!

Over 50 years ago, this project first began with NASA astronaut Stuart Roosa from Apollo 14. Those first Moon Trees were distributed as part of our nation’s bicentennial event. These new Moon Trees were a nod Apollo 14, and to celebrate the future of space exploration. The new generation of Moon Trees, including the one in which Magnolia Midlands has proudly been presented with, was apart of NASA’s Artemis Program and the Moon Tree seeds traveled into lunar orbit aboard the Orion spacecraft. The seeds travelled thousands of miles beyond the Moon spending about 4 weeks in space before returning to Earth.

GYSTC is so excited to be apart of history and to share this news with you. Please enjoy some photos from the planting ceremony that was done on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. A full celebration will follow in August. For the full story on the Moon Trees and to access the Moon Tree Resources, click the link next to this story.