Return to the LM

Post-EVA-3 Activities

 

The Hammer and the Feather

 

Corrected Transcript and Commentary Copyright © 1996 by Eric M. Jones.
All rights reserved.
Scan and panorama assembly credits in the Image Library.
Video credits in the Video Library.
Except where noted, audio clips by David Shaffer.
Alan Bean's 1986 painting "The Hammer and the Feather" used with permission.
Last revised 07 February 2022.

MP3 Audio Clip ( 6 min 34 sec )

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167:02:55 Scott: Whenever you're ready, I'll get the tools off of you (that is, off Jim's PLSS). I'll be packing the ETB in the meantime (as per CDR-39).

167:03:02 Irwin: Okay. (Long Pause) Got to go over and get the engine bell sample (as per LMP-36 and CDR-38).

167:03:18 Scott: They want to get that?

167:03:19 Irwin: I guess so; I don't know. Isn't that part of the closeout?

167:03:23 Scott: Yeah. But I heard you ask him; I didn't hear any answer.

[Jim goes to the back of the Rover, having left the SCB on his seat.]

167:03:33 Scott: Okay.

167:03:35 Irwin: Okay, I'm ready to get the tools off.

167:03:36 Allen: And we're plenty comfortable on the time.

167:03:40 Scott: Yeah, well, we ought to get the descent engine sample first. (Answering Joe) Okay. Let's get the descent engine sample, Jim.

[This soil sample from under the LM will be sample 15013, which they will put in the third SESC.]

167:03:47 Scott: Nope. I've got a bag, if you'll get the...

167:03:51 Irwin: I'll get the SESC.

167:03:52 Scott: Yeah; and a scoop.

167:03:54 Irwin: Yeah. (Long Pause)

[Dave goes around the north side of the spacecraft to find a patch of undisturbed soil. Jim goes to his seat and gets the scoop and the SESC, in that order, and then goes to join Dave. Dave's "I've got a bag" at 167:03:47 suggests that, in addition to an SESC sample, they will collect some soil from the same spot and put it in an ordinary sample bag. However, if they did collect such a sample, they did not give Houston a bag number. An alternate possibility is that they will put the SESC in a bag before putting it in Jim's SCB.]

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167:04:40 Irwin: Got it?

167:04:41 Scott: Yeah. Let me get the pictures. (Long Pause)

[Dave's "before" pictures of the SESC site are a cross-Sun stereopair, AS15-88- 11884 and 11885, and a down-Sun, 11886. While taking the down-Sun, Dave is standing next to the minus-Z (east) footpad. The bent, gold-foil covered landing probe is in the foreground.]

[Dave and Jim are at the lower left of the TV image. Because of the troubles Fendell has been having with the TV, he seems reluctant to re-adjust the aim.]

167:05:09 Irwin: Need to fill that little jewel.

167:05:11 Scott: Fill it! (Pause)

[Finally, Fendell re-aims the TV to the left in small, cautious steps. This puts Dave and Jim and bottom center. Fendell then zooms in and, again in small steps, lowers his aim until we have a close-up of the two heads.]

167:05:41 Irwin: Want some more in there?

167:05:44 Scott: Try to scoop up the top layer there right next to the one you just scooped. Scoop up the top half inch or so. (Pause)

[Dave puts his right hand on the LM and bends his knees to get the SESC low to the ground. Jim pours some soil into it.]

[Fendell makes one more vertical adjustment so that we can see Dave's hands as he closes the SESC.]

167:06:26 Scott: Okay. Boy! The old hands are (garbled)! (Long Pause)

[Dave removes and discards the Teflon seal protector.]

[There is no doubt that Dave said something about his hands being sore.]

167:06:49 Scott: (Laughing) Yeah.

[During the launch back to lunar orbit, Dave will fly the LM by making entries into the Primary Guidance Computer via the DSKY keypad. Therefore, he needs a healthy forefinger.]

[Dave puts the top on the SESC and locks it.]

