Why NASA quarantined the Apollo 11 astronauts
Рет қаралды 1,069,165
4 жыл бұрынOn July 21, 1969, the Apollo 11 quarantine began.
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In this episode of History Club, Vox's Phil Edwards and Coleman Lowndes chat with Amy Shira Teitel of The Vintage Space about the Apollo 11 quarantine.
Thanks Amy - check out her channel here:
/ @amyshirateitel
In History Club, Vox's Phil Edwards and Coleman Lowndes share their discoveries about history both weird and wonderful. Check out the full playlist here.
• History Club - Vox
It was an unusual process for an unprecedented task: keeping potential moon germs from entering the Earth’s atmosphere (and affecting its population).
To try to isolate the Apollo astronauts from the Earth, NASA went to extraordinary lengths. They clothed them in “Biological Isolation Garments,” transported them on a converted Airstream trailer, and then quarantined them for weeks in a Lunar Receiving Lab specially built to analyze moon samples and, of course, the men who went there.
The quarantine was a strange capstone to the journey to the moon - but also a necessary one that’s surprisingly resonant today.
Further reading
NASA has an excellent flight journal chronicling the quarantine.
history.nasa.gov/afj/lrl/apol...
The National Archives has a treasure trove of Apollo 11 footage. Searching it can be a bit clunky, but the results are astonishing and helped make this video. You can start a search for the Mobile Quarantine Facility (abbreviated as MQF) here.
catalog.archives.gov/search?q...
NASA also has multiple oral histories that relate to the quarantine. This one with John Hirasaki is a good starting point.
historycollection.jsc.nasa.go...
We were joined in this conversation by Amy Shira Teitel, whose KZfaq channel The Vintage Space chronicles a range of topics related to space and the middle of the 20th century.
/ @amyshirateitel
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@MrWide-ht9rp 4 жыл бұрын
Armstrong doing it before it was cool.
@siopao8137 4 жыл бұрын
He ahead of his time doe
@fishflake1209 4 жыл бұрын
Going to space? Quarantining? Playing the ukulele? All apply.
@razzwolf5907 4 жыл бұрын
you made my day
@tonycornwill9008 4 жыл бұрын
what lying?
@Vraptor1 4 жыл бұрын
tony cornwill Funny joke
@bootstrapfilm 4 жыл бұрын
Space doesn't seem like a bad place to be right now.
@CatholicWeeb 4 жыл бұрын
@@JK_JK_JK_JK Come On, It was a cool joke.
@BlueflagAlpha 4 жыл бұрын
Yes
@eyedelyn 4 жыл бұрын
yes it is.
@osamabinladen824 4 жыл бұрын
You will run out of food there. Trust me, I've been there.
@michaelzhang8488 4 жыл бұрын
doubtful
@SuperLukenzi 4 жыл бұрын
“This is how venom in spiderman got to eart *shows cartoon venom holding spiderman* .. so this is important stuff” hahah
@yengsabio5315 4 жыл бұрын
Watching & hearing that part, it sounded to me like it was stated like it is a fact.
@jacobanteau6020 4 жыл бұрын
I was just about to quote this in the comments but you beat me to it 😂
@luckysfilms 4 жыл бұрын
“Eart”
@wilsonyang4505 4 жыл бұрын
Battleworld yo
@victorpalermo7528 4 жыл бұрын
Wrong spelling
@bryanh2618 4 жыл бұрын
"Anticipating for the worst but hoping for the best" I think that's how we should prepare ourself in life
@Dr.BitchCraftt 4 жыл бұрын
I guess the Lunar Plague didn't turn them into... Lunatics...
@p_rry 4 жыл бұрын
ba dum tssss
@Lucy-dk5cz 4 жыл бұрын
Nice work Danny
@pavanatanaya 4 жыл бұрын
Well obviously you've never heard Pete Conrad speak
@thegreatafrican3367 4 жыл бұрын
You'll see yourself out
@gnochhuos645 4 жыл бұрын
Is that a 2hu reference?
@taufanadikurniawan7170 4 жыл бұрын
Remember the chest burst in the Alien, that's because they're not running quarantine protocol 🤔
@steveng6704 4 жыл бұрын
Yeah, but In Spaceballs, at least the Alien busted out in song and dance
@jacobhuff3748 4 жыл бұрын
What about Species 2?
