# Returning back from the Moon: Quarantine **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 25, 2012, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/returning-back-from-the-moon-quarantine/632656 "2012-08-25T23:16:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/returning-back-from-the-moon-quarantine/632656/1 "2012-08-25T23:16:49Z")
Would we bother quarantining the astronauts as we did on the Apollo missions, knowing what we now know about the conditions on the moon, if we were to stage such missions today? I realize ‘better safe than sorry,’ but the idea of “moon germs” seems absurd at this point. Might we still follow this protocol upon missions to Mars, even? ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/returning-back-from-the-moon-quarantine/632656/2 "2012-08-26T00:14:24Z")
According to [this](http://lsda.jsc.nasa.gov/books/apollo/s5ch2.htm) quarantine testing was stopped after Apollo 14. WAG based on that would be no testing on further moon missions but I would think Mars would be tested, firstly, because its a new environment and secondly, there is the possibility of some form of life being there. Even if its only very remote they would have to do some checking ---
**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 26, 2012, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/returning-back-from-the-moon-quarantine/632656/3 "2012-08-26T00:51:43Z")
The Apollo astronauts weren’t quarantined to protect us from Moon germs. They were quarantined to protect them from Earth germs. They’d just been through an incredibly stressful ordeal, being exposed to to zero and low gravity and relatively high radiation, while not being able to do any meaningful exercise, having spent days at a time crammed into a sardine can, and probably hadn’t had much or any sleep for a week to boot. In short, they were pretty severely weakened, and so would have been hit hard by colds and the like, and every man, woman, and child on the planet is going to want to shake their hand. ---
**Author:** ![JWT\_Kottekoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@JWT\_Kottekoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JWT_Kottekoe)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/returning-back-from-the-moon-quarantine/632656/4 "2012-08-26T01:10:33Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The Apollo astronauts weren’t quarantined to protect us from Moon germs. I suppose that could be true, but if so, that is not how it was explained at the time. It was clearly presented as a precaution against the spread of alien pathogens. Of course, most people thought the chances of that were vanishingly small, but NASA was being overly cautious. Here is how it is described on the Air and Space Museum web site: [http://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/ATTM/a11.jh.3.html](http://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/ATTM/a11.jh.3.html) > [@](#): > > The Biological Isolation Garment was designed to prevent the spread of any alien organisms the astronauts might have acquired during their journey or while on the Moon. The suits were donned after splashdown and worn until the astronauts arrived at the Mobile Quarantine Facility aboard the recovery aircraft carrier. With the astronauts isolated inside, the facility was flown to Ellington Air Force Base. The astronauts were required to stay inside the facility in medical isolation for 21 days. These extraordinary measures were a precaution against an uncertain threat of contagion. The Moon proved to be barren of life and this post-flight procedure was dropped after the Apollo 14 mission. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/returning-back-from-the-moon-quarantine/632656/5 "2012-08-26T04:02:32Z")
> [@JWT\_Kottekoe](#): > > I suppose that could be true, but if so, that is not how it was explained at the time. Plus, it doesn’t fit the pattern of how long the flights were. Apollo 11 was in flight in July 1969 for only 8 days, 3.3 hours. Apollo 9 (March 69) was up for over 10 days, and Apollo 7 for almost 11 days. If NASA had followed **Chronos** ’s logic, those flights would have had the quarantine too. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/returning-back-from-the-moon-quarantine/632656/6 "2012-08-26T05:27:28Z")
Interesting, **Battle Pope.** I didn’t realize NASA dropped the quarantine after Apollo 14. If ever there’s a manned mission to Mars, I’d imagine a shorter quarantine would be implemented, despite everything we’re learning about the environment now. It’s just such an amazingly remote possibility, I find it amusing to consider… that is unless we attempt landing on Europa – then all bets are off! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/returning-back-from-the-moon-quarantine/632656/7 "2012-08-26T06:48:15Z")
> [@JWT\_Kottekoe](#): > > Of course, most people thought the chances of that were vanishingly small, but NASA was being overly cautious. I was only seven years old, and even I was highly skeptical. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/returning-back-from-the-moon-quarantine/632656/8 "2012-08-26T08:32:29Z")
I would imagine the return trip from Mars would be sufficient quarantine. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2012, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/returning-back-from-the-moon-quarantine/632656/9 "2012-08-26T13:08:31Z")
I remember seeing the quarantine units, and I’m pretty sure they were Airstream trailers or at least looked like them. I always thought that was cool! ---
**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 27, 2012, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/returning-back-from-the-moon-quarantine/632656/10 "2012-08-27T02:59:49Z")
I’ve read accounts that the Apollo astronauts \*hated \*the whole germ quarantine thing. It was a pain-in-the-ass for them as astronauts, and almost universally discounted as being totally unnecessary by scientists. They saw it as little more than a particularly annoying and intrusive (for them) NASA PR stunt. By the way, it wasn’t exactly 100% secure either. They didn’t have those green hazmat isolation suits with them in the Command Module. Once they splashed down a Navy Seal frogmen (after looking thru the hatch window and assuring everyone was ok inside) would tap on the hatch, the astronauts would open it briefly and one of the Seals would quickly toss a pack containing the hazmat suits inside, then they’d close & seal it again, change into them, and then emerge out onto the raft, get sprayed with disinfectant by one of the Seals, take a helo ride to the carrier, and walk into isolation. The isolation ‘unit’ was indeed a [(modified) Airstream trailer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_Quarantine_Facility). I believe a physician entered in with the three astronauts and stayed with them during the quarantine. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/returning-back-from-the-moon-quarantine/632656/11 "2012-08-27T13:44:46Z")
