The Artemis program’s first crewed trip to the moon may be slightly delayed, but the crew is still deep in prep mode. While most of the attention at NASA is focused on prelaunch preparations of the Orion spacecraft and its SLS rocket, the four astronauts face a markedly different protocol. As they live and work among people, they can’t physically touch anyone nor can they go outside. A simple stomachache or a cold could severely delay the first human trip to the moon’s vicinity in more than 50 years.
In the 1970s, the Apollo missions instituted a mandatory quarantine for those traveling to the moon. Today, NASA calls that initiative