Not Your Average Business Trip: Buzz Aldrin Shares His Apollo 11 Expense Report
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It turns out that not even American heroes are exempt from paperwork.
Forty-six years ago this summer, Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin became the first people to walk on the moon. As completely unprecedented and literally out of this world as the experience was, when the crew of Apollo 11 came back to Earth, they still had to handle some of the more quotidian aspects of business travel.
Aldrin, a fairly prolific presence on social media, recently posted a few tweets looking back at the mission, including photos of the forms that he, Armstrong and fellow crew member Michael Collins filled out when they arrived in Honolulu after splashing down in the Pacific Ocean. Among them: a U.S. Customs form and travel voucher complete with expense report.
Related: The Smithsonian and Kickstarter Partner Up to Preserve Neil Armstrong’s Spacesuit
Upon their re-entry into the planet’s atmosphere (and, you know, the country), Aldrin and company had to declare their cargo — moon rock and moon dust samples — and confirm that none of them had any bouts of illness while en route. However, at that point, whether they had contracted any kind of contagious “moon disease” was still up for grabs, hence the need for a quarantine shortly after their arrival.
Yes the #Apollo11 crew also signed customs forms. We brought back moon rocks & moon dust samples. Moon disease TBD. pic.twitter.com/r9Sn57DeoW
— Buzz Aldrin (@TheRealBuzz) August 2, 2015Related: The Power of Planning: NASA’s Pluto Flyby Was Epic and Amazing
Aldrin also claimed $33.31 for the fairly expansive round trip from Houston to Florida’s Cape Kennedy to the moon, to the Pacific Ocean to Hawaii and back to Houston — on modes of transportation as varied as government air, government spacecraft, the USS Hornet and a U.S. Air Force plane.
All told, it’s likely the “travel and other expenses” came from driving around in his POV (in government parlance, his privately owned vehicle). Totally makes you rethink your complaints about that one layover now, doesn’t it?
#TBT My mission director @Buzzs_xtina‘s favorite piece of my memorabilia. My travel voucher to the moon. #Apollo11 pic.twitter.com/c89UyOfvgY
— Buzz Aldrin (@TheRealBuzz) July 30, 2015It turns out that not even American heroes are exempt from paperwork.
Forty-six years ago this summer, Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin became the first people to walk on the moon. As completely unprecedented and literally out of this world as the experience was, when the crew of Apollo 11 came back to Earth, they still had to handle some of the more quotidian aspects of business travel.
Aldrin, a fairly prolific presence on social media, recently posted a few tweets looking back at the mission, including photos of the forms that he, Armstrong and fellow crew member Michael Collins filled out when they arrived in Honolulu after splashing down in the Pacific Ocean. Among them: a U.S. Customs form and travel voucher complete with expense report.
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