RobotToaster ,
@RobotToaster@mander.xyz avatar

Gotta make sure they weren't smuggling any illegal aliens.

modifier ,

Not sure if this is what inspired OP, but I just learned the fact about astronauts going through customs yesterday, in a video posted by Channel 5 on YouTube. The context was that Andrew Callahan, who is a US citizen, tried crossing the Rio Grande with Coyotes for journalistic reasons, and he learned the hard way that there are NO exceptions to the rule requiring entering through customs. Not for journalists, and not for astronauts.

MilitantAtheist ,

That customsb official was 100% grinning like crazy when he typed "moon"

ilinamorato ,

They (well, Buzz Aldrin, at least) also filled out a travel expense voucher to get reimbursed for driving his personal car, including from his home to the air force base from which he flew to Florida, as well as around Cape Kennedy, during his "official travel."

His official itinerary is more detailed than the one provided on the customs form (all dates are, of course, in July of 1969):

7-7 | LV: Residence | 0445 | POV (note: POV means "Privately Owned Vehicle." Aldrin reported 8 miles for this leg of the journey and was reimbursed 56¢.)

7-7 | AR: EAFB | 0500 (note: EAFB is "Ellington Air Force Base" in Houston)

7-7 | LV: EAFB | 0530 | Gov. Air

7-7 | AR: Cape Kennedy, Fla. | 0800

7-16 | LV: Cape Kennedy, Fla. | 0832 | Gov. Spacecraft (note: Saturn V serial number SA-506, of course)

7-19 | AR: Moon | 1325

7-21 | LV: Moon | 2400 | Gov. Spacecraft (note: transfer from NASA LM-5 Eagle to NASA CSM-107 Columbia not listed)

7-24 | AR: Pacific Ocean | 0600 (note: at 13°19′N 169°9′W in the North Pacific, about 920 miles or 1480 km from Honolulu)

7-24 | LV: Pacific Ocean | 0800 | USN Hornett (note: Aldrin misspelled the name of the US navy aircraft carrier Hornet here.)

7-26 | AR: Hawaii | 0900 (note: Pearl Harbor, to be specific)

7-26 | LV: Hawaii | 1200 | USAF Plane (note: the particular plane was a C-141B Starlifter designated 66-7958 USAF, which I cannot find a name for.)

7-27 | AR: EAFB | 0100

7-27 | LV: EAFB | 0215 | Gov. Veh. (note: the Gov. Veh. in question was the Mobile Quarantine Facility (MQF), a converted Airstream trailer. They would stay in the MQF for three weeks. Actually, they boarded the MQF on the Hornet ; it was then loaded into 66-7958 in Hawaii and unloaded in Houston.)

7-27 | AR: LRL | 0300 (note: LRL is the Lunar Receiving Laboratory, building 37 at Johnson Space Center in Houston.)

A notation beneath this itinerary reads "Government meals and quarters furnished for all the above dates."

Aldrin also reported 100 miles of "official vicinity travel" at Cape Kennedy for the nine days between his arrival and departure, for which he was reimbursed $10. Another note reads "POV authorized for official vicinity travel at Cape Kennedy, Fla. in leiu (sic) of rental car." I can't find any information about what POV this is; he left his personal vehicle in Houston when he flew on a government plane to Florida, so perhaps he owned two cars?

There are three handwritten notes beneath that which I cannot read but claim $8.00 and $19.25, as well as $4.50 of charges that he subtracts from the total; these three are listed in the "subsistence" column. The grand total claimed on this voucher are $33.31 ($279.17 in 2024 dollars), and it was approved by someone named "C.W. Bird."

FlyingSquid OP ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

My mother-in-law is ex-army and she takes advantage of every single deal and loophole she can find. I don't blame her and I don't blame Buzz. I especially don't blame Buzz. He put his life on the line to go to the fucking moon. Reimburse him for whatever the hell he wants.

ilinamorato ,

Oh, absolutely. And tbh, $280 is nothing to sneeze at. I would definitely report that kind of money, even if I had just been to the moon. Maybe especially if I had.

lud ,

That's probably a thing I would do just because it's funny.

ilinamorato ,

Honestly that sounds like Aldrin.

ilinamorato ,

Not to mention, the guy spent three weeks cooped up in an Airstream trailer with nothing to do but eat steaks and drink whiskey. I'd guess that it's not impossible he did this itinerary to stave off boredom one day.

sangriaferret ,

You say that like it's a bad thing.

ilinamorato ,

I mean, a couple days, sure. Even a week. But after three weeks with only the same four other people (the two other astronauts + two NASA employees) and never being allowed to leave, when you went to the MOON and were allowed to go stretch your legs a few days in? It would get pretty old.