[Dave puts the SESC in Jim's SCB. Dave's comment that 'they sure make them tight' is ironic in that the wire connecting the SESC top to the base got caught between the top and base. This undoubtedly made it difficult for Dave to secure the top and, more importantly, meant that the SESC wasn't actually vacuum tight. Figure 1 from the Lunar Sample Compendium report on sample 15013 shows the wire caught in the seal before being opened. In a detail from Apollo 12 photo AS12-49-7278, the wire is faintly visible to the right of the handle used to turn the top inot place.]

167:07:16 Scott: Yeah. Okay. I'll take the...

167:07:17 Irwin: I'll move off.

167:07:18 Scott: Jim, give me your scoop. While you're moving give me your scoop and I'll bring it over to you.

167:07:24 Irwin: Okay, listen. You're gonna keep that camera for a while...

167:07:29 Scott: Yeah.

167:07:30 Irwin: ...will you take a down-Sun of the Solar Wind, for me?

167:07:32 Scott: Yeah. Sure.

167:07:33 Irwin: f/11 at 7 feet.

167:07:34 Scott: Okay.

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167:07:35 Irwin: I'll collect it.

167:07:38 Scott: Okay. (Long Pause)

[Dave takes Jim's scoop and leans down to scoop up something. He follows Jim off-camera to the left. Fendell does not follow them and, after a short while, Dave and Jim cross the TV picture from left to right.]

167:08:24 Irwin: Go ahead. You've got to get there first (to take the down-Suns of the Solar Wind Collector).

167:08:26 Scott: I know. I'm just right behind you.

167:08:27 Irwin: Oh. (Laughs) I was waiting for you to pass me. (Pause)

[Fendell pulls back on the zoom and pans right to find Dave and Jim but, almost immediately, runs into the clockwise limit.]

167:08:42 Irwin: It is. (Pause) You know, if we collect these large rocks, Dave, if we have time, you could almost use the Rover and drive out there.

167:09:01 Scott: No, I don't think we have time.

167:09:04 Allen: Jimmy, we've got plenty of rocks.

167:09:06 Scott: Okay, down-Sun. Okay. (Garbled) I got the picture.

167:09:14 Irwin: Okay. (Long Pause)

[Dave's down-Sun stereopair of the Solar Wind Collector is AS15-88- 11888 and 11889.]

167:09:34 Scott: Say again.

167:09:35 Irwin: How much set there is on this sunscreen. (Pause)

[The foil collecting surface on the SWC is quite stiff and doesn't want to change shape. All of the crews who deployed SWCs (Apollo 11 to 16) had trouble getting them rolled up and stowed.]

[Dave's tone of voice on his 'Okay' indicates that he is reading his checklist.]

167:09:59 Allen: Okay. (Pause)

167:10:05 Scott: And, I've got the...

167:10:06 Irwin: It's not rolling up very well Joe; I've got to roll her up manually.

167:10:10 Allen: Sounds okay, Jim, just as clean as possible.

167:10:12 Scott: (Mag) Whiskey. And...

167:10:16 Irwin: (To Joe) Okay.

[Mag Whiskey, AS15-89, is the magazine that was on the 500-mm camera. At some point after Dave and Jim arrived back at the LM but prior to this point, Dave took a final series of 500-mm photos, AS15-89- 12165 to 12178.]

[Bailey and Ulrich indicate that 12165 was taken at Station 10; but a comparison with AS15-82- 11174, a picture from Jim's Station 10 pan shows that 12165 was not taken at Station 10. A comparison of 12165 with AS15-82- 11053, which Jim took at the LM at the start of the EVA, shows that 12165 was taken at the LM.]

[The first several frames in this series show various features on the Swann Range. Frames 12165 to 12171 are a short sequence showing the hill Dave mentioned at 144:50:48, with Big Rock Mountain beyond. Assembly by Dave Byrne.]

[Frames 12173 and 12174 show the summit of Mt. Hadley Delta. Dave Byrne has combined these frames in a mini-pan.]

[Frame 12175 shows a portion of Mt. Hadley Delta farther to the east.]

[Frame 12176 shows an outcrop in the Swann Range.]

