TRANSCRIPT
"I think it will be really nice to take my grandkids and say, this is how big this tree is going to get and this is how big it was when I planted it."
That's Emily Aguesse.
She's a sixth grade student at STEAM Magnet Elementary School in Lake Forest, California in the United States talking about a giant sequoia [[seh-KOY-ah]] tree seedling planted at the school.
The National Park Service of California describes the tree as a feast for the senses.
With its distinctive red-brown bark - it's one of the largest trees in the world and some are more than 3,000 years old.
But this seedling is unique - its origins, out of a science fiction movie.
In the era of space travel the giant sequoia seedling has been grown with seeds flown around the moon on NASA’s Artemis I Mission in 2022.
Liz Gibson is the Moon Tree ceremony organiser at the school.
"A Moon Tree is a tree that flew on a moon and went into space and went around the moon. So our particular Moon Tree went on the Artemis One mission. It was the first and only space traveller on Artemis One, and it went 1.4 million miles in space."
The school was among those selected to receive the so-called Moon Tree under a program with NASA aimed at encouraging science and conservation education.
It’s the second time that NASA has flown seeds into space following the Apollo 14 mission in 1971.
In a school's shaded garden to cheers and applause from kids wearing spacesuits and star-studded T-shirts the tree was planted.
"You are at Santiago Steam Magnet Elementary school, and we are the proud recipients of a massive Moon Tree. Today we are celebrating that our community is becoming NASA Moon Tree stewards."
Paul Propster is from the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
He hopes the ceremony will inspire a new generation about the possibilities of life on earth and beyond.
"You know, with NASA and JPL, we love to come out and plant seeds with the young minds here as to what they can be able to do with their lives. Right. Maybe they'll grow in a different direction. Right. Based on what they hear and experience today."
The school's parent and teacher association will have community volunteers care for the Moon Tree, which is expected to grow for decades amid a grove of eucalyptus that shades the campus in Southern California.
Emily says the seedling makes a trip to space even more appealing.
"I've always wanted to go to space but this motivates it even more.”
Giant sequoia trees can grow up to 90 metres high - and are native to California but have been introduced and grown in other parts of the world.
California's National Park Service says extensive wildfires have resulted in the deaths of many mature giant sequoias in recent years.