@MosoKaiser 4 жыл бұрын
But they were trying, it's only that Ash, working for Weyland, wanted the organism onboard.
@uss_04 4 жыл бұрын
Imagine surviving the Moon Landing and instead of being relieved when getting home, being shoved into a Trailer that looks like an oversized Chipotle Burrito
@delasoul2875 4 жыл бұрын
Good thing they knew beforehand. Would be disappointing.
@ingenjelly5480 4 жыл бұрын
It's a hobby
@omarmsouri3735 4 жыл бұрын
Maaaaan, your profile picture brings back some good memories.
@handlemonium 4 жыл бұрын
At least they lived in an era when America worked towards doing things the right way.......... I can imagine Trump giving the executive order to parade them round the world as soon as they landed.
@tbhbananas9922 4 жыл бұрын
you had me at chipotle burrito
@EmazingGuitar 4 жыл бұрын
This topic would’ve still been overlooked if corona wasn’t going around
@neialisboafinch 4 жыл бұрын
it is covid-19
@ashtonsenko536 4 жыл бұрын
It’s cover-19 not corona, Corona is a type of beer
@samsunguser3148 4 жыл бұрын
not cover
@HS-hi6wc 4 жыл бұрын
I agree, this wouldn't get as much exposure before.
@shinichi6235 3 жыл бұрын
@@neialisboafinch u mean the useless common flu COVID is the new name to make it sound scary
@TnT_F0X 4 жыл бұрын
Spoiler Alert: The moon bug takes 50 years to effect Humans, Welcome to 2020
@starsailor751 4 жыл бұрын
Is there a life on moon?
@taz12391 4 жыл бұрын
*head explodes*
@ariana9941 4 жыл бұрын
@@starsailor751 is there life on mars?
@starsailor751 4 жыл бұрын
@@ariana9941 kinda they found water icy thing inside mars
@ariana9941 4 жыл бұрын
@@starsailor751 I was referencing a song
@MatthewHodges 4 жыл бұрын
Kid: *snorts line of powder Parent: What's that? Cocaine? Kid: It's moon dust
@Jaker788 4 жыл бұрын
And that is how the flood from Halo were born into the real world..
@n1ck1930 4 жыл бұрын
1203927 that’s called ketamine bro
@micealcurphey753 4 жыл бұрын
Moon dust is really damaging to the airwaves
@sdfkjgh 4 жыл бұрын
@@micealcurphey753: So, not at all like cocaine, then, right? /s
@ghostlygamer5549 4 жыл бұрын
sdfkjgh cocaine is damaging to the respiratory system
@schillischote 4 жыл бұрын
"that's how venom got to earth so this is important"... Wow xD
@TheArtofKAS 4 жыл бұрын
He's not wrong. 🤣
@lukeswan7776 4 жыл бұрын
Also the plot of Apollo 18
@salokin3087 4 жыл бұрын
I thought it was really neat in First Man that they show Armstrong seperated from his wife via the containment screen instead of the usual romantic hug and kiss
@Lucy-dk5cz 4 жыл бұрын
Salokin these were surely the best days of his life, no wife, best life
@Adrischa 4 жыл бұрын
@@Lucy-dk5cz why?
@DavidPoddany 4 жыл бұрын
First man was 👌
@granthoover9045 4 жыл бұрын
Padenoni I kind of hated it. I loved the cinematography and the tone. I love how serious it was and heady. But my god, not one person said “dad I’m so proud of you, you’re a hero”. He came back and walked into the separated room from his wife and she acted like he just killed a family of 4 drunk driving and was in jail. It’s the greatest thing humans have ever done and his kid is like “can I go play outside?”
@anteres2123 4 жыл бұрын
It’s weird for me to see how quarantine works in history and today, and how people used their free time back then and now. Edit:Forgot to put the “time”
@StikyIckie 4 жыл бұрын
"Free back?"
@miguellopes2452 4 жыл бұрын
@@StikyIckie free time probably
@StikyIckie 4 жыл бұрын
@@miguellopes2452 ah, thx. That makes sense
@anteres2123 4 жыл бұрын
It’s free time, forgot to put it.
