ALSEP Deployment

Ending the First Day

 

Return to the LM and Closeout

Corrected Transcript and Commentary Copyright © 1995 by Eric M. Jones.
All rights reserved.
Scan credits in the Image Library.
Video credits in the Video Library.
Except where noted, MP3 audio clips by Thomas Scwagmeier and video clips by Ken Glover.
Last revised 3 July 2017.

[Ed joins Al near the Central Station. Ed has one task remaining in the 2+51 paragraph in his checklist. At 116:51:57, as called out in Al's checklist in the 2+34 paragraph, Al put Astronaut Switch #5 in the counterclockwise position. Ed will return it to the clockwise position at 117:35:27. Because of the various difficulties Al encountered in his part of the ALSEP activities, Al has not yet done the comprehensive sampling, which he was to have done while Ed was using the thumper.]

MP3 Audio Clip (Schwagmeier) (1 hr 3 min 19 sec)

117:35:08 Shepard: Okay, we ought to look around the spot for the (garbled). I think we'd better have a little change in strategy here. (Pause)

117:35:27 Mitchell: Okay, Houston, the...(lost under McCandless)

[Ed is undoubtedly reporting that astronaut switch 5 is now in the clockwise position.]

117:35:43 Shepard: (Now at the MET) Eighteen minutes and 30 extension is what we have, is that correct?

117:35:47 McCandless: That's Roger. You are 3 hours and 56 minutes into the EVA at this time.

RealVideo Clip (3 min 07 sec)

117:35:54 Shepard: Okay, in that case then, we will arm the mortar package at this time before we leave. We'll proceed back along our track getting geology along the way.

117:35:27 Mitchell: Okay, Houston, the...(lost under McCandless)

[Ed is undoubtedly reporting that Astronaut Switch 5 is now in the clockwise position.]

117:35:43 Shepard: (Now at the MET) Eighteen minutes and 30 extension is what we have, is that correct?

117:35:47 McCandless: That's Roger. You are 3 hours and 56 minutes into the EVA at this time.

RealVideo Clip (3 min 07 sec)

117:35:54 Shepard: Okay, in that case then, we will arm the mortar package at this time before we leave. We'll proceed back along our track getting geology along the way.

117:36:07 McCandless: Roger. We concur.

[At 3+20 in their checklists, Al and Ed planned to conduct a 20-minute geology traverse before activating the Mortar Pack and returning to the LM.]

[Mitchell - "Eventually, they decided not to fire the mortars. They were afraid it would blow over the Central Station. But I'm surprised we didn't fire them before we shut the station down (along with all of the others in September 1977)."]

[Page 2-161 in the ALSEP Flight System Familiarization Manual indicates that the mortars would be launch by command from Earth about one year after deployment, undoubtedly to avoid disruption of data collection from other experiments. Page 5-2 in the ALSEP Termination Report indicates that "the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) needed the ALSEP transmitters for its very long base interferometer (VLBI) experiments and requested that the transmitters be left "on" after the termination of ALSEP operation in 1977. To comply with this request, and because of the remote possibility of dust contamination of the Laser Ranging Retro Reflector (LRRR) of the Apollo 14 site, a decision was made that no destructive engineering tests or grenade firings would be attempted.]

117:36:16 Mitchell: Okay, Houston. Did you copy (the report at 117:35:27) that switch number 5 is clockwise and safe?

117:36:20 McCandless: Roger. I now copy that switch number 5, clockwise and safe. (Pause)

[Al rejoins Ed at the Mortar Pack.]

117:36:52 McCandless: Al...

117:36:53 Shepard: Wrong place to hold it.

117:36:56 McCandless: Al and Ed, this is Houston. After arming the mortar pack, we'd like you to proceed back in the general direction of the LM and, selecting a suitable area in route, collect the comprehensive sample and try to pick up a football-size rock on the way. Over.

117:37:14 Shepard: Okay, that's our intent, Houston.

117:37:17 McCandless: Okay, and I'll give you periodic reports on how much time you've got left until you have to be back at the MESA.

117:37:26 Shepard: Okay. (Long Pause)

117:37:45 Mitchell: Where is it? (Long Pause)

117:38:03 Shepard: Okay, it's a little off level, now.

117:38:05 Mitchell: Well, I'll re-level it (garbled).

117:38:06 Shepard: Okay.

117:38:07 Mitchell: Okay. (Garbled) re-level it right now.

117:38:11 Shepard: I'll press on, and go back and look for a good spot for this...

[Al goes south to get the MET and then find a spot for the comprehensive sample.]

117:38:18 McCandless: Roger. (Long Pause)

[Al starts east toward the LM, passing between the Central Station and the SIDE as he goes.]

117:39:05 McCandless: Al and Ed, Mark, four hours into the EVA.

117:39:08 Shepard: Okay.

117:39:10 McCandless: With the half-hour extension, we're working into a 4-hour-and-45-minute EVA duration.

117:39:19 Shepard: Thank you.

[Al has gone out of the TV picture to the right.]

[They will need the extension handle when they collect core samples during the EVA-2 traverse and Houston wants to make sure that they take it with them so that they won't have to come back to get it.]

117:39:39 McCandless: Roger. Out. (Long Pause)

117:39:52 Mitchell: (On the 3+20 paragraph in his checklist) Okay, Houston, the mortar pack is aligned with the bubble tangent to the inner ring; and I'm going to arm it now; and it's pointed almost...well, almost due north, a little bit to the west of north. I guess Al's photographs will allow you to get that exactly.

117:40:15 McCandless: Roger; bubble tangent to inner ring and almost due north.

117:40:22 Mitchell: Well, it's tangent to the inner ring on the northwest side.

117:40:32 McCandless: Okay.

117:40:34 Mitchell: Both arming switches are on, on the mortar pack. (Astronaut) Switch #5 is going back counter-clockwise.

117:40:41 McCandless: Okay, stand clear. (Long Pause)

[Ed goes over to the Central Station to re-position switch 5. With switch 5 in the clockwise position, there is no electric power being supplied to the mortar pack. With the mortar pack now armed and aligned, Ed is re-establishing the circuit.]

117:41:00 McCandless: Okay. And you got the safety...

117:41:01 Mitchell: (Refering to the 'Caution' in his checklist) It's sure hard to stay 15 feet back when it's...(Listens) Fifteen feet away when that cable's only 10 feet long.

[Mitchell - "It says right here in the checklist, 'stay 15 feet back of mortar pack'. And the cable between the mortar pack and the Central Station was only 10 feet long."]

117:41:18 Mitchell: That's affirm. (Pause as Ed goes a few feet south of the Central Station) And I have the extension handle, and I'm starting out after Alan, now. (Pause)

117:41:44 Mitchell: Whee! Hey, this is sure a different mode of traveling than carrying that barbell.

[Ed is now using his floating-skip stride with confidence.]

[Mitchell - "Watch closely. You'll see how I'm kind of floating over the ground and, every time I come down it's 'poop-poop' and then I'm floating again. Poop-poop."]

[Jones - "I wish I had brought along a lovely piece of Apollo 17 tape at their Station 5, where all three of the strides get used in a space of about 3 or 4 minutes. And, here, even with the bloom of the image, it's very evident how much you're bounding on each stride."]

117:42:24 McCandless: Roger, Al.

