Today in 1972, Apollo 17 landed on the moon.
So far, it’s the last mission that put human beings on the lunar surface.
And it was the only Apollo mission where the dust all over that surface gave an astronaut a strong allergic reaction.
There was some concern in the early days of the Apollo program that the astronauts might encounter something hazardous to their health, like some previously unknown microbe or particle.
That’s why the astronauts on Apollo 11 stayed in quarantine for a few weeks after returning to Earth.
By Apollo 17, NASA had done away with the quarantine; at that point the main concern for lunar astronauts was how moon dust got everywhere.
That’s partly because the sun gives all those little particles a charge that makes them cling to surfaces.
And the moon doesn’t have erosion like Earth does, so the particles can be sharp and scratchy.
Dust was a nuisance for every astronaut who walked on the moon, but it was extra annoying for Harrison “Jack” Schmitt.
He and Eugene Cernan had just returned to the lunar module after surveying the Valley of Taurus-Littrow.
They brushed themselves off and took off their helmets, and Schmitt started sneezing and sneezing.
His eyes got red, he started sniffling, his throat got scratchy.
Schmitt said, “I didn’t know I had lunar dust hay fever.”
But that’s essentially what he had; the dust had triggered an allergic reaction.
Fortunately it wasn’t one that seriously compromised his health or his work on the mission, but it was a reminder that astronauts do complicated work with risks.
In fact, there’s been a lot of research on the potential health risks of moon dust, like, say, maybe causing respiratory problems if an astronaut accidentally breathed some of those small jagged particles in.
And if we do end up going back to the moon in the near future, will the astronauts need to pack some hay fever pills just in case?
Around this time in 2011, there were news reports about an unusual inheritance in Italy.
When 94 year old Maria Assunta departed this life, she left her roughly €10 million estate to her black cat Tommasso.
Technically she left it to human trustees so they could look after the cat.
I’m still gonna say he was the world’s richest cat though.
The Apollo Astronaut Who Was Allergic To The Moon (Mental Floss)
Tommaso, the Italian cat, inherits $13 million from owner Maria Assunta (The World)
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Photo via NASA