--- title: "The Second Man to Walk on the Moon Has Some Quarantine Advice" description: "When Ars Technica‘s Eric Berger asked Buzz Aldrin, the second man to have walked the Moon in 1969, what he would do while practising social distancing, Aldrin had some choice words: “Lying on my ass and locking the door.” Aldrin is familiar with the concept of spending time in quarantine. After […]" date: "2020-03-18" modified: "2020-03-18" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/buzz-aldrin-quarantine-advice" categories: - "Astronomy" - "Future Society" - "Moon" - "Space" tags: - "buzz aldrin" - "coronavirus" - "covid19" - "NASA" - "the digest" --- # The Second Man to Walk on the Moon Has Some Quarantine Advice ![Buzz Aldrin had some choice words of advice for Ars Technica's Eric Berger on how to survive self-isolation during the coronavirus outbreak.]() *\Image: NASA\* ## Berger Time When *Ars Technica* senior space reporter Eric Berger [asked]() Buzz Aldrin, the second man to have walked the Moon in 1969, what he would do while practicing social distancing during the coronavirus outbreak, Aldrin had some choice words: "Lying on my ass and locking the door." Aldrin is familiar with the concept of spending time in quarantine. After the Apollo 11 Command Module landed, he, along with commander Neil Armstrong and module pilot Michael Collins, had to spend three long weeks in quarantine to make sure no nasty bugs from space could spread on our planet. ## Moonage Daydream The three men were first moved to the Mobile Quarantine Facility, a converted Airstream trailer — pretty tight quarters for three adults. They were then airlifted to a secure building called the Lunar Receiving Laboratory. Years later, once the Moon was proven to be barren of life, NASA discontinued this practice after Apollo 14. When Berger asked Aldrin for some advice for the millions of people currently self-isolating at home, the now 90-year-old former astronaut reminisced of his own time in quarantine. "Well, Mike Collins and I used to exercise and jog a little bit around the hallway." ## For Ants Aldrin also questioned if his and his team's temporary home was really capable of holding microbes in. "We looked at this one crack in the floor, and there were ants crawling in and out," Aldrin said. Most of the rest of his time, he said, was spent doing paperwork. **READ MORE:** [Buzz Aldrin has some advice for Americans in quarantine]() \[*Ars Technica*\] **More on quarantine:** *[As Coronavirus Rages, Elon Musk Refuses to Close Tesla Factory]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()