[Ed has now gone out of the TV picture to the right to join Al.]

117:42:37 McCandless: Roger, Al. (Long Pause)

[Al's "locator" to the LM is AS14-67- 9388. His "locator" to the ALSEP is 9389. A detail from the high-resolution scan done from the original film by NASA Johnson shows Ed coming over to join him, carrying the extension handle with the geophone-line anchor still attached. See, also, page 96 in the Apollo 14 Preliminary Science Report.]

117:42:51 Mitchell: Okay, Al. Need some help there?

117:42:53 Shepard: Yeah, I wanted to pick up all the walnut-size rocks...

117:42:56 Mitchell: Okay.

117:43:56 Shepard: ...(garbled) tongs. (Pause) And then we'll work the surface fines, here.

117:43:10 Shepard: Why don't you work that side of it (that is, of the circle), and I'll work this side.

117:43:14 Mitchell: Okay. (Long Pause)

[On the later missions, the astronauts had a large rake - rather like a clam rake - with tines separated by one centimeter. They dragged the rake through the soil and, thereby collected all the rock fragments larger than the tine spacing. The rake was the brain-child of geologist Lee Silver and made rock collection much simpler than picking up individual rocks with the tongs]

[Jones - "What's your recollection about the interest in walnut-sized rocks?"]

[Mitchell - "I don't recall any particular interest in walnut-sized rocks. We were categorizing rocks, like you grade them through different-sized holes in a screen. And so the idea was to get the distribution of different-sized rocks in an area."]

[Jones - "Oh, okay. So Al's starting at the walnut-size."]

[Mitchell - "That's right. There were big rocks down to the walnut-sized rocks and then, after that, it was getting down to the fines. Pebble sized and on down to the fine-grained stuff. But the main thing was to discover what was the distribution in a particular, selected area, concentrating on fines. But what is the distribution of rocks in that area. What was the purpose of that exercise. It was a technique of draw a circle so big around - and you know the size of it - take a sample out of it and then you get distribution."]

[Jones - "So my supposition about the rake is a little wrong because, with the rake that was used on the J-missions they were specifically looking for the walnut-sized rocks, I think for some cosmic-ray purposes. And Jack also said there may have been a somewhat larger fraction of exotics in that size range, for some reason."]

[Mitchell - "Could be. I don't recall any particular rationale behind our looking for walnut-sized rocks, except for a general distribution."]

[Jones - "So yours is more like the archeologist drawing a circle and counting pot shards."]

[Mitchell - "Exactly."]

117:43:53 Mitchell: Oh, damn.

[The following dialog suggests that Al is holding a weigh bag and that Ed is trying to reach across to put the rocks he is picking up into Al's bag. Ed may have kicked dirt into the sample area, a common problem.]

117:44:00 Mitchell: Pardon?

117:44:01 Shepard: For this amount of time, we can really only get the ones that are essentially about...

117:44:07 Mitchell: Yeah, let me grab another weigh bag, because you're too far away for me to...

117:44:10 Shepard: An inch in diameter.

117:44:17 Mitchell: ...Can't help you very well this way. Get something together in a minute. (Long Pause)

[Shepard, from the 1971 Technical Debrief - "We found - because of all these little problems (that came up during the ALSEP deployment) - that we had less time than we thought (we would have) to finish up the EVA. We did press ahead and collect this comprehensive sample. The sample was taken from an area that included a circle of perhaps 8 feet in diameter. We collected the small rocks in one bag. The fines were scooped up and collected in the other bag, just the way we had talked about it. We did activate the mortar package before leaving the (ALSEP deployment) area, because we were getting short on time. We did pick up some grab samples on the way back. There really were no problems. I guess we finished everything on the checklist. We just had less time at the end than I figured we would have to pick up the (photographically) documented samples. It was just a collection of little things that got us - no one great big thing - such as the things that we have discussed: the adjustment of Boyd bolts, the hard things to see, all these little problems with the thumper geophone, and so forth just gradually bit into the timeline."]

[Mitchell - "Sampling was primarily Al's job. And he'd worked out his technique for getting them. Normally I wasn't involved. That was one task on this mission that we hadn't backed each other up on. So I didn't know exactly what his strategy was for picking up the comprehensive sample. So that's why, here, I was probably a little less than useful scurrying over to help him, just because we were just flat running out of time. Trying to be helpful, but I'm not sure I was very helpful."]

[The later crews usually did sampling as a team and spent enough time refining their technique during pre-flight geology training that, by the time they got to the Moon, they were quite efficient. In the usual mode of operation one of the astronauts would use a pair of tongs to grab a sample, while the other astronaut opened an individual sample bag. Once the sample was in, the astronaut with the tongs would select the next sample while the bagger got the first bag closed and stowed. Because they had thoroughly rehearsed dual sampling, the J-mission crews were often at their most efficient when pressed for time. The Apollo 17 crew's performance at Shorty Crater is an outstanding example and illustrates the value of well-practiced, two-person sampling procedures.]

117:44:49 Mitchell: Okay. I'll get one (sample bag) for the fines.

117:44:51 Shepard: Get one for the fines and we'll start...I'd just say, just grab an undisturbed site out of each quadrant (that) we haven't hit with our feet. Cut it down (that is, skim the surface) to about a centimeter level (pause) and fill the bag that way.

117:45:15 Mitchell: Okay. You want the medium-size scoop or the big scoop for this?

117:45:21 Shepard: No, actually, the trenching tool...No, the medium size scoop is the best. All you're going to do is cut the surface to the depth of about a centimeter in an undisturbed area here; where we haven't picked up the rocks. Okay?

117:45:37 Mitchell: Okay; bring the stuff over right now. (Pause)

[The large scoop is shown in S69-31583 and had a box-shaped head 15 by 9 by 15 cm. The smaller scoop, shown in S69-31850, had a 3 by 6.6 cm pan; and the trenching tool, shown in S71-22470, had a 5 by 15 cm blade. The trenching tool had the advantage of an adjustable blade angle and this feature was incorporated in the J-mission scoops that replaced all these digging tools. The Apollo 15 scoop is shown in S71-22472. It had a pan width of 7.3 cm, a pan height of 4.6 cm, and a pan length of 12.7 cm. For Apollos 16 and 17, these dimensions were increased to 11.4, 5.1, and 15.2 cm.]

117:45:45 Mitchell: You're going to have this done before I can get around to you.

117:45:45 McCandless: ...We show about 8 minutes remaining until you should be at the MESA to start closeout.

117:45:53 Shepard: Okay, we will be able to leave the comprehensive sample (area) at that time.

117:45:59 McCandless: Beautiful.

117:46:02 Mitchell: Hey, here...Don't close it, here's one in here for that.

117:46:06 Shepard: Huh?

117:46:07 Mitchell: Here's one in here I picked up.

117:46:08 Shepard: Oh, okay. Dump it in here, then. (Pause) Okay. Good.

117:46:37 Mitchell: Okay. (Pause) Okay; I'll start over here in this undisturbed area (to get a surface soil sample).

117:46:47 Shepard: Okay, just get that area and then right here in this area. And fill up the bag to the line. Now I'll head on back a little farther (toward the LM), get a football-size rock.

[The ‘line' may be the uppermost fold of the cloth weigh bag.]

117:46:59 Mitchell: Okay. (Long Pause)

[Jones - "Would you have been holding the bag in one hand and the scoop in the other?"]

