Exploring the Unknown: Selected Documents in ... - The Black Vault

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Project Apollo: Americans to the Moon
We believe that the quarantine policy which has applied to lunar
samples, spacecraft and astronauts was conscientiously implemented in Apollo
11 and 12 missions. It was noted that some procedures have been less than ideal.
Nevertheless, a quarantine policy implementation, beset from the start with severe
difficulties of interdisciplinary communication and inflexible schedules, was as
successful as could have been expected.
It is noteworthy that the Interagency Committee on Back-Contamination
(ICBC) was effective in formulating the policies and approving the operational
procedures which guided the implementation of those policies by NASA. We feel
credit is due, both to the ICBC and to NASA for meeting numerous challenges so
successfully.
The committee agrees with the wisdom of lunar quarantine as a policy
of caution, well justified at the time it was established by the potential hazard of
back-contamination from what was a largely unknown environment. The possibility
existed that Apollo astronauts, infected with a virulent, contagious, lunar, biological
agent, would exhibit disease symptoms within the period of quarantine and thus
alert attending physicians to the need for continued effective containment of
the infectious agent. A small possibility of this still exists and views expressed by
qualified persons and groups who have appraised the current status of the subject
differ chiefly because everyone cannot agree on the magnitude of this possibility.
It is well recognized that quarantine at best is imperfect protection against
diseases even of known etiology. Some members of our committee feel that close
medical surveillance of the returned Apollo astronauts would be quite sufficient.
However, the majority feel that astronaut quarantine, employing essentially the
same procedures as were used on the Apollo 12 mission, ought to be in effect for
any future missions which may be judged to involve a risk of back-contamination.
Discussion
It seems as it did prior to Apollo 11 that any change in the U.S. Quarantine
Policy must be based on a revised or more confident assessment of the overall backcontamination
hazard to man and his environment. Results from Apollo 11 and
12 missions have made available substantial new information about the moon, and
some of this is directly relevant to the charge of our committee. Briefly stated, we
view the evidence as follows:
Hazard to Human Beings
There have been no medical signs or symptoms of illness among lunar
astronauts during or subsequent to quarantine which could reasonably be
attributed to lunar pathogens. Moreover, no such indications of pathology have
been reported among some 150 individuals who have had at least some contact
either with Apollo astronauts or with lunar sample material, however, no formal
medical surveillance of this group has been maintained. We consider these
negative findings reassuring but not definitive. With the relatively short duration
of exposure and the small number of astronauts involved, lack of observed
infection is not equivalent to a confirmed absence of pathogens.