@LzysGraphics 4 жыл бұрын
If this is cool to you and something you like learning, I'd recommend looking up how the Spanish Flu was slowed down through quarantining the sick and staying inside as much as possible. It's very similar to what we've done today done over 100 years ago
@braynzzthere7923 4 жыл бұрын
“This is the quarantine edition of history club” Nothing changed
@stryde_ 4 жыл бұрын
chunky sarvida he tried making a joke but it was awkward
@tkgsg 4 жыл бұрын
Video lab's been practicing quarantine before all of this. It's the only show that still feels the way it was.
@ethanpearson7060 4 жыл бұрын
They failed to mention that a NASA engineer was fired because he taped a sign on the MQF that said “don’t feed the animals”. 😂🤣😅
@snowleopard9463 3 жыл бұрын
Madlad
@tushargupta1764 3 жыл бұрын
Any links please? I googled it and no relevent article showed up. Is this a made up fact or is it real?
@ethanpearson7060 3 жыл бұрын
@@tushargupta1764 hey, it is real. You can’t post links in KZfaq comments but I will make a video on my channel with a picture of it!
@ethanpearson7060 3 жыл бұрын
@@tushargupta1764 done! Look at my latest video
@anmolgoyal4895 4 жыл бұрын
Never been so early ever, look what quarantine can do to you
@yitzhakmalul 4 жыл бұрын
Same.
@HS-rx9ho 4 жыл бұрын
Ikr
@funmaster3278 4 жыл бұрын
Not same
@kristinaryabinchak3472 4 жыл бұрын
Lol
@jack-o8781 4 жыл бұрын
LOL
@ryadav031 4 жыл бұрын
"Moon Dust" definately sounds like the street name of a drug!
@zivojinzuti 4 жыл бұрын
google moon rocks
@OkOk-fj5qb 4 жыл бұрын
Rakesh Yadav Gotta stop the Drug addicts or the moon will disappear by 2100
@ghostlygamer5549 4 жыл бұрын
I bet you call everything that has a cool name a drug “rakesh definitely sounds like the street name of a drug!”
@ryadav031 4 жыл бұрын
@@ghostlygamer5549 lol I wish I really did that.
@wizzotizzo 4 жыл бұрын
If you didn't know, The Elder Scrolls series had a mineral called Moonstone, and if it was refined it would turn into moon sugar, which was the main ingredient in a drug called Skooma.
@danewilliam2907 4 жыл бұрын
You'd really have to like the guys you went to the moon with; 9 days in space and another 21 in quarantine, all in very confined quarters
@26TptCoy 4 жыл бұрын
and the box on the ship.
@shockedcurve453 4 жыл бұрын
One of the important aspects NASA has to plan for regarding a Mars mission is how a crew would react psychologically to being confined in a 6-month trip in space
@magnetacyan5032 3 жыл бұрын
@@shockedcurve453 they bettermake a faster rocket lol
@safwanandonly 4 жыл бұрын
"You cannot be pregnant to work in there. Everything was super sterile" I laughed too hard at this!
@agrawalnaveen 4 жыл бұрын
Dear Vox, It is such a pleasure to watch your video production. Your editing, scripting and content are always of top notch quality. Thank you so much again for this.
@illuminatedtiger 4 жыл бұрын
What doesn't get mentioned a lot is that the suits they wore on the moon were powder magnets and they were completely caked in the stuff when they left. Even in the absence of viral or bacterial infections the medical observation still makes a lot of sense - they could get very sick if enough of it got lodged in the lungs.
@ashleygarcia6294 3 жыл бұрын
I really hope they continue this. It’s really interesting and it actually made do a more in depth research of the topics that were discussed so far.
@onair141 4 жыл бұрын
Imagine being a kid asking where your Dad is and you Mom points to the moon 🤯
@bareeraejaz1884 3 жыл бұрын
hahahahaha
@gravelsyrup 4 жыл бұрын
This was very interesting and learnt a lot of new things that I didn't know before. Thank you for producing such great content.
@amessiguess3773 4 жыл бұрын
I love these kinds of episodes! Don't ever stop doing these!