[Mitchell - "And that is a bitch. That is difficult."]

[Because of the stiffness of the suit, the only way to do solo sampling efficiently is to hold the bag in one hand and, after getting the sample in the scoop, working one's hand far enough down toward the scoop head that the sample can be poured into the bag with a hand rotation, rather than the sort of big arm motion that would be necessary when holding the scoop out near the end of the handle. On Apollo 17, it took several tries before Jack Schmitt worked out a viable technique.]

[Jones - "Any tricks of the trade that you remember?"]

[Mitchell - "Practice. The only thing to do. Practice. Because you're as clumsy as a bear cub playing with a stick and boxing with himself. Trying to hold open...The bags were too small..."]

[Jones - "You're making an opening about six inches across."]

[Mitchell - "Something like that. And trying to get a scoop full in there without dumping it all over the place. Unless you had the little scoop. But the scoop with the handle on it was wider than the sample bag mouth, so we were dumping stuff all over. All over your gloves, on the ground. It was really a very tedious task."]

[Ed is probably using a cloth weigh bag, shown in S70-18760, which has a 15 by 22 cm (6 by 8 inches) opening. Post-flight photo 71-H-339 (scan by Ed Hengeveld) shows Ed holding a weigh bag during a debriefing he and Al had with the geologists.]

[Al re-appears in the TV frame, part way up the slope just west of the LM, looking for an "FSR" or football-sized rock. He is pulling the MET.]

[Comm Break. Al goes over to the right and is just off-screen when he stops to sample.]

[As with icebergs, it is often the case that most of a partially exposed rock is below the surface. Over time, a rock that is initially just lying on the surface - or, more likely, is lying at the bottom of a small crater it dug when it landed - will quickly acquire a skirt of dust - called a fillet - that builds up as the result of ejecta from nearby impacts splashing against the sides of the rock. It is usually impossible to tell the true size of a potential sample.]

117:49:14 Shepard: Okay. (Pause) You want to start back now, Ed?

117:49:21 Mitchell: All right, let me get about three more scoops, Al. I can get there before long.

117:49:25 Shepard: Good. (Long Pause)

RealVideo Clip (3 min 10 sec)

117:50:12 Shepard: Okay, Houston, you can see where...(You can see) the area where the football-sized rock is coming from. It's essentially two-thirds of the way back toward the LM, from the ALSEP site. The rock appears to have been ejected from the crater which Ed was describing earlier (from the LM window), in his 12:30 position. As a matter of fact, it's going to be a small football-sized rock...No, it turned out to be two of them. (Pause)

[An un-numbered training photo (scan by J.L. Pickering) shows Al and Ed in a light-hearted moment, rehearsing the collection of a football-sized rock. Note the Florida native in the foreground.]

[For reference, a regulation football used in the U.S. National Football League is a rubber bladder covered with pebble-grained leather (pigskin) of tan color and inflated to 12 1/2 to 13 1/2 pounds of air pressure. It is a prolate spheroid with a long axis of 11 to 11 1/4 inches and a circumference of 28 to 28 1/2 inches. The diameter is 8.9 to 9.1 inches. At the small end of these ranges, the equivalent metric dimensions are 28 cm length and 23 cm diameter.]

[Note that the box of the scoop shown in the training photo has dimensions of 15.2x15.2x9.3 cm. The football in the picture appears to have a diameter of about 12-14 cm, suggesting that it is a child's version.]

[Al took four pictures at this location, AS12-67- 9390 to 9393. They are the last pictures on the magazine.]

117:51:45 Shepard: And, at first glance, appears to be fairly similar (in) color. It's a large hand sample. It's essentially nonvesicular. Just some very small vesicles.

[Vesicles are the often-spherical imprints of gas bubbles trapped in a cooling rock. The two rocks are samples 14304 and 14305. Both weigh about 2.5 kilograms and both are breccias - that is, rocks formed of fragments of other rocks fused together in an impact. Sample 14304 is about 20x10x11 cm in size while 14305 is about 14x15x10. Al and Ed will only collect three rocks larger than these two.]

117:52:02 Shepard: And, one seems to be a fair...(Listens)

117:52:02 McCandless: ...we'd like to get you on back to the vicinity of the MESA.

117:52:08 Shepard: What looks to be a fairly large crystal in that second small football rock and Al's starting back toward the MESA, now.

117:52:17 Mitchell: And I'm on my way, too.

117:52:19 McCandless: Roger. (Long Pause)

[Ed appears at the right edge of the TV picture.]

117:52:33 Mitchell: Now, the number of surface rocks - or rocks - compared with the number of surface fines is very, very small, Houston. There's a few boulders lying around and there's a few rocks around some of the craters; but, by and large, it's a powdery surface. Don't run into that crater, Al.

117:52:56 Shepard: Won't. Don't worry, babe. (Pause) A little sidewinder action, here. (Pause)

[They both go out of the TV picture, Al going around the north side of the crater and Ed going around the south side.]

117:53:12 Mitchell: The old man's traveling pretty well.

117:53:14 Shepard: Hey, how about keeping your eye on it (the MET) because...

117:53:16 Mitchell: I am. (Pause)

[They both come back into the TV picture. Al has a large red stripe on his helmet and red stripes on his arms and legs, and these make him easy to distinguish from Ed, who has no stripes on his suit. Ulli Lotzmann has provided a photo of the stripe on the left arm of Al's suit ( 155k ), taken in August 2004 at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum's Garber Facility.]

[The MET is wobbling in response to the uneven terrain and Al wants Ed to watch and make sure that nothing falls off unnoticed.]

[Jones - "Your skip is very evident in this section of the video, going around a crater."]

[Mitchell - "Yeah. Al's doing, boomp, boomp, boomp, stride, stride, stride. And I'm doing the floating skip."]

[Jones - "This is a nice little sequence of your gait at this point. It looks more confident than it did early in the EVA."]

[Ed lands on his left foot first, and then his right.]

[As with any loosely packed material, shaking is making Ed's soil sample compact. The same phenomenon produces the very compact soil that all of the crews encountered at depths greater than a few inches in all places except the rims of young craters. The constant rain of impactors - large and small - shakes the regolith layer and makes it very firm, except in places recently disturbed by a direct hit.]

[They both go out of the TV picture to the left, headed for the MESA.]

117:53:47 Mitchell: (Garbled) going down hills like that.

117:53:47 McCandless: …moving across the TV camera and it looks like you've gotten back to the MESA here with about 10 or 15 seconds to spare on our mark. We do have plenty of time for the nominal closeout, so we don't want you to rush that. Just go through the procedures, and we'll take the timing as it comes. And, when you have a moment, we'd like to get an EMU status report.

117:54:08 Shepard: Okay. (Pause)

117:54:15 Mitchell: And since I'm coming by the (TV) camera, Houston, I'll turn you around (to point toward the MESA).

[This item is normally Al's responsibility but is noted in Ed's checklist at 3+45.]

117:54:22 Mitchell: Okay. (Garbled) have a view… (Pause)

117:54:31 McCandless: And we go back to average (sensitivity), and (relative aperture or f-stop) f/44.

117:54:40 Mitchell: How's the field-of-view right now?

[The TV is pointed at the ground between the MET and the S-Band antenna.]