[Frame 12177 shows a blocky-rimmed crater on the left flank of the hill immediately south of Mt. Hadley. Note that the darkness of these boulders may be due, mostly, to the fact that we are looking up-Sun at them. Dave Byrne has combined this frame with 12172.]

[The final frame, 12178, shows a patch of boulders in the Swann Range.]

[Checklist pages LMP-35 and CDR-37 indicate that they had planned to do the Grand Prix at this point if, for some reason, it had not been done earlier. Dave may be asking if Houston wants to give it a final try or, perhaps, to run the 16-mm during the drive out to the final Rover parking spot planned for 100 meters east of the LM.]

[Scott - "Our nomenclature for this particular activity is 'Rest in Peace'. Took a pan out there called the RIP pan."]

[On later missions, the final parking spot was called the VIP (Very Important Person) Site. At the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, VIPs watch launches from viewing stands only a few miles from the launch pads. From the Rover's final parking spot, the world will be able to watch the LM launch on TV - hence the name.]

[To establish context for the following discussion, readers should note that, although the Apollo 14 TV record is relatively poor, there is some excellent 16-mm footage of activities at the LM and the ALSEP site.]

[Jones - "Was the idea behind the 16-mm to provide coverage of the geology during the drives?"]

[Scott - "I guess. Of course, you've got to remember that nobody knew the TV worked this well, either. Perception. Perspective. Where are we in the plan? Well, where we are is there hasn't been any decent TV (from the prior flights). So you get everything by movie camera. That's not going to fade away, because nobody knows if the TV's going to work or not. They probably did, but I doubt if anybody expected it to be this good."]

[Jones - "They flew the 16-mm again on 16, but not on 17. They got some reasonable stuff on 16, but it was real sensitive to sun angle and I think, ultimately, they decided it was more trouble than it was worth."]

[Scott - "When you have the TV."]

[Jones - "And now, with the micro robots you've been telling me about, the TV's so good and so small that there's no question of doing anything else."]

[Although Fendell is still looking over the back of the Rover at the MESA and, as well, Dave and Jim are still off-camera, the TV image moves as Dave works at the CDR seat.]

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167:10:36 Allen: Dave, you might save one (16-mm magazine) for the drive-away (to the VIP site). Put the rest in the ETB, please.

167:10:46 Scott: Okay. Union (goes into the ETB). And I'll save Item; it would be a good item for the drive-away.

167:10:56 Allen: Okay.

167:10:57 Scott: Juliett and Hotel. (Pause) And Kilo and Foxtrot. (Pause)

[Jim goes to the MESA, probably carrying the Solar Wind Collector. According to LMP-37, he is stowing the foil sheet in a bag which he will put in the ETB once Dave brings it back to the MESA.]

[Irwin, from the 1971 Technical Debrief - "I retrieved the Solar Wind. It really had so much of a set that it wouldn't roll up properly, and the bottom part of it ripped. It was just like in training."]

167:11:51 Irwin: I'm ready to get the tools off, Dave, any time you are.

167:11:52 Scott: Okay. That's a good time to do it. So am I.

167:11:54 Irwin: Okay, the Solar Wind is (on) the MESA table. (Long Pause)

[Jim joins Dave at the back of the Rover. Only Jim's back and PLSS are visible.]

[Dave's "take care of" was originally transcribed as "picture of" and, indeed, that's what the transmission sounds like. However, because there are no pictures pertinent to the tool harnesses, I believe the present transcription is correct.]

[Jim starts to turn to his right.]

[Jim makes a 180-degree turn to his left.]

[Jim bends forward about 15 to 20 degrees. Dave is probably releasing the retaining strap from the bottom of Jim's SCB.]

167:12:52 Irwin: Got it off?

167:12:53 Scott: Yup. It's off; you're clear.

[Jim makes another 180-degree turn to his left so that he winds up facing Dave, who is still off-camera to the right.]

167:13:01 Scott: That probably would help.

167:13:03 Irwin: But we can do that inside.

167:13:05 Scott: Yeah. And, then, why don't you get mine? (Pause)

[Jim steps just off-camera to the right as he gets Dave's SCB.]

