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Harrison Schmitt experienced nasal congestion after walking on the moon due to moondust. NASA plans to send humans back to the moon by 2024. Moon dust contains silicon dioxide, iron, magnesium, and calcium and tastes like gunpowder.
In 1972, Harrison Schmitt became the most recent person to walk on the moon, joining 11 others to claim that miraculous feat. But the moon must not have liked being stepped on: As soon as Schmitt took off his helmet inside the lunar capsule, his nasal passages swelled up and he became congested. The cause was moondust that Schmitt and his crewmates were bringing back to Earth, either by accident or on purpose. The soil samples they collected included what NASA called “the most interesting sample” ever reported. Luckily for Schmitt, the congestion passed quickly. “The first time I sniffed the powder I had an allergic reaction, the inside of my nose swelled up, you could hear it in my voice. But that gradually went away for me, and the fourth time I inhaled the moondust I didn’t notice. Still, Schmitt says the reaction has made it clear that we need to gain a better understanding of how humanity reacts to places like the moon, if only to ensure a safe return. Currently, NASA plans to send humans back to the moon, including a woman for the first time, by 2024.
Read more about moondust:
Silicon dioxide is the main component of moon dust, which also contains iron, magnesium and calcium.
Astronauts have tasted moondust and say it smells and tastes like gunpowder.
Lunar dust lies on the lunar surface, but also floats on top of it for nearly 60 miles (96.5 km).