117:54:48 Mitchell: Okay. Just a minute. Okay. (Pause) Switch it to 40.

117:55:03 McCandless: Okay, can you elevate the camera a little?

117:55:08 Mitchell: Yeah, I have to dig in a leg. How's that?

117:55:13 McCandless: Okay. Good. Very good.

117:55:17 Mitchell: Okay. (Pause) Oh, damn it! There went my (comprehensive soil) sample bag.

RealVideo Clip (2 min 52 sec)

117:55:28 Shepard: Put your UHT handle through it (to pick it up).

117:55:32 Mitchell: I'll use this handle. Fortunately, I don't think more than a little bit fell out. (Long Pause)

[Al is at 3+45 in his checklist is transferring samples, cameras, and film magazines from the MET to the MESA. Just prior to his next transmission, Ed starts for the MESA carrying the weigh bag full of soil from the comprehensive sample site.]

117:56:58 Shepard: Okay, Houston; for your information, those documentary location shots of the comprehensive sample (were) taken on (70mm magazine) JJ and I'm now showing (a frame count of) four-zero (40).

117:57:12 McCandless: Roger; JJ (and) 40, for the comprehensive sample area. (Pause)

[They are both at the MET now.]

117:57:41 Shepard: Huh?

117:57:42 Mitchell: That's all right I wanted you to stow that, but your hands are full, too. I'll get it (garbled, possibly "in a minute").

117:57:49 Shepard: And on the comprehensive sample, Houston, I'd say we have about 15 rocks, and some fines. One weigh bag is going in the SRC (Sample Return Container, the vacuum sealed rock box).

[Al heads for the MESA.]

RealVideo Clip (3 min 38 sec)

117:58:16 Mitchell: Okay. (Pause)

117:58:24 Shepard: Okay, I guess we've got a little room (in the SRC) to do that. I put the football-sized rocks in the ETB.

117:58:29 Mitchell: Okay. Let's see, you put a 70-millimeter camera in the ETB?

117:58:35 Shepard: You want a bag? Yup, it's in there.

117:58:37 Mitchell: Did you take out the TDS (Thermal Degradation Sample)?

117:58:41 Shepard: No, not yet.

117:58:43 Mitchell: Okay, it's probably in the bottom (of the ETB).

[Before rejoining Al on the surface, at 114:31:17Ed confirmed to Bruce that one of the two TDS arrays was in the ETB he was about to send down on the LEC. Once they get back to the LM, as per Ed’s checklist at 3+45, Ed will transfer the TDS to the large, trangular bag - called the ‘cavity’ - in the Handtool Carrier on the MET.]

[Ed goes to the MESA and Al returns to the MET.]

117:58:48 Shepard: (To Mitchell) Yes, it is.

117:58:48 McCandless: ...that's totally unused: Dover Delaware.

117:58:54 Shepard: It's on the MET, Bruce. It never made it on the camera.

117:58:59 McCandless: I think Ed put it on. (Pause) But didn't start it.

117:59:04 Mitchell: Negative.

117:59:07 Shepard: Oh, I'm sorry. I take it back, we did put it on. (Pause) Okay, where is that good scoop?

[As per checklist and Houston's reminder at 117:58:01, Al will get enough samples near the LM to fill the SRC.]

117:59:28 Shepard: All right.

117:59:30 Mitchell: Trenching tool.

117:59:31 Shepard: Want to hold the bag?

117:59:32 Mitchell: Yes.

[Ed, perhaps having noted how relatively inefficient they were at solo sampling, is suggesting that they work together. As mentioned previously, a crew working as a team could usually do more sampling than they could working separately. There were instances when that was not true, say when one of them was examining a boulder and, in such cases, it made sense for the other astronaut to collect a few samples or take a few documentation pictures rather than stand around. But, if they were both sampling, they achieved greatest efficiency if one of them handled the individual sample bags while the other handled the scoop or shovel.]

117:59:36 Mitchell: Okay, let's go get it.

117:59:37 Shepard: Right out here. (Pause)

[They disappear out of the TV field-of-view to the right.]

[All of the crews saw at least a few small, fresh craters with impact glass in the bottom. The Apollo 17 crew was particularly conscious of them. During the 1991 mission review, Ed said that he didn't remember seeing more than a few glass-bottomed craters. Glass indicates a very fresh crater that was produced by an impactor traveling fast enough to heat some of the target soil to the melting point.]

118:00:28 Mitchell: Yeah. Scoop it out. (Pause) Got it.

118:00:37 Shepard: See, there's a different color layer in there. (Pause) Okay, how does that look to you?

118:00:47 Mitchell: I can take another shovelful (in the bag).

118:00:48 Shepard: Okay. (Long Pause)

118:01:03 Mitchell: That's good.

118:01:04 Shepard: Okay. Houston, that's in a small crater; looks like it might be a secondary impact, just hazarding a guess. It's about 2 feet in diameter, and it's between 130 (to 1)50 feet, 130 (to 1)40 feet from the LM.

[A secondary crater is produced by the impact of ejecta from some other impact. Necessarily, a secondary impact is a very low velocity impact and, often, the resulting crater is oblong and contains some of the impacting material.]

118:01:26 Shepard: And we'll put a documented sample bag in there with it.

118:01:31 McCandless: Right. That's the...

118:01:32 Shepard: (Now back at the MET) We'll put a documented sample bag in there with. (Pause) And that will be (pause as he gets an individual sample bag off the MET) bag number 1. Here you go, Ed; stick it in there.

118:01:53 Mitchell: Okay, put it in.

RealVideo Clip (3 min 21 sec)

118:01:56 Shepard: (Giving the bag number) One November; one November.

118:01:59 McCandless: Roger. Out.

118:02:05 Shepard: Okay. Get it in and I'll fill up the SRC, and that will do it very nicely.

118:02:09 Mitchell: Okay. (Pause) There you go.

118:02:14 Shepard: Hey, you got her!

[Al goes to the MESA with the second weigh bag. It contains samples 14160-163, 402, 422, and 425-453.]

118:02:46 McCandless: Al, this is Houston.

118:02:49 Shepard: (To Ed) Okay, that's too big. Stick that in the ETB, also. Go ahead, Houston.

118:02:54 McCandless: Roger; prior to terminating the EVA, on the TV camera, we'll need it set to f/44, peak, and align so that the long axis of the camera is perpendicular to the Sun. We'd also like to move the camera so that in this orientation we're still viewing the LM. Over.

118:03:15 Shepard: Okay.

118:03:16 Mitchell: Okay...

118:03:17 Shepard: Want f/44, peak, and long direction normal to (meaning ‘perpendicular to’) the sunline.

118:03:22 McCandless: Roger.

118:03:26 Mitchell: (At the front of the MET) Al, did you get the...Did you put the maps in...No, the maps are right here.

[These are the EVA-1 maps, which they will take back up to the cabin in the ETB.]

118:03:35 Mitchell: Okay.

118:03:36 Shepard: The (CDR's) 70-millimeter camera in the ETB, and I'm packing the SRC.

118:03:42 Mitchell: Okay.

118:03:43 Shepard: And, Houston, we were unable to get all of the weigh bags in the SRC. It's full. We're putting the small samples - the small rocks - from the comprehensive sample in the weigh bag along with the two small football rocks.