@edvfya9922 4 жыл бұрын
AWESOME video! This is so fascinating! More please!
@PrimMuso 4 жыл бұрын
4:27 I thought this man was shrek working for NASA
@crazyforcoffee5950 4 жыл бұрын
Prim Muso he has layers like onions don’t forget
@mandi.303 4 жыл бұрын
"This is how Venom and Spiderman got to earth; this is, uh, important stuff..." 🤣
@HarmenHoek 4 жыл бұрын
They had mice with them from the start of quarantine as the main test. If the would survive till the end of quarantine, it was safe for them to come out. Mike Collins explains it in detail in his biography 'Carrying the Fire'.
@matthewholzner9526 4 жыл бұрын
Amy's channel is outstanding! Thanks for having her on.
@janbonne 4 жыл бұрын
I'm still so impressed with your production quality
@user-xo5zh9xb5b 4 жыл бұрын
I saw where they were in quarantine when I visited the USS Hornet. Really cool.
@MrAngeu 4 жыл бұрын
cold fact that I will never needed in my life: They actually injected the grounded moon dust to a janpanese quail... For whatever reason... ++???++
@joeyknight8272 4 жыл бұрын
Link
@MrAngeu 4 жыл бұрын
@@joeyknight8272 dude watch the video.
@IsThisRain 4 жыл бұрын
It's not for no reason. They needed to know if any of the elements found on the moon surface can have adverse effects on living beings on Earth. NASA doesn't just jab rats with a syringe for no reason.
@MrAranton 4 жыл бұрын
Yeah. Why wouldn't they use good american quails for that purpose?
@eddy-currents 4 жыл бұрын
For SCIENCE
@mk_annan22 4 жыл бұрын
Two of my favourite subscribed KZfaq channels in one place talking about my favourite topic-- Space.
@JabbaWokkey88 4 жыл бұрын
Love the style of this video! Doesn't have the usual yt educational content vibe to it. Really cool topic too
@scaryman9000 4 жыл бұрын
i love Vox thanks for keeping me company and teaching me so much
@Bnio 4 жыл бұрын
Aww heck yeah! Nice to see Amy and Pete doing well.
@brandthemanlee 4 жыл бұрын
This is a question I WANTED answered but didn't ask for😵
@swimfeared 4 жыл бұрын
This seems like a good candidate for alternate history.
@Danflave 4 жыл бұрын
I was thinking the same thing - already brainstorming a story in which the Apollo 11 astronauts did bring back a "lunar bug"! :-D
@shh4662 4 жыл бұрын
Why did that ukalale music give such spongebob vibes
@burnoutjunkie42 4 жыл бұрын
I remember seeing that in First Man, I’m glad Vox shed some light on it though.
@ganiakara 4 жыл бұрын
If my teacher teach me history similarly like this, my interest in history would probably be better
@poundofwonder 4 жыл бұрын
Wow they went through a lot of detail, good on them
@ajisusetyo3613 4 жыл бұрын
Just wait at least 20+ years, maybe there's Mars plague
@uss_04 4 жыл бұрын
Moment I heard Amy from Vintage Space was involved I was hooked. I guess you can say her enthusiasm over the Apollo era was Infectious.
@p_rry 4 жыл бұрын
ba dum tssss
@EskimoPablo907 3 жыл бұрын
"This is how venom on spiderman went to earth. This is important stuff." Lol
@SamBaughTV 4 жыл бұрын
The more I watched this the more mindblowing it got
@erinboes9139 4 жыл бұрын
Aw, I know John Hirasaki and worked closely with his wife when I worked on the Shuttle Program! :) So fun to see him featured!
@Salightress 4 жыл бұрын
Amy did a really great job, and in my opinion she slotted so naturally in to the conversation. A delight to watch, and super interesting too! I had no idea the Apollo crew were quarantined
@nabilnasran8077 4 жыл бұрын
Emil She made a video about it on her channel!
@SpaceFactsWax 3 жыл бұрын
Thanks for sharing. I had the opportunity to see a rocket launch in 2018. Amazing experience. I shared a pretty fun video of the trip to my page.
@uss_04 4 жыл бұрын
11:30 “One of the experiments they did was they ground up some moon rocks, made a formula out of it, and injected it into a Japanese Quail” And that quail was named Cave Johnson.....