[Fendell raises his aim slightly.]

167:13:27 Scott: Yeah. That's a good idea. Why not? See if it works.

[They are each wearing a tool harness, a loose web of straps and fasteners, on the PLSS. Each of the harnesses is equipped with a "self-doffing strap" and Dave is wondering if they will work or if they will have to help each other out of the harnesses. There is good video of Jack Schmitt getting out of his harness at the end of the third Apollo 17 EVA.]

167:13:31 Scott: Okay.

[Fendell has started a counter-clockwise pan.]

167:13:39 Scott: Your bag? What bag?

167:13:41 Irwin: The collection bag off the side (of the PLSS). Where'd you put it? Right here in the seat...

167:13:44 Scott: No, here it is, right here.

167:13:45 Irwin: Oh, I see. Okay.

167:13:46 Scott: I put it on the Hand Tool Carrier. Give it to you and you can consolidate. I guess those undocumented ones we want to put in the BSLSS bag.

167:13:56 Irwin: Hey, let me deploy (means "remove") your (tool harness)...It didn't come off. Let me pull it off.

167:14:00 Scott: I didn't get the lanyard (meaning the self-doffing strap). It fell off my head.

167:14:04 Irwin: Pull off the other side.

167:14:05 Scott: Okay.

167:14:06 Irwin: Okay, it's off.

167:14:07 Scott: Good.

167:14:08 Irwin: Why don't you get mine.

167:14:09 Scott: Yeah. (Pause) That's good. (Pause) Off.

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167:14:20 Irwin: Good. (Long Pause) You didn't put any rocks in the BSLSS bag.

167:14:53 Scott: No, I didn't, because they're on the floor there. I just never had a chance to get enough to put in there.

[Fendell reaches the counter-clockwise pan limit and finds Dave at the CDR seat and Jim at the LMP seat.]

167:15:00 Scott: Yeah.

167:15:02 Irwin: ...to just leave these all like they are. I think we can stow them just as well that way.

167:15:04 Scott: I think you're right.

167:15:07 Irwin: We ought to put them all over on the MESA table.

167:15:08 Scott: Okay. And I've got one little thing to take care of here next on my checklist. (Pause)

[Dave heads for the MESA to do the stamp cancellations listed on CDR-39 as "P.O. Package".]

[Jim has also gone to the MESA and we can see the top of his helmet over the back of the LMP seat. Note that retrieval of the penetrometer recording drum is listed on the printed version of CDR-39 but not on any of Jim's closeout pages, LMP-36, 37, and 38. It is possible that Jim has a handwritten note on his checklist although, in a 1996 letter, Dave thought that was unlikely given the nature of the "paper" the checklists were printed on.]

167:15:30 Irwin: Yep. (Pause)

[Jim starts walking toward the back of the Rover and probably notices that the MESA is hidden from the view of the TV audience.]

167:15:40 Scott: That's a good idea. Let's just swing it around...Let me get this side here.

[Dave runs out to the CDR seat while Jim goes to the LMP seat. As shown in AS15-82- 11201, they each have a U-shaped handle on the outer edge of the chassis and, by gripping the handles can lift and re-position the Rover. The empty weight of the Rover is 462 terrestrial pounds (210 kg) and only 77 pounds (35 kg) on the Moon.]

[We see the first second or so of the lift but, quickly, the change in high-gain pointing causes a loss of signal and loss of the TV picture.]

[TV off.]

167:15:58 Scott: Yeah. That's good. Okay, Houston. If you've got your big eye there why we have a...

167:16:04 Allen: Davy, you're going to have to re-align our antenna, please.

167:16:12 Scott: (Laughing) Yeah! Clever you should think of that, Joe.

167:16:16 Irwin: Figures.

167:16:18 Allen: I had a subtle reminder (that is, the disappearance of the TV picture on the monitor in the Control Room). (Pause)

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167:16:28 Scott: Okay, you should have it, according to my AGC. (Pause)

[TV on. Fendell immediately starts panning clockwise to find the MESA.]

