Apollo 14 Crew: Stuart Roosa
While Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell were landing on and then exploring the Moon, another astronaut, Stuart Roosa, was watching, waiting, and conducting experiments aboard the command module in orbit around the Moon.
As part of our celebration of Apollo 14’s 50th Anniversary, we’re posting information on Alan Shepard, the Apollo Program, and NASA.
Apollo 14 crew- Stuart Roosa is on the left. Image courtesy of NASA
Stuart Roosa began his adventurous career as a smokejumper with the US Forest Service, participating in at least 4 jumps in Oregon and California in 1953 before entering the US Air Force. He was a pilot, experimental test pilot, and also served as Chief of Service Engineering while in the Air Force. He was selected as one of 19 men in 1966’s astronaut class.
As an astronaut, Roosa served as support crew for Apollo 9, piloted the command module for Apollo 14, and was back up command module pilot for Apollo 16 and Apollo 17. During Apollo 14, he spent 36 hours orbiting the Moon alone and conducting a number of experiments. As one of those experiments, he carried more than 400 seeds from sycamore, loblolly pine, sweetgum, redwood, and douglas fir trees which were later germinated upon his return to see if exposure to space changed germination and growth rates. These ‘Moon trees’ have been planted across the country and internationally as well; one of the sycamore trees is even close by after being planted in Holliston, MA as part of 1976’s Bicentennial activities! More information about the ‘Moon trees’ can be found here.
