# Is there astronaut poop on the moon? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 27, 2011, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-astronaut-poop-on-the-moon/590504 "2011-07-27T16:52:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-astronaut-poop-on-the-moon/590504/21 "2011-07-29T15:04:42Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Personally I think that was kind of stupid. The Moon was a wasteland. A rock. You couldn’t contaminate it if you tried. The astronauts probably thought so too. They hated the whole ‘Lunar Receiving Lab’ isolation trailer they had to stay in for two weeks after they got back. So much so that NASA eventually stopped using it. Not a lot of ‘Moon germs’ to worry about… 😃 The isolation following Apollo missions was to keep Earth from being infected by anything from the moon, and to prevent contamination of the rock samples they brought back. Didn’t have much to do with contaminating the moon; procedures for that were taken prior to the launches. According to Chaikin, they stopped isolating the astronauts after three missions because they were pretty well convinced there was nothing coming back from the moon to cause us problems. The astronauts didn’t like it for sure, but I don’t know how much of a factor that was in the decision. Also in Chaikin’s book, he relates the opinion of scientists who made the same point you did about lunar contamination being very unlikely. One pointed out that if he wanted to build a giant sterilization machine, it would look remarkably like the surface of the moon. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2011, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-astronaut-poop-on-the-moon/590504/22 "2011-07-29T16:41:17Z")
> [@Lust4Life](#): > > So if faeces was left on the moon; … I do _not_ want to see the captain’s log. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2011, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-astronaut-poop-on-the-moon/590504/23 "2011-07-30T00:16:38Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > Where they that concerned about it back then? So how come they call it taking a dump, instead of leaving a dump? After all, you’re not really taking it anywhere. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2011, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-astronaut-poop-on-the-moon/590504/24 "2011-07-31T19:53:51Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > You’re worrying too much. > > Obviously, they’d only turn our _women_ into sexual playthings. SHIT ! Looks like I’m going to be a virgin forever. Bastards ! ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-astronaut-poop-on-the-moon/590504/25 "2011-08-04T04:36:44Z")
> [@Mach Tuck](#): > > Also in Chaikin’s book, he relates the opinion of scientists who made the same point you did about lunar contamination being very unlikely. One pointed out that if he wanted to build a giant sterilization machine, it would look remarkably like the surface of the moon. To be fair though, when Apollo 12 brought back the camera from the previously soft-landed Ranger probe, scientists were amazed to discover that bacteria that it had accidentally been contaminated with before leaving Earth had actually survived for several years on the Moon’s inhospitable surface! Still, I think the main concern wasn’t ‘contaminating’ the Moon so much as ruining any biological experiments those and future missions carried out. This is certainly true for unmanned probes. The number one experiment they all do is look for signs of life, even the existence of the most basic organic materials. Hard to do this if some engineer blows snot all over it before it leaves Earth! Eew… ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-astronaut-poop-on-the-moon/590504/26 "2011-08-04T05:01:31Z")
I’ve heard that the post-mission quarantine wasn’t to protect against hypothetical moon germs, but to protect the astronauts against Earth germs, in case their immune systems had been weakened by the stresses of space (zero or low gravity, increased radiation, lack of exercise, probably shortness of sleep, etc.). ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-astronaut-poop-on-the-moon/590504/27 "2011-08-04T05:45:56Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I’ve heard that the post-mission quarantine wasn’t to protect against hypothetical moon germs, but to protect the astronauts against Earth germs, in case their immune systems had been weakened by the stresses of space (zero or low gravity, increased radiation, lack of exercise, probably shortness of sleep, etc.). Never heard that one. I suppose it’s possible, but one of the main objectives of the Gemini program was to see what happened to the astronauts during flights that went as long as a lunar mission. Jim Lovell and Frank Borman stayed up for nearly 14 days during [Gemini 7](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemini_7) for exactly this purpose. But one factor they couldn’t control for was radiation, since a lunar mission would be subjected to different amounts than in Earth orbit. During Apollo training the crews even spent a night in the Lunar Module simulator to train for sleeping on the moon, and they planned schedules carefully for rest. Not sure if they were worried too much about lack of exercise during a two week flight, but they were thorough enough that I bet they considered it. An interesting read on NASA’s better efforts for studying long term space flight on human physiology is [Homesteading Space - The Skylab Story](http://www.amazon.com/Homesteading-Space-Outward-Odyssey-Peoples/dp/0803224346). Along with a lot of solar astronomy, the astronauts themselves were the main scientific subjects on Skylab. They were on carefully controlled diets before, during and after the flights. Didn’t sound pleasant, but perhaps worth it given the great view. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-astronaut-poop-on-the-moon/590504/28 "2011-08-04T13:35:49Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > So how come they call it taking a dump, instead of leaving a dump? After all, you’re not really taking it anywhere. > > 😃 Yeah, funk dat! ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2011, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-astronaut-poop-on-the-moon/590504/29 "2011-08-04T23:09:56Z")
Don’t worry, it will all eventually scat. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-astronaut-poop-on-the-moon/590504/30 "2011-08-05T18:45:02Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Yeah, funk dat! I wonder if anyone else will get that? Teehee! ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-astronaut-poop-on-the-moon/590504/31 "2011-08-05T18:50:07Z")
Well, how else would the U.S. go about marking its territory…? ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-astronaut-poop-on-the-moon/590504/32 "2011-08-05T18:55:44Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > Well, how else would the U.S. go about marking its territory…? I came, I saw, I crapped all over it? ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-astronaut-poop-on-the-moon/590504/33 "2011-08-05T19:06:00Z")
veni vidi shiti ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2011, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-astronaut-poop-on-the-moon/590504/34 "2011-08-05T19:30:28Z")
> [@Folly](#): > > veni vidi shiti It always sounds so much better in Latin. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-astronaut-poop-on-the-moon/590504.md?page=1)