> [@outlierrn](#): > > I would imagine the return trip from Mars would be sufficient quarantine. How long would the trip back be? Months? Years? I imagine we’d have ample warning. A better question for speculation might be, what if they _did_ catch something that seemed to be a Martian virus? And what if it was something rather nasty, that could make for a plague back on Earth? Would NASA try to quarantine the astronauts for study, or would it be a better idea to “accidentally” send the spacecraft off-course, so it never makes it back to Earth? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/returning-back-from-the-moon-quarantine/632656/12 "2012-08-27T13:54:40Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > How long would the trip back be? Months? Years? I imagine we’d have ample warning. A better question for speculation might be, what if they _did_ catch something that seemed to be a Martian virus? And what if it was something rather nasty, that could make for a plague back on Earth? Would NASA try to quarantine the astronauts for study, or would it be a better idea to “accidentally” send the spacecraft off-course, so it never makes it back to Earth? A good reason to keep a space station operational. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/returning-back-from-the-moon-quarantine/632656/13 "2012-08-27T21:10:45Z")
Dave Scott, commander of Apollo 15, wrote in his book that the most grueling part of the program was the weeks immediately after their mission splashed down due to endless rounds of gladhanding, debriefing, and so forth, while he and his crew (esp. LMP Jim Irwin, who had a cardiac event on the moon) were still dehydrated and exhausted. I always wondered, as much as the earlier astros had complained, if the quarantine period didn’t give them an opportunity to rest up from a rather momentous couple of weeks before their publicity tour. Anyway, you can see the quarantine unit on display at the Udvar-Hazy Annex to the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in Reston, Va. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/returning-back-from-the-moon-quarantine/632656/14 "2012-08-27T21:15:21Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > How long would the trip back {from Mars} be? Months? Years? IIRC, the current specs for the manned missions to Mars which are under consideration are at about one year of travel each way. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2012, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/returning-back-from-the-moon-quarantine/632656/15 "2012-08-27T21:25:37Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > IIRC, the current specs for the manned missions to Mars which are under consideration are at about one year of travel each way. And the only two possible mission profiles are for either a) a stay of about six weeks, or b) a stay of abou 1½ years. Don’t hold your breath on this. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/returning-back-from-the-moon-quarantine/632656/16 "2012-09-09T14:34:10Z")
Sorry for the bump. It’s a long time to be away from home. but there are military deployments that last longer. I don’t think the time commitment would scare off too many astros. There are a lot of safety and technical challenges we don’t have good answers for, as well as the question of whether men can do enough more than robots can such that it’s worth the risk, cost (man-rating is really expensive), and time. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/returning-back-from-the-moon-quarantine/632656/17 "2012-09-09T14:48:46Z")
> [@Cliffy](#): > > Sorry for the bump. > > It’s a long time to be away from home. but there are military deployments that last longer. I don’t think the time commitment would scare off too many astros. There are a lot of safety and technical challenges we don’t have good answers for, as well as the question of whether men can do enough more than robots can such that it’s worth the risk, cost (man-rating is really expensive), and time. > > –Cliffy Nasa is still very much in the manned exploration frontier, so I think we’ll eventually see astronauts on Mars, whether robots improve or not. Better robots will make the whole trip smoother & safer, I’d assume. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/returning-back-from-the-moon-quarantine/632656/18 "2012-09-09T15:01:56Z")
I have never been quarantined after returning from the Moon. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/returning-back-from-the-moon-quarantine/632656/19 "2012-09-09T15:07:18Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I have never been quarantined after returning from the Moon. I’m quarantined every time I come back from L.A. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2012, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/returning-back-from-the-moon-quarantine/632656/20 "2012-09-09T19:00:07Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > Would NASA try to quarantine the astronauts for study, or would it be a better idea to “accidentally” send the spacecraft off-course, so it never makes it back to Earth? How easy would it be to send them off course? I just watched **Apollo 13** and\*\* In the Shadow of the Moon\*\* and was struck by how antiquated their gear seems to me now. I know they were highly dependent on data from the surface then, but how independent could we build the guidance and nav into a modern vessel? I imagine there’d be lots of redundancy, but could they fly home from the moon or Mars without help from Earth? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/returning-back-from-the-moon-quarantine/632656.md?page=2)