@nikitagoel8558 4 жыл бұрын
Cant Express how much I wanted to know this!
@varuntulsyan2558 4 жыл бұрын
I already knew most of the things mentioned(huge Apollo nerd, hello) but no one does it like Vox. Amazing video. Had me hooked the entire time. Sweet!
@MWReviewsIt 3 жыл бұрын
I’ve seen an interview where one of the astronauts (can’t remember who) said that they did all of this work to prevent the spread of a disease, but after being sprayed and scrubbed on the recovery boat one of the recovery team just threw the rags into the ocean.
@seanluzdeluna8153 4 жыл бұрын
Love that music towards the end. There's something so uplifting and inspiring about it. I wonder what it is? 🤔
@CaptainSpock1701 4 жыл бұрын
Having spent 20 years in the military, I find it extremely funny that the same people that will go to the shop and fit on clothes didn't think about "practicing" putting on the quarantine suit... In the military (as in life) the best chance you have to succeed is repeat until perfect. Then repeat some more. Yep. Now at least we have started to practice. Now repeat ....
@AL_THOMAS 4 жыл бұрын
The ad before this for Dr Steve Turley is hilarious!
@CuddlePhantom 4 жыл бұрын
6:06 I totally thought that one astronaut flicked off the other for a moment 😂🤦🏼♀️
@cameronsipka3352 4 жыл бұрын
The Vintage Space! I love that show
@jjqq9456 4 жыл бұрын
Wow love those pictures! ❤️
@Emrysanimation 4 жыл бұрын
If there was a lunar bug, technically that would mean there is life on the moon. I guess people debate on whether a virus is really considered a "Lifeform" but that would still be very exciting! It might help us answer our age-old questions about alien life!
@brandthemanlee 4 жыл бұрын
Well if there are viruses than there should be bacteria so that would just be huggeee
@catatoblob8598 4 жыл бұрын
@@brandthemanlee ... explain?
@brandthemanlee 4 жыл бұрын
@@catatoblob8598 I was just saying hypothetically, if there was viruses on the moon there cant just be one celled organisms there has to be more in order to keep population up or else there's no other way to sustain themselves. But sadly tht can never happen, only possible with planets with similar environment to our own, the moon and Mars are too harsh of environments
@brendanturner4787 4 жыл бұрын
Emily Pearce well if there’s viruses then there’s other forms of cellular life on the surface since viruses need a host to replicate inside off. So if they wouldn’t have found a virus unless the picked up a bacterium, or micro organism with a virus inside off. Even if they did find any form of infection disease (whether that be bacteria, virus or some form of life, or semi life organism-if or if not it was carbon based-used had DNA, RNA, or another form of genetic information) it most likely wouldn’t be zoonotic (alienotic?) because of our completely different environments. But hey, NASA didn’t want to make chances at the time. If only the western countries had that mindset today, maybe we wouldn’t see tens of thousands of deaths from Covid-19
@catatoblob8598 4 жыл бұрын
@@brandthemanlee not necessarily. In that era, there was no research into whether viruses can remain intact and dormant in an vacuum, without a host. Some disease causing bacterial like anthrax can also produce spores that can stay alive in hard circumstances. There are theories that the first single cellular organisms on earth may have arrived via meteorite from another planet. Under that assumption, its theoretically possible for other life carrying meteorites to have collided with the moon. That being said, because organisms can't replicate in the conditions on the moon, the probability of picking one up and transporting it to earth without destroying it is minuscule. NASA probably took excessive precautions because they weren't initially confident about the nature of the environment on the moon.
@nepadron 4 жыл бұрын
I love this series so much.
@FeliussRexx 4 жыл бұрын
It takes a lot of people to get 1 astronaut to space and back. What an amazing amount of planning!
@scott0001 4 жыл бұрын
Props to the guys who went with the astronauts for the whole quarantine period. Wheeww
@26TptCoy 4 жыл бұрын
that would be funny, also the sound guy, the director and the two cameramen
@AmericanIdiot7659 4 жыл бұрын
I just woke up to 2 vox videos on different tabs so now I guess I am going to watch those now.