118:04:11 McCandless: Roger. (Pause) Understand the football rocks are in one weigh bag, and you're adding another weigh bag containing the small rocks.

118:04:23 Shepard: Right; two weigh bags and they're both in the ETB.

118:04:27 McCandless: Roger.

118:04:29 Shepard: (To himself) Get in there, baby.

118:04:31 Mitchell: We're going to have to make another ETB load, Al. I've got another 70-millimeter camera to go.

118:04:38 Shepard: It (the ETB)'s not very heavy.

118:04:40 Mitchell: (Back at the ETB) I'm thinking about volume.

118:04:46 Shepard: Okay; (sounding like he’s struggling with the SRC latch) (Get the) SRC closed now. (Pause) (Reading his checklist to make sure he's got everything in) Okay, so SRC serial 07, Houston, contains, then, the organic control sample, the fines from the comprehensive sample, and the extra fines from that small crater we collected near the LM.

118:05:18 Mitchell: Okay.

RealVideo Clip (3 min 21 sec)

118:05:19 McCandless: Roger; we copy those in the SRC.

118:05:20 Shepard: (Two) 70-millimeter cameras, and three 16-millimeters (mags). Get the good one (the unexposed 16 mm mag) off there, okay?

118:05:22 Mitchell: Going around the end of the MET farthest from the TV) Okay; I got it, Al.

118:05:24 Shepard: (Between the MESA and the MET) Okay, and the map should be there...

118:05:26 Mitchell: I've got the map, already.

118:05:27 Shepard: ...and the lens/scribe/brush assembly.

118:05:30 Mitchell: I'll grab it.

118:05:31 Shepard: (Going to the TV) Okay, I'll boot on out here, take care of...

118:05:33 Mitchell: Watch...You're tangled up in the (TV) cable.

118:05:39 Shepard: Okay, 44, peak, normal.

118:05:42 Mitchell: Rog. (Pause)

[Al runs out to the TV camera with ease.]

[Shepard, from the 1971 Technical Debrief - "There's not much you can do about those cables, except just try to stay clear of them. You might dig a trench and bury them if you thought it was worth the time, and it's about the only thing I can think of. Bury them, at least in the area of high activity around the MESA."]

[Mitchell, from the 1971 Technical Debrief - "Or move them closer to the LM or out to the side so that they're not right in your walking area. I think we can make a comment right here that cable-set on all the cables was a problem. Just about every cable we pulled out had some set in it that made it curl or kink, and it would not lie flat."]

[On the J-missions, the TV and high-gain antenna were mounted on the Rover and ran off of battery power, eliminating the need for cables in the MESA area. ALSEP cables remained a problem.]

118:05:55 Shepard: I just zoomed by you.

118:05:59 McCandless: We saw you zoom by us.

118:06:00 Shepard: Okay; verifying. 44 on the zoom; I mean 44 on the f-stop; 25 on the zoom...want infinity on the...Very good on the focus. We're transmitting and we're in peak and we're long axis normal to the Sun. How is that?

118:06:30 McCandless: Roger, Al. (Pause)

118:06:39 Shepard: You want the lens cap on or off?

118:06:41 McCandless: Lens cap off, o-f-f.

118:06:47 Shepard: O-f-f! (Reading his checklist as he runs back to join Ed at the MET) Okay; ETB contains two medium football rocks and the small rocks from the comprehensive sample, contains two 70-millimeter Cam(era)s, three 16-millimeter mags, map, lens/scribe/brush assembly.

118:07:09 Mitchell: Yes, they're all in there; I just checked them.

118:07:11 Shepard: Good show.

118:07:12 Mitchell: And the SRC number 2 (for EVA 2) is on the MET.

118:07:17 Shepard: Okay, let's see if we can get you clean.

118:07:20 Mitchell: Okay, I think that completes my checklist.

[Ed and Al are both at 4+00 in their checklists and 4+28 in the EVA.]

118:07:26 Mitchell: (To Al who is going to the MESA) You're tangled up in the cable again. The cable, the cable.

118:07:31 Shepard: (To McCandless) Say again.

118:07:32 McCandless: SRC number 1, sealed and close-up camera off.

118:07:37 Shepard: SRC number 1 is sealed.

118:07:40 Mitchell: And (I) verify that close-up camera is off. (Pause)

118:07:47 Shepard: Okay, it's going to be a...(Garbled). (Pause)

118:07:57 Mitchell: (Joining Al at the MESA) Brush?

118:07:59 Shepard: Yeah.

118:08:00 Mitchell: Okay.

118:08:03 Shepard: (Garbled) (Pause) (Garbled) (Long Pause) RealVideo Clip (3 min 01 sec)

118:08:22 Mitchell: Okay, next. 118:08:25 Shepard: Now, let's get out in the Sun and see whether we can see (to dust).

118:08:29 Mitchell: Yes, do it here. Go at it. (Pause) I don't know. God, you're a mess. (Pause)

[Ed will dust Al first. They have moved over between the MESA and the north footpad. Ed is partly hidden by the S-band antenna while Al is closer to the MESA.]

118:08:43 Mitchell: Yeah, it helps quite a bit. Let me just start at the top. (Pause) It'll take awhile, but we'll get it there.

[Ed may have taken a few tentative swipes at chest height or lower but decides to devote his attention to the highest dust he can find so that he can avoid redusting surfaces he has already cleaned. Ed and Al are the first crew to use a dustbrush and, although Ed did not remember in 1991 what type of brush they used, their favorable comments during the 1971 Technical Debrief suggest that it was identical to the house-paint-sized brushes carried by the J-mission crews. The need for a large dustbrush became obvious when, despite trying to clean each other with their hands, the Apollo 12 crew brought so much loose dust into the cabin that, when they returned to orbit, the LM cabin filled with floating dust. The 12 dust was so bad that Conrad and Bean had to leave their helmets on long enough for the ECS filters to clean much of it out of the cabin air. After rendezvous with the Command Module, CMP Dick Gordon took one look at them and announced that they were too dirty to come into his spacecraft and, consequently, both Conrad and Bean stripped, left their suits in the LM, and floated over wearing only their headsets.]

[Shepard, from the 1971 Technical Debrief - "We found that the brush that we had planned to use to dust off the suits was effective. It did take off the first layer of loose dust. I would suggest that jumping up and down on the footpad or stomping one's boots on the ladder is just as effective with respect to the boots themselves. Just banging the boots against the ladder is enough to shake off that dust. From the boots on up, the lower legs, back of the legs, insides of the thighs, and so forth, the brush did appear to be fairly effective in getting the first layer of dust off."]

[Mitchell, from the 1971 Technical Debrief - "(The brush was) effective in the sense that, after the fact, we didn't end up with too much dirt in the LM. (Even) though we had the ETB cable (meaning the LEC cable) all over the ground, stomping on it, and covering it with dust, when it came up into the LM, it didn't have a great deal of dust on it. It didn't shake a great deal of dust in the LM, which was very surprising to me. Either the tension and the vibration of it vibrated most of the dust off, or Al shook it off."]

[Shepard, from the 1971 Technical Debrief - "The part that had dust on it never got inside. The part between the hooks and the bag and your end of it never got on the ground."]

[Mitchell, from the 1971 Technical Debrief - "That's right!"]

