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Mobile Quarantine Facility
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Mobile Quarantine Facility
This Mobile Quarantine Facility (MQF) was one of four built by NASA for astronauts returning from the Moon. Its purpose was to prevent the unlikely spread of lunar contagions by isolating the astronauts from contact with other people. A converted Airstream trailer, the MQF contained living and sleeping quarters, a kitchen, and a bathroom. Quarantine was assured by keeping the air pressure inside lower than the pressure outside and by filtering the air vented from the facility. This MQF was used by Apollo 11 astronauts Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins immediately after their return to Earth. They, together with a physician and a technician, remained in it for 88 hours while the MQF was transported on the aircraft carrier USS Hornet to the Pearl Harbor Naval Base in Hawaii and from there to nearby Hickam AFB. At Hickam, the MQF was loaded into the cargo hold of a C-141 aircraft and flown to Ellington AFB in Houston, Texas. The MQF, with the astronauts still on board, was then transported to the NASA Lunar Receiving Laboratory at Johnson Space Center where there were more spacious quarantine facilities. The astronauts were allowed to emerge from quarantine once scientists were sure they were not infected with "moon germs." NASA transferred the MQF to the Smithsonian Institution in 1974.
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- CCO - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)
- This media is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.
- IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu
- View Manifest
- View in Mirador Viewer
Mobile Quarantine Facility
Airstream trailer used for quarantine of Apollo 11 astronauts; the interior contains six (6) seats, six (6) bunks, kitchen and bathroom.
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- There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.
-
- CCO - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)
- This media is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.
- IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu
- View Manifest
- View in Mirador Viewer
Mobile Quarantine Facility
This Mobile Quarantine Facility (MQF) was one of four built by NASA for astronauts returning from the Moon. Its purpose was to prevent the unlikely spread of lunar contagions by isolating the astronauts from contact with other people. A converted Airstream trailer, the MQF contained living and sleeping quarters, a kitchen, and a bathroom. Quarantine was assured by keeping the air pressure inside lower than the pressure outside and by filtering the air vented from the facility. This MQF was used by Apollo 11 astronauts Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins immediately after their return to Earth. They, together with a physician and a technician, remained in it for 88 hours while the MQF was transported on the aircraft carrier USS Hornet to the Pearl Harbor Naval Base in Hawaii and from there to nearby Hickam AFB. At Hickam, the MQF was loaded into the cargo hold of a C-141 aircraft and flown to Ellington AFB in Houston, Texas. The MQF, with the astronauts still on board, was then transported to the NASA Lunar Receiving Laboratory at Johnson Space Center where there were more spacious quarantine facilities. The astronauts were allowed to emerge from quarantine once scientists were sure they were not infected with "moon germs." NASA transferred the MQF to the Smithsonian Institution in 1974.
-
- CCO - Creative Commons (CC0 1.0)
- This media is in the public domain (free of copyright restrictions). You can copy, modify, and distribute this work without contacting the Smithsonian. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.
- IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu
- View Manifest
- View in Mirador Viewer
Mobile Quarantine Facility
This Mobile Quarantine Facility (MQF) was one of four built by NASA for astronauts returning from the Moon. Its purpose was to prevent the unlikely spread of lunar contagions by isolating the astronauts from contact with other people. A converted Airstream trailer, the MQF contained living and sleeping quarters, a kitchen, and a bathroom. Quarantine was assured by keeping the air pressure inside lower than the pressure outside and by filtering the air vented from the facility. This MQF was used by Apollo 11 astronauts Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins immediately after their return to Earth. They, together with a physician and a technician, remained in it for 88 hours while the MQF was transported on the aircraft carrier USS Hornet to the Pearl Harbor Naval Base in Hawaii and from there to nearby Hickam AFB. At Hickam, the MQF was loaded into the cargo hold of a C-141 aircraft and flown to Ellington AFB in Houston, Texas. The MQF, with the astronauts still on board, was then transported to the NASA Lunar Receiving Laboratory at Johnson Space Center where there were more spacious quarantine facilities. The astronauts were allowed to emerge from quarantine once scientists were sure they were not infected with "moon germs." NASA transferred the MQF to the Smithsonian Institution in 1974.
