Lunar Receiving Laboratory - first U.S. facility for handling lunar samples and quarantining astronauts

NASA established the Lunar Receiving Laboratory at the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston in 1967 to receive, quarantine, and initially analyze lunar samples and astronauts returned from the Apollo missions. The LRL was the first U.S. facility specifically designed and operated to prevent potential biological contamination from extraterrestrial materials and to process lunar materials for scientific study. It housed specialized containment and analytical equipment and oversaw early curation protocols for Apollo samples.