With the 50 year anniversary of the lunar landing there is one thing that has always bugged me - why were the astronauts put into quarantine when they returned?
If there truly were xenobacteria the quarantine was laughable. The exterior of the capsule was exposed to the air and sea. The inside was opened to the air. The crew climbed into the dinghy before donning isolation suits. Meanwhile the antiseptic cloth used to wipe them down was tossed into the ocean.
Even a first year medical student could tell you everything wrong with that.
So what was the real reason behind the quarantine? Some germophobe bureaucrat's pet project? An attempt to prevent the astronauts outshining other people e.g. Nixon? Was it a chance to give the astronauts a rest?
As OP and since there have been no answers, I thought I might relate what I discovered.
Congress passed a federal regulation 1211 - Extraterrestrial Exposure on the 11th of July 1969.
Congress is not functional at the moment. The website is giving a 503 error - so I can't look up the congressional record of the debate that led to this regulation being passed.
