It was with a certain amount of glee that I arrived at my aunt's house near Houston, Texas, a few weeks ago and told her the highlight of my media tour at NASA's Johnson Space Center was putting on a bunny suit.
The incredulous eyebrows were lowered when I explained that this is the playful name given to the clean-room attire needed to enter the Lunar Receiving Lab, a "library" of moon rocks and other cosmic material cataloged for study in Johnson's Building 37.
—courtesy NASA
The process of entering the lab was pretty intense. My tour group had already been instructed to wear long pants and closed-toe shoes—the first time I had ever been given a dress code for a media briefing.
First we needed to set aside any sundry items (pen, notepad, camera) we wanted to take with us to be cleaned by helpful professionals. Then we had to take off all jewelry and step inside a mostly bare room, where one can only put street shoes on the gray "welcome" mat. Blue booties went over the shoes, and we immediately had to step on the white tiles and move toward the next door.
Behind Door Number Two we put on the aforementioned bunny suit: a white jumpsuit, tall cloth boots, a hat, and gloves.
Next we stepped into an air lock-style holding area, where we were swept with filtered air for a full minute before finally being allowed to set foot inside the lab.
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