167:16:38 Scott: Got one (meaning a picture), Joe?

167:16:40 Allen: Yes, sir, we have it.

167:16:42 Scott: Okay, why don't you follow me around to the MESA.

167:16:48 Allen: Okay.

[Dave crosses the field-of-view from right to left as he goes to the MESA. Fendell reverses direction to follow him, not fully aware that the MESA is now off the right side of the Rover and that he needs to continue panning clockwise. After a few seconds, Fendell realizes his mistake and resumes the clockwise pan.]

167:17:48 Allen: Rog, Dave. We're doing the best we can.

167:17:54 Scott: Okay.

167:17:55 Irwin: If you want, Joe, I can help you.

167:17:59 Allen: Okay, Jim. We could use it. Ed's whipping the horses, but it just doesn't work.

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167:18:06 Irwin: Okay. Be right with you. (Long Pause)

[Fendell is looking into the Swann Range and stops the pan to wait for Jim's help. While he waits, the clutch fails again and the TV droops and gives us a view of the right-front fender.]

[Jim raises the TV and aims it at the MESA.]

167:18:28 Allen: Tally-ho.

167:18:30 Irwin: Hold it right there, Houston.

167:18:32 Scott: Okay? (Pause) Got a good picture, Joe?

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167:18:39 Allen: Good picture, Dave. Have at it.

[Fendell gets Dave centered and zooms in on an envelope he is holding. It is a First-Day Cover.]

[Dave gets a rubber stamp out of the cloth Post Office kit and presses it on what looks like an ink pad.]

[Jones - "What did you use? Just a plain old rubber stamp and an ink pad?"]

[Scott - "As I recall, it was just a plain old kit."]

[Dave places the envelope on a flat surface on the MESA and, after carefully positioning the rubber stamp, presses it down and then lifts it off.]

[Dave examines the envelope.]

[Dave re-cancels the envelope.]

167:20:14 Scott: Well...

167:20:15 Irwin: If there's room left.

167:20:17 Scott: I've got several dusty thumbprints. Now, I'll stick this back in our special mail pouch here, and we'll deliver it when we return.

167:20:32 Allen: Roger. (Pause)

[Dave puts the envelope in the Post Office bag but has some trouble getting it closed properly.]

[The Post Office bag and the First Day Cover are on display at the Smithsonian Institution's National Postal Museum.]

[Jones - "Do you remember if the Post Office approached NASA about the stamp cancellation? Any idea how that showed up?"]

[Scott - "Nope. It just came through the system. (To commemorate the) First Rover and all that stuff."]

[Jones - "Was it something that you were interested in doing? Did it catch your fancy?"]

[Scott - "Not particularly. We weren't really into the stamp business at that time. But it was one of the things they wanted to do; so, okay, it sounded like a good idea."]

[To complete the stamp story: in May 1971, Deke Slayton (Dave told me in a 1996 letter) introduced Dave to a German business man named Horst Eiermann who proposed that, in addition to the 250 authorized first-day covers, the crew take along and cancel 400 additional covers for later resale - 100 for each member of the crew and 100 for Eiermann. Although the crew insisted that the covers not be put up for sale until after the end of the Apollo program, Eiermann began selling his not long after the flight. When they learned of the sales, the crew promptly canceled their agreement with Eiermann and refused to accept any money from the sales. Nonetheless, the incident generated a great deal of bad press and, ultimately, the crew was reprimanded by NASA. Readers can find fuller discussions of the incident in Jim Irwin's To Rule the Night in Andrew Chaikin's A Man on the Moon, and in Deke Slayton's Deke!.]

167:20:52 Allen: Dave, this is Houston.

167:20:58 Scott: Go ahead.

167:20:59 Allen: Roger. We're wondering if you could use that to mail home an ounce of rocks, please.

167:21:06 Scott: An ounce? All right; I'll do that. I'll bet we could. (Pause) And I'll stick this in the ETB. If you'll hold your camera right there. I'll be right back.

[Dave hops toward the Rover with the Post Office bag. Apparently, the ETB is still on the CDR seat. Fendell starts to follow him but quickly stops and re-aims the TV at the MESA.]

