To shave or not to shave

The astronauts of the 1960s were mostly a crewcut bunch, but by 1969 fashions were changing, and Apollo crews returning to Earth had to make a decision: Should I shave off my moon beard? Most did, but a few experimented with new looks when they got back. Mike Collins of Apollo 11 (right), kept his mustache while in quarantine, but it was gone by the time he addressed Congress in mid-September. Apollo 14's Ed Mitchell (below) sported a beard even after returning home. The Apollo 16 crew of Duke, Young and Mattingly (below, left to right, in the raft following their splashdown), had quit shaving in space, but went back to a clean look before they left the aircraft carrier. And judging from a sequence of photographs taken by his Apollo 17 crewmates, Jack Schmitt flirted with the idea of keeping a mustache on the way back from the moon, but must have decided against it.