118:09:01 Mitchell: Pardon? (Pause)

118:09:06 Shepard: Okay, press on. (Pause) Take that...(Pause)

118:09:22 Mitchell: (I'll) get under your connectors, there. (Pause)

118:09:35 Shepard: Hey, Houston. How much time do we have to Repress, now?

118:09:39 McCandless: All right, we're looking at 14 minutes and 20 seconds to scheduled end of EVA; about 12 minutes and 20 seconds to Repress. You've got a half-hour margin in there. A half-an-hour margin in addition (to the half-hour extension they've already been given).

118:09:59 Shepard: Okay.

118:10:01 Mitchell: We're going to use it getting clean, I think.

118:10:06 McCandless: Ah, Roger. Just do the best you can, and we'll keep you posted.

118:10:12 Shepard: All righty. (Pause)

118:10:17 Mitchell: Do you ever use soap on your clothes? Like you been wallering (meaning "wallowing") in them. (Pause) Okay, come on around and let me get this other leg. Okay. That's good. Get them off good because you're going to sleep in that hammock over me.

118:10:49 Shepard: (Laughs) Oh, ho, ho.

[Like the Apollo 11 and 12 crews, Al and Ed will spend the night in their suits. Like the 12 crew, they will have hammocks, with Al's rigged near the ceiling, running fore and aft, and Ed's rigged near the floor, running left to right across the front of the cabin.]

[Mitchell, from the 1971 Technical Debrief - "We did find that we had to take the boots off (for the rest period) because there's so much dust in your overshoes ( also known as the EVA boots ) that we did take those off before we went to bed. In training, we thought that maybe that was an unnecessary, time-consuming step and we'd probably sleep with the boots on, but they were so covered with crud that I didn't want it sifting down in my face during sleep. We took them off."]

118:11:09 Shepard: They clean off pretty well!

118:11:11 Mitchell: Yeah. I think we can do best by kicking them off of those, Al.

118:11:14 Shepard: Okay.

118:11:15 Mitchell: Because it's going to get back on as fast as I can take it off.

[Ed is suggesting that the only way to clean the boots is to stomp them on the ladder. Al Bean was the first to try this at the end of the first Apollo 12 EVA and also found that the technique worked very well. Conrad and Bean did not have a large dustbrush and were forced to use their hands and the stomping technique.]

118:11:16 Shepard: (Taking the brush) All righty. Turn around and let me get the Sun on you, probably better.

[They trade places.]

118:11:57 Mitchell: Yeah. It comes off if it's not too much rubbed in; if it's just laying there, it brushes off well.

118:12:05 Shepard: Okay. You have a UHT still on.

[Ed is wearing a device called a yo-yo, which contains a spring-wound cable with a clip at the end for attachment of either tongs or a UHT. At 2+06 in his checklist, there is a task "tether UHT" which meant that Ed secured his UHT in the yo-yo clip. EVA-2 photo AS14-64-9089 (1.0 Mb), taken at Station B1, shows Ed reading the traverse map and having tongs attached to his yo-yo. Note that the tongs handle is facing back, suggesting that Ed, who is left-handed, would grab the tongs with his left hand and pull the tongs out into a working position and then, when he was done with it, simply let go so that the cable would rewind and pull the tongs out of the way against his hip. An examination of motion-picture sequences taken during training (included in the 5-disk set released by Spacecraft Films) indicate that Ed could use either hand effectively, although he did tend to favor his left hand when doing such things as holding the hammer. Most of the moonwalking astronauts - Armstrong, Aldrin, Bean, and Schmitt excluded - wore yo-yo's and all but one of the Apollo 15 yo-yo's worked well. On a final note, the following Apollo astronauts were left-handed: Schirra, Lovell, Collins, Gordon, Eisele, Mitchell, and Duke.]

118:12:15 Shepard: Okay. Now I'll add a little...Not much we can do with that. Okay. (Pause as Al circles Ed in a clockwise direction, brushing as he goes) Yeah! Quite a bit of that stuff comes off, especially off the back.

118:12:28 Mitchell: Yeah. 118:12:30 Shepard: That's a lot better. (Long Pause as Al works on Ed's left leg) Okay.

118:12:51 Mitchell: Okay, ready?

118:12:52 Shepard: Wait a minute, I've gotta...

118:12:53 Mitchell: Hey, you're in the S-band cable.

118:12:54 Shepard: S-band cable. Let's get the inside of you, there. And the other side. Oops. (Pause) That's the end of that.

[Al has dropped the dustbrush.]

118:13:09 Shepard: (Going to the MET) Okay, you'll put a pair of tongs on that. (Pause) (Still at the MET and not looking at Ed) Did you get it?

118:13:19 Mitchell: No. (As Al comes over with the tongs) These tongs will never pick it up. You can help me with it, though. (Pause)

118:13:36 Mitchell: Okay. Got it.

118:13:38 Shepard: Okay. Oops. (Going to the MET to replace the tongs and then to the MESA) All righty, let's press on here. Okay, (as per checklist) I want to get this baby (the MET) out in the Sun.

118:13:53 Mitchell: Lay that (dustbrush) right there (on the MET) until tomorrow. (Pause as Al returns to the MET)

118:14:04 Mitchell: Okay. Watch the (TV) cable again. Hold it! Al, hold it.

118:14:10 Shepard: (Trying to hop off the cable) Holding it. (Long Pause)

[After getting free of the cable, Al moves the MET a short ways west, just out of the TV picture to the right. After Ed goes up to the cabin, Al will cover the second rock box with the S-band antenna cover to keep it from overheating during the rest period.]

118:14:33 Mitchell: (At the foot of the ladder) (I'll) go up to... (Pause)

118:14:39 Shepard: (Perhaps asking if he is clear of the cable) That it?

118:14:40 Mitchell: I'll go ahead and start up the ladder and you can pass me the ET...Pass me the (SRC)

118:14:44 Shepard: Yeah. Go ahead.

[Note that, as per checklist, Ed will carry the SRC up to the porch by hand. They will use the LEC only to transfer the ETB. Ed seems to coil himself a couple of times for the jump and finally launches himself, probably with a combination of a leg spring and a hand pull. He appears to get up to the lower rung.]

118:14:53 Shepard: (Halfway to the MESA) Okay.

118:14:54 Mitchell: Well, this EMU is about 4 feet in the air, right now.

118:14:57 Shepard: This is Al, 3.75; and I'm reading, 40, 40 percent; no flags; on Low Flow; and I feel fine.

[Al goes to the MESA to get the SRC.]

118:15:23 McCandless: Roger. Thank you, Ed. (Pause)

[For a discussion of this substantial difference in oxygen reserves, see 118:29:08.]

118:15:32 Mitchell: Got it.

[As per checklist, Al has probably just handed the SRC up to Ed, who will take it up to the porch but then leave it outside so that Al can hand it in once he comes up the ladder.]

118:15:38 Mitchell: (Don't) take the MESA with you. (Long Pause)

[Mitchell - "He must have stumbled or momentarily lost his balance. I don't see that in the TV."]

[Al makes his way around the ladder to the south side of the spacecraft to get the S-Band antenna cover.]

118:16:08 Mitchell: I don't think they heard you.

[Al re-appears behind the ladder, taking the S-Band cover to the MET.]

118:16:10 Shepard: Houston; this is Al. How's...(Listens)

118:16:10 McCandless: ...doing fine up there taking photographs, and he just passed by you about 10 minutes ago. Over.

