Mobile Quarantine Facility

The crew of Apollo 11 in quarantine after returning to Earth, visited by Richard Nixon.
The mobile quarantine facility, with the Apollo 11 crew on board, is unloaded from a C-141 aircraft.

The Mobile Quarantine Facility (MQF) is a converted Airstream trailer used by NASA to quarantine astronauts returning from Apollo lunar missions. Its purpose was to prevent the spread of any contagions from the moon, though the existence of such contagions was considered unlikely. It functioned by maintaining a lower pressure inside and filtering any air vented.[1]

The MQF contained living and sleeping facilities as well as communications which the astronauts used to converse with their families. The Apollo 11 crew also used this to speak with President Nixon who personally welcomed them back to Earth aboard the recovery ship USS Hornet (CV-12) after splashdown.

The trailers housed the three crew as well as a doctor and an assistant for cleaning and cooking.

Four MQFs were built for NASA:

Mission Designation Disposition
Apollo 11 MQF003 Four years on display at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, now on display at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.[2]
Apollo 12 MQF002 Converted for various purposes and found near Marion, Alabama, now on display at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center.[3]
Apollo 13 MQF001 Not used for the crew because they did not land on the Moon. For some time the USDA used it. Its present disposition is unknown.[2]
Apollo 14 MQF004 At the USS Hornet Museum in Alameda, California.[4]

The quarantine requirement was eliminated following Apollo 14 once it was proven that the moon was void of life (and moon pathogens) and the facilities were no longer necessary.[5]

See also

References

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  1. ↑ "Mobile Quarantine Facility". Collections Database. National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
  2. 1 2 Pearlman, Robert (August 11, 2007). "Topic: Apollo 12 MQF trailer resurfaces". CollectSpace. Retrieved February 16, 2011.
  3. ↑ "Space Camp Newsletter: Mobile Quarantine Facility". September 2007. Retrieved February 16, 2011.
  4. ↑ Mason, Betsy (July 2009). "Wired Science News for Your Neurons Splashdown! The Ship That Picked Up the Apollo 11 Astronauts". Wired!.
  5. ↑ "After Splashdown". Apollo to the Moon. National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution. July 1999. Archived from the original on February 24, 2004.
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