Have fall allergies? At least it's not 'lunar hay fever'
Coughing, sneezing and watery eyes are common symptoms of seasonal allergies, but astronauts who walked on the moon contracted similar symptoms from an unsuspecting source.
Samples from Apollo 17, NASA’s final mission of the Apollo program, are being unboxed and studied in preparation for the upcoming Artemis mission.
Autumn allergies have folks coughing, sneezing and itching their eyes, but even in the depths of space thousands of miles away from the nearest plants, allergens can still be lurking in the air.
During NASA's last crewed journey to the moon in 1972, Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Schmitt came down with a case of "lunar hay fever" after breathing in some moon dust. Schmitt experienced similar symptoms to normal allergies on Earth, including sneezing, watery eyes and a sore throat.
"The symptoms went away, but concern for human health is a driving force behind NASA’s extensive research into all forms of lunar soil," NASA explained on its website.
In this July 20, 1969 photo made available by NASA, astronaut Buzz Aldrin, lunar module pilot, walks on the surface of the moon during the Apollo 11 extravehicular activity. (Neil Armstrong/NASA via AP)
The dust found on the moon can be incredibly small and get into any crack or crevasse, including under the fingernails of the Apollo astronauts. Another Apollo 17 astronaut, Gene Cernan, explained after the mission that dust could be a major hurdle for future missions.
"The effect of dust on mirrors, cameras and checklists is phenomenal," Cernan said after the mission. "Once you get inside the spacecraft, as much as you dust yourself, you start taking off the suits and you have dust on your hands and your face and you're walking in it. You can be as careful in cleaning up as you want to, but it just sort of inhabits every nook and cranny in the spacecraft and every pore in your skin.”
Apollo 17 mission commander Gene Cernan inside the lunar module after a moonwalk. His spacesuit and part of his body was covered with lunar dust. (NASA)
“I think dust is probably one of our greatest inhibitors to a nominal operation on the Moon. I think we can overcome other physiological or physical or mechanical problems except dust," Cernan said.
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