Frondel, Astronauts End Moon Quarantine

Blinking at the unaccustomed sunlight, the Apollo 12 astronauts were released yesterday from their quarantine in Houston's Lunar Receiving Laboratory.

Released with them was Clifford Frondel. Harvard professor of Mineralogy, who had joined the quarantine when NASA technicians noticed a hole in one of the protective plastic gloves he was using to handle lunar material.

His wife, Judith W. Frondel, research associate in Geology, reported that her husband had made the best of the situation, poring over moon rocks and chatting with the astronauts.

"It was an absolutely wonderful group to be quarantined with," she said. "Everyone-especially the astronauts-was so congenial, and many were old friends."