Buzz Aldrin's Surprise Paperwork From Moon Mission
Astronaut shares customs form he had to fill out after mission.
— -- Even after a trip to the moon, Buzz Aldrin still had to clear customs.
The American astronaut has been sharing some of his travel documents from his 1969 moon landing mission. While some of the information on the forms is routine, other areas yield surprising insights about Aldrin's historic trip.
Signing a customs form in Hawaii, Aldrin and fellow crew members Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins, claimed moon dust samples and moon rocks as the souvenirs from their nearly half a million mile round trip journey. The area marked "any other condition on board which may lead to the spread of disease" was marked "to be determined."
(The crew was kept in quarantine for three weeks after their return to Earth as a precautionary measure.)
Also intriguing: For such a long journey, Aldrin only claimed $33.31 in travel expenses for his trip -- likely expenses from his time traveling on the ground before and after the trip. He noted in a "schedule of expenses" form he shared that "government meals and quarters" were furnished for the journey.