Apollo 11, Offloading MQF from USS Hornet, 1969

The mobile quarantine facility (MQF) is a converted Airstream trailer used by NASA to quarantine astronauts returning from Apollo lunar missions for the first few days after splashdown. The MQF was on the aircraft carrier that picked up the capsule. Once the aircraft carrier reached port, the MQF was flown to Houston, and the crew served the remainder of the 21 days of quarantine in the Lunar Receiving Lab at the Manned Spacecraft Center. The purpose of the quarantine was to prevent the spread of any contagions from the moon, though the existence of such contagions was considered unlikely. It functioned by maintaining a lower pressure inside and filtering any air vented. The MQF contained living and sleeping facilities as well as communications equipment which the astronauts used to converse with their families. The Apollo 11 crew also used this equipment to speak with President Nixon who personally welcomed them back to Earth aboard the recovery ship USS Hornet after splashdown. The trailers housed the three crew as well as a physician and an engineer who ran the MQF and powered down the command module. The quarantine requirement was eliminated following Apollo 14 once it was proven the moon was sterile and that the facilities were therefore unnecessary

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