167:21:29 Irwin: I'll put this penetrometer drum in the ETB, Dave.

167:21:33 Scott: Okay.

167:21:34 Irwin: As well as the Solar Wind.

167:21:42 Allen: Jim, we copied both Solar Wind and penetrometer drum in the ETB.

167:21:52 Irwin: Not quite yet. I haven't put the Solar Wind in yet; but I will, shortly. I want to watch this.

[Dave has returned to the MESA and stands facing the TV with his hands at chest height.]

167:22:02 Allen: Beautiful picture there, Dave.

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167:22:06 Scott: Well, in my left hand, I have a feather; in my right hand, a hammer. And I guess one of the reasons we got here today was because of a gentleman named Galileo, a long time ago, who made a rather significant discovery about falling objects in gravity fields. And we thought where would be a better place to confirm his findings than on the Moon.

[Fendell zooms in on the hammer and feather but then pulls back to watch the action.]

[Dave is holding the feather and hammer between the thumb and forefinger of his left and right hands, respectively, and has his elbows up and out the side. He releases the hammer and feather simultaneously and pulls his hands out of the way. The hammer and feather fall side by side and hit the ground at virtually the same time. Journal contributor - and artist - Ed Hengeveld had captured the scene. Painting used with permission.]

167:22:45 Allen: How about that! (Applause in Houston)

167:22:46 Scott: Which proves that Mr. Galileo was correct in his findings. (Pause)

167:22:58 Allen: Superb.

[Jones - "That is a beautiful piece of theater. What can you tell me about the origins of the experiment?"]

[Scott - "The basic idea was Joe Allen's. It was another thing from sitting in the crew quarters at night, trying to figure out interesting things to do - that were useful, too. And I guess we had a lot of ideas. But Joe came up with the hammer and feather idea, and we decided where to get a feather. I had a friend who was a professor at the Air Force Academy. Their mascot's the Falcon. And we had the (LM) Falcon. So that was indeed, a falcon feather from an Air Force Academy bird. In fact, I had two of them. I was going to try it, first, to see if it worked - because of static charge and all that stuff it might have stuck to my glove. Didn't have time (for the trial run), so we just winged it. And it worked!"]

[The accompanying photo shows Al Worden (left), Dave Scott, and Jim Irwin on a 15 January 1971 visit to the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Dave has one of the Academy's falcon mascots on his gloved arm. See the Apollo 15 Training Log, which has an entry for the Academy visit. In 2013, Journal Contributor Ian Boyden became interested in the falcon feather story. Boyden notes that the feather was undoubtedly a primary flight feather. Falcon experts he consulted say that the bird on Dave's arm is a small gyrfalcon. After consulting with Hasselblad about the lunar lens, Boyden and his daughter used a hammer of appropriate length (39 cm) and a set of home-made paper falcon feathers to find a best match of the view of the hammer and feather in AS15-88-11890. Their result is that the Apollo 15 feather is about 30.5 cm long. See, also, scans of the wing and tail feathers of a adult female gyrfalcon from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service'sFeather Atlas. Primary flight feathers for female Pairie Falcons and Peregrine Falcons - and, especially, males of all three species - are shorter.]

[Jones - "Brought the feather out in the ETB?"]

[Scott - "No, I think the feather was in my pocket. I think I had two feathers in my pocket. I don't even know where the other feather is. That one we just left there."]

[Dave had four readily available pockets: one on each sleeve just below the shoulder ( 150k ) and one strapped to each thigh ( 219k ).]

[Jones - "So the feather's just sitting there, some ways away from the Descent Stage because of the launch exhaust."]

[Scott - "It was a fun little trick."]

[Jones - "Agreed. Actually, it's one of the great moments of Apollo."]

[Scott - "I think a lot of kids still see this in school. When I was at Edwards (after leaving the Astronaut Corps), some company came out there and filmed me dropping a hammer and a feather on the lake bed. To show the difference. And, of course, the feather floats down, because of the air. I don't know where that went, either. Some production outfit went to a lot of effort to do that. It is an interesting demonstration for the kids, on the effects of gravity and the air."]