[As Al passes in front of the US flag, we get a reddish-brown flash of sunlight reflecting off the cover. There are more flashes as he spreads the cover over the MET.]

118:16:28 McCandless: Okay. Negative on the Hycon; and he was able to spot the LM last pass. Over.

118:16:37 Shepard: Ah, beautiful! Beautiful!

[Mitchell - "We never really talked much about that (during the trip home to Earth or after the mission). He said he saw us. And I've never listened to his conversation with Houston at that point."]

[Jones - "It's pretty exciting...I think Collins was the only CMP who didn't spot the LM but, of course, they didn't know where they were, really, until post-mission. Whereas, I think all the rest of the CMPs saw the LM and it was very exciting."]

[Mitchell - "What did it look like to them? Just a light blob, or could they actually see definition of some sort?"]

[Jones - "I think it was the shadow, mostly. A nice sharp shadow."]

[Al heads back toward the MESA.]

118:16:52 Mitchell: Hatch is open, and I'm ingressing.

118:16:57 McCandless: Roger.

118:16:58 Shepard: (Going to the MESA to get the ETB) Okay, the...

118:17:02 McCandless: Where's the SRC?

118:17:07 Shepard: Say again.

118:17:08 McCandless: Did the SRC get up to the platform?

118:17:14 Shepard: Yeah.

118:17:15 McCandless: Rog. (Pause)

118:17:24 Shepard: The MET is parked in the Sun, 45-degree angle; S-band cover is on it. It looks like it's going to spend the night very comfortably.

[AS14-66- 9324 is a picture of the MET taken between the EVAs out Ed's window. Note that Al parked the MET in the middle of the S-Band antenna's shadow. Note, also, the handle of the close-up camera sticking up beyond the far edge of the S-Band antenna cover.]

118:17:38 McCandless: Roger. (Long Pause)

[They will use the LEC to transfer the ETB because they don't want to risk dropping the cameras. During this Long Pause, Al hooks the ETB to the LEC , then backs to the right, passing beyond the flag to the edge of the TV field-of-view, and lets the ETB hang loosely, waiting for Ed to get in position in the cabin. ]

118:17:56 Mitchell: Okay. Get my hand on the lanyard and away we go. (Long Pause as the ETB starts up)

118:18:25 Shepard: Bum, bum, ba ba, bum ba bum. Okay. ETB's coming up on the porch now. (Pause)

118:18:43 Shepard: Okay. Right up side of the hatch, now. Coming in the hatch. It's all yours.

118:18:50 Mitchell: Okay.

[Al comes back on camera, standing in deep shadow near the foot of the ladder and visible only as a dark patch against the sunlit surface beyond him.]

118:18:52 Mitchell: I've got it.

118:18:53 Shepard: Okay. (Long Pause) Houston, Al's starting up the ladder.

[Al goes over to the ladder and, probably, drapes the LEC on a strut support before climbing up on the footpad.]

118:19:16 Shepard: (Jumping up to the first rung) Yeah.

118:19:18 McCandless: Roger. Very good. (Long Pause as Al climbs and Ed gets the ETB out of the way)

118:19:44 Shepard: Okay. Al's up at the top of the ladder waiting for the LEC to come out (Pause).

[Jones - "You're passing the LEC out and he'll hang that..."]

[Mitchell - "On the porch, on the railing, to get it out of the way (so that they can close the hatch)."]

118:20:01 Shepard: Okay. (Long Pause)

118:20:14 Mitchell: Okay. Here's the LEC.

118:20:20 Shepard: Okay. Thank you. (Long Pause) Okay, are you ready for the sample box (the SRC)?

118:20:45 Mitchell: Yup. Pass it in. (Pause)

118:20:51 Shepard: Wait a minute; I'll give it up to you a little higher.

118:20:57 Mitchell: Just push it right on in. (Pause) I've got it.

[Jones - "Would you have bent down very far to get that SRC that he's passing in here?"]

[Mitchell - "Yeah. By holding on...stabilizing myself against something. As I recall, I held on to the handholds and reached down like this."]

[Jones - "Sideways. And the handhold was where?"]

[Mitchell - "It's over on the circuit breaker panel."]

[Jones - "On your side. (Yes.) And there was one over on Al's side, I presume."]

[Mitchell - "Yeah. Actually, it was a guard, but you could use it as a handrail. Or was it the one behind (on the ECS) that I used. I can't remember. (He later remembered that the handhold he used was the one on the ECS.) But I just grabbed the handhold (with his right hand) and leaned down like this (sideways to his left as he faces forward)."]

[Jones - "And then just stuck the SRC back on the engine cover with the ETB."]

[Mitchell - "Yes. I can't remember where it was stowed...Yeah, it was stowed in the back. There's a place to stow it, back in the tunnel area. It had a secure storage back in there. Hardpoint locks."]

[They won't secure the SRC until they get to page 4-3 in the Surface Checklist.]

118:21:06 McCandless: Roger, Al.

RealVideo Clip (3 min 33 sec)

118:21:09 Shepard: And Al will be starting in a moment. (Pause)

118:21:15 Mitchell: Okay, Al; let me get over behind the door.

118:21:18 Shepard: All righty. (Long Pause)

[Ed gets over on Al's side of the spacecraft, closes the hatch, moves over to his side, and reopens the hatch so that Al can get in.]

118:21:39 Mitchell: No, your hoses are in my way. I'm coming around (that is, turning himself) the other way.

[Al's LM hoses should be secured at the rear of the crew area but must be sticking out.]

118:21:47 Mitchell: Between your hoses and the ISA (Interim Stowage Assembly which is behind Al's station) - which keeps falling off the hook - it gets pretty messy. Okay, come on in.

118:21:55 Shepard: Okay, Al's going through the hatch. (Pause)

[Mitchell - "The ISA was almost like a shoebag. It had straps on it and a number of pockets; and you could put things in it."]

[The ISA can be seen on the left at Neil Armstrong's back in Apollo 11 training photo KSC-69PC-319 (scan by Kipp Teague).]

118:22:18 Mitchell: Okay. Come on through.

118:22:21 Shepard: All clear?

118:22:23 Mitchell: Yes. Roll toward me, roll toward me. Okay. Come on up. (Pause) Okay. Clear. Turn to your left.

118:22:43 Shepard: Yup. Coming around. Okay. Ooohh, ahhh!

118:22:50 Mitchell: Okay.

118:22:51 Shepard: Okay. Stand by one minute. (Grunting) Get this...

118:22:57 Mitchell: Got it.

118:22:59 Shepard: Feedwater first.

118:23:02 Mitchell: Okay.

[They need to turn off the PLSS feedwater before they can repressurize the cabin. They are on surface checklist page 4-1.]

118:23:06 McCandless: Roger; Al in the cabin, and PLSS feedwater off.

118:23:15 Mitchell: (Grunting) And Ed's feedwater is off.

118:23:18 McCandless: Roger, Ed.

118:23:20 Shepard: Oh, man, I can't get it off.

[It was difficult to reach the feedwater valve while in the cabin and, in several instances, the astronauts helped each other.]

118:23:22 Mitchell: (Garbled).

118:23:31 Shepard: Stand up again. There you go, it's (garbled).

