United States Navy underwater demolition team swimmer (UDT), now called Navy Seals, recovered the crew of Apollo 11 after their splashdown in the Pacific ocean.
On July 24, 1969, around 4:40 a.m., the watchers aboard USS Hornet (CV-12) located the fireball in a remote part of the Pacific Ocean.
Four minutes later, a repeated sonic boom ripped through the night.
Inside the source of the incursion, Apollo 11’s command module Columbia, commander Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, lunar module pilot, and Michael Collins (command module pilot) were all “in good shape,” they now reported.
It will be over 50 years since Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the Moon’s surface and sent back iconic images of the bootprints they left behind.
We all know about these brave astronauts, but who were the people that recovered these astronauts from their capsule in the Pacific ocean?
In this short article, we will reveal the history of the recovery team.
The Rescue Was Now Underway
As the Apollo 11 command module slowed and its parachutes deployed, Navy combat swimmers or the United States Navy underwater demolition team swimmer UDT aboard a Navy helicopter caught sight of it and sprang into action.
The rescue of Apollo 11 was now underway.
The stakes were quite high for the Apollo 11 recovery mission related to the astronauts.
The success of this mission depended on a close and effective collaboration between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Navy.
Even a tiny deviation from the plan and the course for re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere would mean “astronauts could find themselves alone, hundreds of miles from their planned splashdown target, at night without communications, in a submerging spacecraft within shark-infested waters.
Underwater Demolition Team 11
A detachment from Underwater Demolition Team 11. The US Navy, therefore, deployed some of its best UDT swimmers.
So, Lieutenant Clarence James “Clancy” Hatleberg served as the detachment commander.
He was only 25 years old, and Hatleberg was a consummate veteran of Apollo recovery missions.
Clancy assisted organize dress rehearsals for the UDT swimmers or underwater demolition team swimmers.
And these took place en route to and near the splashdown site.
When Apollo 11 command module Columbia splashed down in the early morning of July 24, it quickly inverted, with the conical “top” of the spacecraft underwater and the circular “base” exposed to the water’s surface.
NASA’s uniquely designed “uprighting system” automatic inflatables fixed the situation within eight minutes.
At this point, Navy combat swimmers got to work attaching an inflatable “collar” to stabilize the spacecraft.
The UDT Swimmers
One of the combat swimmers opened the hatch quickly so he could throw in three sets of “biological isolation garments.” following, the recovery team, and UDT swimmers unloaded a raft into the water and tied it to the command module.
They unloaded other boats and equipment for the decontamination phase.
Because no one had visited the Moon before, NASA scientists were taking precautions against possible biological contamination.
In the case that the Moon had hidden some microbial organisms that now were clinging to the astronauts and everything, they had been exposed to.
Covered In a Solution of Sodium Hypochlorite
And as another precaution, UDT combat swimmers used an iodine solution to the hatch. So, the astronauts climbed onto a raft when the hatch opened again.
Members of the recovery team now soaked the astronauts and each other in a solution of sodium hypochlorite. And this part of the process did not go as planned.
The decontamination sprayers wedged in the open position meant that much of the decontamination solution were scattered into the sea, the rafts, and onto the floating collar of the Columbia command module.
These surfaces became more slippery as a result. And according to an after-action report, the “swimmers found that the decontaminant, sodium hypochlorite, will produce nausea and eye irritation.”
Finally, having been lifted by sling hoist and pulled into the recovery helicopter, Armstrong and Collins, still wearing their biological isolation suits, worried they might actually overheat.
The suits, by definition, were hermetically sealed and operated like incubators.
Mobile Quarantine Facility
There was quite a rush to get the astronauts from the helicopter to the deck and finally to the quarantine chamber, the so-called “mobile quarantine facility,” a modified caravan trailer.
Once inside, Neil, Buzz, and Michael Collins were eventually allowed to change into clean clothes.
And in this case, flight suits in a photogenic light blue.
They then continued to a picture window to be photographed and receive President Nixon’s in-person congratulations.
Invited the Astronauts to a State Dinner
Nixon acknowledged the great accomplishment of the Apollo 11 Moon landing and invited the astronauts and their spouses to a state dinner in Los Angeles on August 13, once they were out of quarantine.
Hornet’s chaplain provided prayer, and the service ended with playing the National Anthem. When the ceremonies were over, President Nixon boarded Marine One and departed Hornet. He had been on board for three hours.
That’s it, and I hope you enjoyed this article. Please check out this article: Summary of Apollo 11 Events.
The new book ‘How We Got to the Moon will reveal a stunning look at Apollo 11 Mission to the Moon.
