Columbia floats on the ocean as Navy divers assist in retrieving the astronauts
On July 24, the astronauts returned home aboard the Command Module
Columbia just before dawn local time (16:51 UTC
) at
13°19′N 169°9′W, in the Pacific Ocean 2,660 km (1,440 nmi) east of
Wake Island, 380 km (210 nmi) south of
Johnston Atoll, and 24 km (13 nmi) from the recovery ship,
USS Hornet.
At 16:44 UTC the
drogue parachutes had been deployed and 7 minutes later the Command Module struck the water forcefully. The Command Module landed upside down but was righted within 10 minutes by flotation bags triggered by the astronauts. "Everything's okay. Our checklist is complete. Awaiting swimmers," was Armstrong's last official transmission from the
Columbia. A diver from the Navy helicopter hovering above attached a sea anchor to the Command Module to prevent it from drifting. Additional divers attached flotation collars to stabilize the module and position rafts for astronaut extraction. Though the chance of bringing back
pathogens from the lunar surface was considered remote, it was considered a possibility and NASA took great precautions at the recovery site. Divers provided the astronauts with Biological Isolation Garments (BIGs) which were worn until they reached isolation facilities on board the
Hornet. Additionally astronauts were rubbed down with a
sodium hypochlorite solution and the Command Module wiped with
Betadine to remove any lunar dust that might be present. The raft containing decontamination materials was then intentionally sunk.
A second
Sea King helicopter hoisted the astronauts aboard one by one, where a NASA
flight surgeon gave each a brief physical check during the 0.5 nautical miles (930 m) trip back to the
Hornet.
The crew of Apollo XI in quarantine after returning to Earth, visited by Richard Nixon
After touchdown on the
Hornet, the astronauts exited the helicopter, leaving the flight surgeon and three crewmen. The helicopter was then lowered into hangar bay #2 where the astronauts walked the 30 feet (9.1 m) to the
Mobile Quarantine Facility (MQF) where they would begin their 21 days of quarantine. This practice would continue for two more Apollo missions, Apollo XII and
Apollo XIV, before the Moon was proven to be barren of life and the quarantine process dropped.
President Richard Nixon was aboard
Hornet to personally welcome the astronauts back to Earth. He told the astronauts, "As a result of what you've done, the world has never been closer together before."
After Nixon departed, the
Hornet was brought alongside the five-ton Command Module where it was placed aboard by the ship's crane, placed on a dolly and moved next to the MQF. The
Hornet sailed for
Pearl Harbor where the Command Module and MQF were airlifted to the
Johnson Space Center.
Years later, it was publicly revealed that Nixon had prepared a speech to be given in the event the Lunar Module had failed to lift off from the lunar surface, which would have resulted in Armstrong's and Aldrin's deaths, similar to common
newspaper obituary or government
contingency plan procedures and policies.
In accordance with the recently passed
Extra-Terrestrial Exposure Law, the astronauts were placed in quarantine for fear that the Moon might contain undiscovered
pathogens and that the astronauts might have been exposed to them during their Moon walks. However, after almost three weeks in confinement (first in their trailer and later in the
Lunar Receiving Laboratory at the Manned Spacecraft Center), the astronauts were given a clean bill of health.
On August 10, 1969, the astronauts exited quarantine.