FlyingSquid OP ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

And then there's the trip back...

pantyhosewimp ,

3 days in box that’s 4 by 11 meters with 2 other dudes.

ilinamorato ,

Yep. 4, actually; I guess they had two NASA volunteers in there with them.

don ,

Illegal aliens have always been a concern.

Idreamofcheesy ,

It sounds like a harmless prank on the astronauts that everyone pretended to take really seriously.

At least I hope the astronauts didn't know beforehand, and I hope they got a kick out of it.

FlyingSquid OP ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

I don't know that it was a prank, just typical bureaucracy. They left the borders of the U.S., meaning they have to legally be allowed back in. The real question is why they decided that wasn't necessary for splashdowns in international waters for spaceflights that didn't go to the moon.

Zron ,

Probably because the craft that were just in orbit could be considered “in flight” for their entire duration.

Aircraft in flight are considered under the jurisdiction of the country they took off from. So if the spacecraft started in Florida, landed in international waters, and was recovered by a US vehicle, then the astronauts never technically left the jurisdiction of the United States.

But because Apollo 11 did land somewhere, it could be argued they ended the first flight and began a second one when they took off. Due to this, they had left US jurisdiction as they landed and left the vehicle. This means they left the country, and need to go through immigration.

It’s also a piece of the official paper trail that helps to prove to other nations that the US did land on the moon, and that placing the flag in the moon was symbolic and not an attempt to annex the moon. If Apollo 11 had claimed the moon as US territory, then they wouldn’t have needed to fill out immigration papers.

FlyingSquid OP ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

That does all make sense. Especially the part about showing the world (especially the USSR) that the moon was not part of the U.S.

wolfpack86 ,

Not all of them landed, and the section they returned to earth in never landed either.

This is all about the novelty.

catloaf ,

It's definitely just taking the piss. They got picked up in the ocean by the USS Hornet, put in quarantine, and were flown in quarantine directly to Houston.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Receiving_Laboratory

Buzz Aldrin also filed a travel reimbursement voucher: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/aug/03/buzz-aldrin-travel-expenses-moon-apollo-11

Today ,

This is my favorite thing on the Internet so far today! Thanks for sharing!

Klanky ,
@Klanky@sopuli.xyz avatar

There also is a special exemption for US Customs to use for items returned from outer space. General Note 3(e) of the HTSUS exempts the items from having to have an entry filed or duties paid for those items as well as corpses and telecommunications.

Everythingispenguins ,

Wouldn't Michael Collins need a different form? His would need to say moon orbit not moon. I would expect bureaucrats to care about that.

ilinamorato ,

He was in lunar "territorial waters," so to speak, so it probably counts.

CeruleanRuin ,
@CeruleanRuin@lemmy.world avatar

If Earth orbit doesn't count as leaving Earth, then Lunar orbit counts as being in Lunar territory.

LillyPip ,
@LillyPip@lemmy.ca avatar

I just watched Life last night, and you know, this seems sensible.

e: link

FlyingSquid OP ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

They knew that was extremely unlikely anything biological would have been brought back from the moon since they knew that the moon's surface should be sterile. They just couldn't prove it, so they had to take precautions.

LillyPip ,
@LillyPip@lemmy.ca avatar

True. I’m just salty about the inanity of that movie’s ending.

venusenvy47 ,

It's a little cheesy, but I like Last Days on Mars for a similar topic.

LillyPip ,
@LillyPip@lemmy.ca avatar

Oh lord. I’ve now watched that and it was infuriatingly stupid. Thanks for the recommendation, though.

venusenvy47 ,

Sorry if I misled you. I like it as a horror movie and the Mars/spacecraft scenes as a backdrop look pretty good.

LillyPip ,
@LillyPip@lemmy.ca avatar

No worries. I’m always looking for suggestions on scifi to watch! I don’t regret watching it.

Scavenger_Solardaddy ,

Americans are funny as fuck! 😂

CeruleanRuin ,
@CeruleanRuin@lemmy.world avatar

I mean someone had to establish precedent. Can't have people just coming from the moon without their papers.

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