The crew of the Artemis II mission, a crewed lunar flyby, participated on June 25, 2026, in the dedication of a second-generation "Moon tree" at the Lunar Receiving Park at NASA's Johnson Space Center. This tree, a loblolly pine, is a descendant of the original Moon trees, whose seeds traveled aboard the Apollo 14 mission in 1971.

The original "Moon trees" were seeds carried by astronaut Stuart Roosa on the Apollo 14 mission. Roosa, who served as the command module pilot, kept the seeds in his personal kit during the journey to the Moon. After their return to Earth, the seeds were germinated, and the resulting seedlings were planted in various locations across the United States and worldwide, as a symbol of space exploration and international cooperation.

The dedication of this second-generation tree by the Artemis II crew symbolizes the continuity of NASA's lunar exploration program. Artemis II, expected to be the first crewed mission to orbit the Moon since the Apollo program, will lay the groundwork for future Artemis missions that aim to establish a sustainable human presence on the lunar surface and in orbit, including the eventual sending of the first woman and first person of color to the Moon.