NASA’s secret panic: The day Earth faced a possible alien infection

The Apollo 11 moon landing was one of the seminal achievements of the 20th century. It was the pinnacle of the ‘Space Race’ and a demonstration of the United States’ scientific and economic power, pushing humanity forward.

Sixty years on, the first people to step foot on the moon are still idolized. The names Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong will forever be etched into the history of humanity. But less is known about some of the concerns surrounding the Apollo 11 launch and the moon landing missions in general.

At the time there were very real, very logical fears about the potential for contamination that the mission posed. NASA were careful to sterilize every part of the spacecraft to avoid any ‘forward’ contamination, with earth diseases potentially hitching a ride and inadvertently killing any extra-terrestrial organisms out there.

But most crucially, scientists were worried that the returning craft may house ‘back’ contamination, something that could prove catastrophic on earth. This may be for some deadly, unknown property, or could be by out-competing Earth organisms in the relatively fertile environment.

“Maybe it’s sure to 99% that Apollo 11 will not bring back lunar organisms,” Cornell Exobiologist Carl Sagan said at the time, “but even that 1% of uncertainty is too large to be complacent about.”

In a bid to counter the risk, NASA officials put in place a strict quarantine procedure. The aim was to help prevent an contamination from the spacecraft and the astronauts after their return to earth. Special facilities were added to the ship that would pick the men up after they landed in the Pacific Ocean and they were then to spend three weeks in isolation before any human contact.

However there was one chink the armor deployed by NASA. The initial procedure had called for the astronauts to remain inside the spacecraft but that was altered due to concerns about their well-being in a confined space in the unpredictable seas. As such, they were allowed to open the door and be rescued by raft and helicopter before entering the quarantine ship.

In the end, there was no dangerous life form that returned to Earth with the Apollo 11 mission. But it was not entirely free of risk, both for the astronauts and for humanity as a whole.

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