Astronauts enter quarantine ahead of their trip to the Moon :: WRAL.com

Christina Koch and her crew-mates are currently in quarantine ahead of the next launch attempt for the Artemis II mission on April 1. They aren’t sick and NASA wants it to stay that way.

NASA’s Health Stabilization Program typically begins about 14 days before launch, matching the incubation period for many infectious disease. By limiting contact with others during that time, doctors can be confident that any illness will show symptoms before the crew enters the tight spaces of the capsule where even a cold or mild infection could spread quickly and medical resources are very limited.

Those 14 days began last week, while the crew was still in Houston. North Carolina astronaut Christina Koch took advantage of the isolation to do some beach camping with her dog in an image shared on her instagram account.

Once they arrive to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, they will spend most of their time in the crew quarters at the Operations and Checkout Building where contact will be limited a select group of flight surgeons and other medical and support professionals,  

Crew quarters are simple but functional. Think of a very well maintained 23-room 1-star hotel that also has a suit room, where astronauts are helped into their pressure suits moments before boarding a vehicle to take them to the pad for launch. Crew quarters also includes a kitchen, pantry, dining room, lounge, gym, along with a pair of conference rooms, and laundry rooms. Medical areas include three exam rooms. A group and offices for the flight surgeon and support personnel to help meet the crews needs during their stay,

These precautions were not always so structured. In the early years of human spaceflight, illness could disrupt missions in very real ways. The most notable example is Apollo 13 where, astronaut Ken Mattingly was exposed to German measles and removed from the crew. His backup, Jack Swigert, took his place only days before liftoff. 

Mattingly never became ill, but Lunar Module Pilot Fred Haise did, developing a severe kidney and urinary tract infection brought on in part by dehydration due to restricted water rationing on the crippled spacecraft. These incidents highlighted how vulnerable missions were to unexpected health issues and helped reinforce the need for stricter preflight controls.

Quarantine practices during the Apollo era also extended beyond launch. After Apollo 11, astronauts were placed in a Mobile Quarantine Facility, a modified 35-foot Airstream Excella travel trailer for about 21 days following their return to Earth while scientists studied the astronauts and lunar samples they returned with for an microorganisms they might have brought back.