When NASA’s Apollo 11 crew returned to Earth from the Moon 50 years ago, a quarantine effort was set into motion. Today, we know the Moon is a desolate and barren satellite devoid of life. But in July 1969 there was some concern exposure to the Moon’s unexplored surface could be dangerous. To mitigate this possibility, astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin and Michael Collins had to go through a rigorous safety checklist.
However, all of these efforts to safeguard the astronauts and Earth could have all come undone when the Apollo 11 crew returned to Earth.
The shocking revelation was revealed today by Space.com in astronaut interviews for a new PBS documentary series called Chasing the Moon.
NASA’s Apollo 11 astronauts all had to wear special protective garments, were thoroughly cleaned upon return and later spent 21 days in quarantine.
The US space agency said: “To safeguard against the remote possibility that astronauts returning from the Moon might harbour potentially harmful microorganisms, NASA put in a place a stringent post-flight quarantine program for the crew-members, their spacecraft, and the lunar samples they brought back.”
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NASA Moon landing: Apollo 11 astronauts were placed into quarantine after return to Earth (Image: NASA)
NASA Moon landing: Apollo 11 astronauts had to wear quarantine suits after landing (Image: NASA)
There was, however, a fatal flaw in NASA’s designs, which could have potentially exposed the planet to any lethal bug thriving on the Moon.
On July 20, when Commander Armstrong and co-pilot Aldrin landed on the Moon, Command Module Pilot Collins stay in orbit over the Earth.
When the two astronauts returned to the Command Module almost 24 hours later, they would have exposed Collins to whatever bug they picked up on the Moon.
Then, on the three-day journey back to Earth, the three astronauts would have enough time to further share and spread any lunar-based disease between them.
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The bug could have then been released into the Earth’s atmosphere when the hatch to Apollo 11’s Columbia Command Module was opened in the Pacific Ocean.
There are germs on the Moon, we come back, the command module is full of lunar germs
Astronaut Collins said: “Look at it this way, suppose there were germs on the Moon.
“There are germs on the Moon, we come back, the command module is full of lunar germs.
“The command module lands in the Pacific Ocean, and what do they do?
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“Open the hatch. You got to open the hatch! All the damn germs come out.”
Lunar Module Pilot Aldrin mirrored the sentiment in the PBS series but joked whatever lunar bug may have been inside the Columbia spacecraft, has long sunk to the bottom of the ocean.
He said: “It takes all those germs to the bottom of the ocean. I wonder if they’d survive down there?”
After the three men splashed down in the Pacific on July 24, 1969, they were transferred to the state-of-the-art Mobile Quarantine Facility (MQF).
The MQF housed the Apollo 11 crew for 21 days, during which doctors made sure the men were healthy.
NASA Moon landing: The astronauts spent 21 days in mobile quarantine unit (Image: NASA)
Apollo 11 crew: Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin (Image: NASA)
The quarantine effort was discontinued after the Apollo 14 lunar landing.
NASA said: “The lunar quarantine program was designed to ensure that return of lunar material represented no threat to the public health, to agriculture, or to other living resources.
“It established definitely that no life exists on the moon.
“The crews of the three lunar quarantine missions, Apollo 11, 12, and 14, experienced no health problems as a result of their exposure to lunar samples.
“Plants and animals also showed no adverse effects.”
PBS’ Chasing the Moon premieres in the US between July 8 and July 10 at 2am BST (9pm EDT).