“Lying on my butt and closing the door.” This is how he is fulfilling the measure of “social isolation“ to avoid the dreaded coronavirus Buzz Aldrin, the second man to step on the Moon.
The engineer, pilot of the United States Air Force and astronaut knows of quarantines: he had to spend 21 days isolated after returning from the Apollo 11 mission to ensure that he had not “imported” any pathogen that could have been beyond the Earth’s atmosphere.
After landing, Aldrin and her companions Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins were confined for three weeks.
First on the USS Hornet aircraft carrier, then the Airstream trailer and the C-141 aircraft, culminating in the Houston Lunar Reception Laboratory.
With just 90 years old, the retired commander spoke by phone with Eric Berger, from Ars Technica, who asked him for some advice so that those who have been quarantined will soon enter the regime of complete solitary confinement.
“Well Mike Collins and I used to exercise and run around the hall a little bit. We saw a crack in the floor, and there were ants going in and out,” he exemplified.
Like insects, lunar microorganisms could have done the same on Earth. However, soon the scientists would confirm that the satellite was an absolutely inert rock.
Finally, Eric Berger asked him how the rest of his isolate passed.
“Aldrin said he handled the mission reports and completed the documentation, such as a government travel voucher that entitled him to $33.31 for his trip to the Moon,” he concluded.
Despite his years, the same outlet has said that the astronaut “remains remarkably committed to the aerospace community, often appearing at meetings and conferences without notice.”
For example, on the eve of the fiftieth anniversary of the arrival to the Moon he usually communicated “his frustration with the NASA state and his concerns about the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing without lack of perceptible progress to return.”
“The aerospace legend has been in the White House to receive important space announcements from President Trump, was an adviser to the National Space Council, and supported the White House goal of returning to the Moon by 2024,” said Ars Technica.
Source: Yahoo