@CuddlePhantom 4 жыл бұрын
I knew some of this so I suspected what it was and was just like "oh yes, I'm ready."
@SonographicTendencies 4 жыл бұрын
The music in this episode is so good!!!
@Pandamasque 3 жыл бұрын
Really digging Amy's taste in decor and furniture!
@lukemeyers6395 4 жыл бұрын
Such relevant content 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼
@uss_04 4 жыл бұрын
The Apollo 11 Quarantine was interesting. I get the feeling that if we ever did a mission to the moon, there would be a high temptation to rush any procedures and get them on that would tour right away.
@ariesfire13 4 жыл бұрын
Trump just approved funds for mining on the moon. Js
@uss_04 4 жыл бұрын
07:16 The Retro space asthetic was great. All that shiny metal and those curving hand drawn infographics.
@mintjuulpod333 4 жыл бұрын
I love Amy's channel! And her eyeliner game is on point.
@dwcobb43 3 жыл бұрын
I'm a volunteer at the USS Hornet museum and we have the MQF from14. If you look at pictures of the astronauts from12 they exit the CM in their flight suits and respirators and by 14 that is the last time they use the MQF. So NASA leaned alot from each flight
@jamielancaster01 4 жыл бұрын
WOW very interesting. Thank you
@martin-carlsson 4 жыл бұрын
Great video! What video tool are you using?
@Dimension2364 4 жыл бұрын
This is so interesting! I often heard that South Korea does a lot of testing. But I didn‘t knew how exactly they did it.
@FSXTout 4 жыл бұрын
Im glad Amy was in the video. When i clicked, i thought it was one of her videos
@zapfanzapfan 4 жыл бұрын
Love Amy and Pete!
@jupitired777 4 жыл бұрын
yes Phil!!! I've missed your videos
@Stachelbeeerchen 4 жыл бұрын
So much nice in this video. They really had to do this 1969.
@HebaruSan 4 жыл бұрын
Imagine if we already had a sizable Mars colony. We might not be able to have face to face contact with them ever again for fear of spreading SARS-CoV-2 to an isolated population.
@IvoryMane 3 жыл бұрын
You're presenting the real questions
@fatfox5030 4 жыл бұрын
Who knew quarantine could get you this early to a vox video
@yung1717 3 жыл бұрын
I knew this because I worked at space camp for a year and they have it in the Apollo museum
@1castellp 4 жыл бұрын
man: comes back to earth from the moon china: send him on a would tour
@souvikdas1358 4 жыл бұрын
just watched an flim called "Life(2017)_" ... believe me this is the most important thing to me after seeing this
@AngelMeiChan 4 жыл бұрын
If you go to the USS Hornet Museum in Alameda, CA you can see the Airstream quarantine unit. It's pretty neat to see.
@michelle5900 4 жыл бұрын
Imagine being in rollercoaster ride with astronauts. That's a video I would like to see
@eligogo7175 4 жыл бұрын
YAAAAASSSSSS I LOVE HISTORY CLUB
@huggekarlsson 4 жыл бұрын
”That’s how venom and spider-man got to Earth - this is important stuff” ghaghagahaghahahah
@__dane__ 4 жыл бұрын
This is fascinating
@raptorattack 4 жыл бұрын
"Moon Dust".... love it!
@NinoGucciani2021 4 жыл бұрын
Thank You Vox 💯 Very Informative Great Journalism crammed in short amount of time 🤷🏻♂️
@suaptoest 4 жыл бұрын
A small thing for an astronaut but a big operation for all of humanity.
@sallystarz3409 4 жыл бұрын
Well done! Thanks for telling the story of the LRL. Unfortunately, NASA has plans to tear it down. It's an important part of space history!
@obspurp3171 4 жыл бұрын
Perfect timing
@gabriellindgren3447 4 жыл бұрын
University lectures via Zoom is the best thing happened to me 2020
@elizabethhogan3976 4 жыл бұрын
I really liked this
@leocastrillo759 4 жыл бұрын
They have this quarantine container here at the USS hornet in Alameda CA. The astronauts signatures can be seen on the table.
@Quadrophiniac 4 жыл бұрын
Where is Amy from other than Vintage Space? I have never seen that channel, but I definitely recognize her!