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Mobile Quarantine Facility
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Mobile Quarantine Facility (Apollo 11) at the Udvar-Hazy Center
This Mobile Quarantine Facility (MQF) was one of four built by NASA for astronauts returning from the Moon.
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Apollo 11 Mobile Quarantine Facility
This is a view of the inside of the Apollo 11 Mobile Quarantine Facility.
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Mobile Quarantine Facility
This Mobile Quarantine Facility (MQF) was one of four built by NASA for astronauts returning from the Moon. Its purpose was to prevent the unlikely spread of lunar contagions by isolating the astronauts from contact with other people. A converted Airstream trailer, the MQF contained living and sleeping quarters, a kitchen, and a bathroom. Quarantine was assured by keeping the air pressure inside lower than the pressure outside and by filtering the air vented from the facility. This MQF was used by Apollo 11 astronauts Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins immediately after their return to Earth. They, together with a physician and a technician, remained in it for 88 hours while the MQF was transported on the aircraft carrier USS Hornet to the Pearl Harbor Naval Base in Hawaii and from there to nearby Hickam AFB. At Hickam, the MQF was loaded into the cargo hold of a C-141 aircraft and flown to Ellington AFB in Houston, Texas. The MQF, with the astronauts still on board, was then transported to the NASA Lunar Receiving Laboratory at Johnson Space Center where there were more spacious quarantine facilities. The astronauts were allowed to emerge from quarantine once scientists were sure they were not infected with "moon germs." NASA transferred the MQF to the Smithsonian Institution in 1974.
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Mobile Quarantine Facility
This Mobile Quarantine Facility (MQF) was one of four built by NASA for astronauts returning from the Moon. Its purpose was to prevent the unlikely spread of lunar contagions by isolating the astronauts from contact with other people. A converted Airstream trailer, the MQF contained living and sleeping quarters, a kitchen, and a bathroom. Quarantine was assured by keeping the air pressure inside lower than the pressure outside and by filtering the air vented from the facility. This MQF was used by Apollo 11 astronauts Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins immediately after their return to Earth. They, together with a physician and a technician, remained in it for 88 hours while the MQF was transported on the aircraft carrier USS Hornet to the Pearl Harbor Naval Base in Hawaii and from there to nearby Hickam AFB. At Hickam, the MQF was loaded into the cargo hold of a C-141 aircraft and flown to Ellington AFB in Houston, Texas. The MQF, with the astronauts still on board, was then transported to the NASA Lunar Receiving Laboratory at Johnson Space Center where there were more spacious quarantine facilities. The astronauts were allowed to emerge from quarantine once scientists were sure they were not infected with "moon germs." NASA transferred the MQF to the Smithsonian Institution in 1974.
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Mobile Quarantine Facility Panorama
Panoramic view inside NASA's Mobile Quarantine Facility.
Display Status:
This object is on display in the Human Spaceflight at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA.

Collection Item Summary:
This Mobile Quarantine Facility (MQF) was one of four built by NASA for astronauts returning from the Moon. Its purpose was to prevent the unlikely spread of lunar contagions by isolating the astronauts from contact with other people. A converted Airstream trailer, the MQF contained living and sleeping quarters, a kitchen, and a bathroom. Quarantine was assured by keeping the air pressure inside lower than the pressure outside and by filtering the air vented from the facility.
This MQF was used by Apollo 11 astronauts Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins immediately after their return to Earth. They, together with a physician and a technician, remained in it for 88 hours while the MQF was transported on the aircraft carrier USS Hornet to the Pearl Harbor Naval Base in Hawaii and from there to nearby Hickam AFB. At Hickam, the MQF was loaded into the cargo hold of a C-141 aircraft and flown to Ellington AFB in Houston, Texas. The MQF, with the astronauts still on board, was then transported to the NASA Lunar Receiving Laboratory at Johnson Space Center where there were more spacious quarantine facilities. The astronauts were allowed to emerge from quarantine once scientists were sure they were not infected with "moon germs."
NASA transferred the MQF to the Smithsonian Institution in 1974.