London: Buzz Aldrin claimed USD 33.31 in travel expenses for a journey from Houston to the Moon and back, according to a Twitter post by the Apollo 11 astronaut who became the second person to walk on the lunar surface in 1969. Aldrin, now 85, made the first lunar landing in 1969 and has tweeted his official travel voucher and customs forms for the moon rock he brought back.
The ‘travel voucher’ for his trip to space shows that Aldrin claimed USD 33.31 for a journey from Houston, Texas, to the Moon and back, ‘The Guardian’ reported. The voucher itemises each detail of Aldrin’s travel arrangements, with a ‘government spacecraft’ noted among government aircraft and automobiles used on the trip. “Government meals and quarters furnished for all above dates,” the voucher states.
It is believed the expenses claimed reflect car travel between various airports on the trip. Another tweet from Aldrin showed that all the astronauts on Apollo 11 had to sign a customs form upon their return to Earth from the Moon. The form, dated July 24, 1969, is signed by Neil Armstrong, who was the first man on the Moon; Aldrin, who was Apollo 11’s Lunar Module pilot, and Michael Collins. In the form they declare that they had brought back moon rock and moon dust samples.
According to the form, none of the astronauts suffered from illnesses and any other condition on board which may lead to the spread of disease was “to be determined”. Aldrin also tweeted a photo of the Apollo 11 astronauts in biological isolation garments, which they wore to avoid lunar dust from infecting people on Earth. According to Aldrin, the rags used to wipe the moon dust
were dropped in the ocean.