118:23:40 Shepard: Okay. (Pause)

118:23:46 Mitchell: I'm ready to close the hatch. (Garbled) out the way (garbled).

118:23:53 Shepard: (Garbled) all of a sudden (garbled).

118:24:00 Mitchell: (Garbled).

118:24:02 Shepard: (Garbled).

118:24:04 Mitchell: Lean forward and then back in. (Pause) (Garbled) water.

118:24:14 Shepard: (Garbled). (Long Pause)

118:24:30 Mitchell: Locked?

RealVideo Clip (3 min 04 sec)

118:24:34 Shepard: Okay. The hatch is closed and locked.

118:24:37 Mitchell: Get (the dump valve to) Auto? I'll get it.

118:24:39 McCandless: Roger the hatch.

118:24:44 Shepard: Hatch is closed. (Long Pause)

118:25:00 Mitchell: Right. Your (PLSS?) hoses were holding me off, Al, there's no...

118:25:06 Shepard: (Garbled). (Pause)

[Ed is trying to lean down to get the dump valve and may be hitting his helmet against the hoses connected to the front of Al's suit.]

118:25:22 Mitchell: Auto.

118:25:23 Shepard: (Garbled).

118:25:25 Mitchell: I will verify (that the overhead valve is in Auto) as soon as I can turn. I can't...(Pause) (Garbled) you're on the ISA, again. Okay. Overhead Dump Valve's in Auto.

118:25:44 Shepard: (Garbled under Ed). (Pause) Cabin Repress (valve) Auto. (Garbled). (Long Pause)

118:26:01 Mitchell: It's just a whine we're going to hear. Lighting: Annunciator/Numerics, Bright. (Pause) Cabin Repress, Auto. Circuit breaker. Cabin Repress, Close. (Pause) Okay, cabin (pressure)'s coming up.

[The sound of cabin repressurization can be heard in Houston.]

118:26:37 Mitchell: Say again. (Long Pause) (Press Regs) A and B to Cabin. (Pause)

118:26:54 Shepard: I don't read you.

118:26:56 Mitchell: (Garbled). Can you read me now? (Garbled). Okay; can you get your PLSS O2 off? (Pause)

RealVideo Clip (3 min 10 sec)

118:27:42 Mitchell: I can get it for you.

118:27:45 McCandless: Al and Ed; this is Houston. Over.

118:27:49 Mitchell: Go ahead, Houston.

118:27:50 McCandless: Roger. We request that you do not break your Suit/PLSS integrity until we call you again. Over.

118:28:01 Mitchell: Okay.

118:28:02 Shepard: I'm not reading you.

118:28:04 Mitchell: (Garbled; Long Pause)

118:28:26 Mitchell: Yeah. I read you. I read you.

118:28:29 Shepard: Hear me?

118:28:30 Mitchell: Yeah.

118:28:31 Shepard: Okay.

118:28:34 Mitchell: Fix my antenna.

118:28:36 Shepard: Ed, (garbled)...

118:28:38 Mitchell: They're in Cabin, yeah.

118:28:39 Shepard: Okay, PLSS O2. (Garbled) cabin (pressure)'s stable.

118:28:49 LM Crew: (Garbled). (Pause)

118:28:59 Mitchell: No they said (garbled)...

118:29:01 McCandless: Ed, Ed, this is Houston.

118:29:05 Mitchell: Go ahead.

118:29:08 McCandless: Okay, Ed. As you may have noticed during the EVA and, in fact, during the pre-depressurization checklist, your suit leak rate seems to be somewhat higher than Al's, although within spec. At this time, we'd like you to run through the normal pressure integrity check on your suit/PLSS combination as called out at the 52-minute mark (which is just) prior to (Cabin) Depress on the EVA-l card (and Surface checklist page 2-10). Al can proceed to reconfigure himself onto the LM ECS. Over.

[Bruce may be passing along word from the Flight Director that Ed should have reported his pressure change during the pre-EVA pressure check at 113:35:16. At 131:05:41, after they do the pressure integrity check for EVA-2, they both report their pressure changes.]

118:29:53 Mitchell: (To Al) Why don't you go ahead; and then I'll just (garbled)...

118:29:57 Shepard: Yeah. I'll go here. (Pause) Okay; cabin's at...

118:30:00 Mitchell: Cabin's at 4.6.

118:30:06 Shepard: Okay. (Long Pause)

RealVideo Clip (3 min 07 sec)

118:30:45 Shepard: You can't do this.

118:30:46 Mitchell: Why?

118:30:47 Shepard: (Garbled).

118:30:59 Mitchell: (Garbled). I'm just going to blow mine up (meaning "inflate") here in a minute.

118:31:02 Shepard: What?

118:31:03 Mitchell: (A little impatient) Go ahead. Do it. (Pause) (Helping Al do the "Post-EVA Systems" configuration on Surface 4-1) Cabin Gas Return (valve), Auto.

118:31:09 Shepard: Cabin Gas Return is Auto.

118:31:12 Mitchell: Suit Circuit Relief, Auto.

[In the first paragraph of the second column of page 4-1 in the LM Lunar Surface Checklist, this line reads "Suit Circuit Relief - Auto (Verify). ]

118:31:28 Mitchell: Suit Gas Diverter (Valve), Push/Cabin. (Pause) Okay? (Pause) Okay.

118:31:49 Shepard: Okay. (Reading the checklist) Cabin Gas Return (valve)'s in Auto; Suit Circuit...Auto; and Suit Gas Diverter, Push/Cabin.

118:31:54 Mitchell: Okay. Let's get the EVA circuit breakers. (Pause)

118:32:09 Shepard: Okay, circuit breakers. And they're all good. (Long Pause)

118:33:01 Mitchell: Circuit breaker okay, Al? (Long Pause)

118:33:24 Shepard: Okay, circuit breakers are verified...

118:33:25 Mitchell: Okay, Al. Finish the rest of it. You can doff your helmet and...Go ahead and doff (gloves and helmet).

118:33:33 Shepard: What?

118:33:34 Mitchell: Go ahead and doff. Houston, I'm going back to 57.

[Ed is going back to do the suit pressure integrity check at the 52 minute mark on Surface 2-10, just prior to the cabin depress procedures. The latter are at the 57-minute mark and Ed's use of "57" rather than "52" is a suggestion that they have been through the checklist often enough in training that Ed has nearly memorized details like this.]

RealVideo Clip (2 min 12 sec)

118:33:45 Mitchell: I'm going back for this check.

118:33:46 McCandless: Roger.

118:33:49 Mitchell: Let's see, that's on the same page, isn't it?

118:33:52 McCandless: That's correct. It's over in the left-hand column. (Pause)

118:34:02 Mitchell: It's at 52. Okay, PLSS O2 coming on. (Pause) PLSS O2 is Off. (Pause) O2 and Press flags. (Long Pause)

118:35:20 Shepard: Okay. (Long Pause)

118:35:44 Mitchell: Houston, I'm down to 10 percent (oxygen quantity), and my pressure doesn't seem to want to come up.

RealVideo Clip (2 min 12 sec)

118:35:50 McCandless: Okay. Stay in that configuration and standby a second.

[Comm Break]

118:37:59 McCandless: Roger, Ed. Discontinue the check and go ahead with your post-EVA systems configuration.

118:38:08 Mitchell: Okay. (Long Pause)