Germs from the Moon

There is a lot out in space that could be dangerous to human beings. Extra terrestrial germs could either die in the atmosphere on Earth, or flourish and cause illnesses previously unheard of. This is why when the Apollo II astronauts came back to the planet after the moon landing, there was a scare of germs from the moon accompanying them.

In order to counter the threat of these possible Lunar Germs, the astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins were put into special clothing after being scrubbed down to be disinfected. The three of them were then taken to a quarantine facility to ensure that no germs could contaminate the Earth. At the time these were the most stringent measures that they could think of based on existing scientific norms.

The real question is that were they enough? Did NASA ensure that no lunar germs got to Earth on the return journey of the Apollo II astronauts? A new documentary on Space.com seems to think that it was not. That bugs from space did manage to get into Earth’s atmosphere despite the best efforts made by NASA. Thankfully they were not super bugs that decided to multiply and destroy all known life forms on Earth.