["There were a lot of ideas on what do you do to have a zinger. Shepard hit a golf ball. Purportedly hit a golf ball. Was it on the TV?"]

[Jones - "Yeah, it is. But it didn't go miles and miles. It went about as far as the javelin. Ed showed a picture to me that shows both the javelin and one of the golf balls in a crater not too terribly far away."]

[Scott - "Well, he hit it, and that's what counts. Everybody tries to do a little something to have a little levity. Doesn't cost anybody anything and it's a nice visual image."]

[Jones - "Yours was a class act."]

[Scott - "Yeah, and you know Fendell did good getting the camera on it, too. I'm wondering if Joe cued him in, 'cause nobody knew we were going to do this, except Joe. Well, there were some people who knew but, in general, the people in the MOCR didn't know about it. I don't think Fendell knew that."]

[Jones - "But you guys pointed the camera..."]

[Scott - "But he zoomed in and then zoomed back so he could see the ground. It's absolutely perfect framing. I thought that was pretty clever of Fendell 'cause, had he not framed me correctly, you would not have seen the hammer or the feather hit the ground."]

[We looked at the TV.]

[Scott - "Joe knows, but I'll bet Fendell doesn't know what we're doing."]

[Jones - "Where's Fendell sitting?"]

[Scott - "Along the row with Allen."]

[We watch the sequence where Fendell starts to zoom in on the hammer and feather but then pulls back.]

[Scott - "See, if he doesn't back up now, you're not going to see it. And he's got a 3-second lag, plus the lag of the lens. So I've often wondered if Joe told him to back up, or whatever. Because he got back just barely in time"]

[We watch the sequence at 'appropriately a falcon feather'.]

[Jones - "Now he's backing off. Joe's got to be telling him. It's just perfect camera work."]

[Scott - "Perfect. And without the framing, it would have lost it's effect."]

[On a historical note, while reading Christopher Hibbert's George III: A Personal History (p. 194) during the Christmas 2000 holidays, I learned that the King, known for his personal interest in the sciences, was shown a demonstration of the simultaneous fall of a feather and a one guinea coin in an evacuated tube (p. 194). The demonstration was performed in 1761 by one John Miller, assistant to His Majesty's Mathematical Instrument Maker, George Adams. The experiment is known as the Guinea and the Feather and has been seen by countless physics students over the centuries. The Adams Guinea-and-Feather apparatus is on display at the Science Museum of London along with the Adams air pump with which it was evacuated. Photos by Mick Hyde.]

[AFJ Editor David Woods calls our attention to the following from the Apollo 15 Preliminary Science Report: "During the final minutes of the third extravehicular activity, a short demonstration experiment was conducted. A heavy object (a 1.32-kg aluminum geological hammer) and a light object (a 0.03-kg falcon feather) were released simultaneously from approximately the same height (approximately 1.6 m) and were allowed to fall to the surface. Within the accuracy of the simultaneous release, the objects were observed to undergo the same acceleration and strike the lunar surface simultaneously, which was a result predicted by well-established theory, but a result nonetheless reassuring considering both the number of viewers that witnessed the experiment and the fact that the homeward journey was based critically on the validity of the particular theory being tested."]

[Two of the numbers given in this experiment description have been called into question.]

[Journal Contributor Andrea Sondag notes that the given weight (0.03 kg = 30 g) for the feather is much too large. She contacted an ornithology club in Bayern, Germany, who introduced her to Hermann Rank, the owner of an extensive collection of falcon feathers. "He choose a primary flight feather (H7) of a female gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus) which fits the Apollo 15 feather best, and measured it for us: length, 31.5 cm; weight, 1.19 g."]

[Journal Contributor Joonas Helminen notes that the stated height - 1.6 meters - from which the hammer and feather were dropped is in error. Although the important part of the experiment is the fact that these two objects of very different weight experienced the same motion, for completeness we offer the following. If we concentrate on the hammer, Helminen has stepped through the mpeg clip and finds that the time between Dave's release of the hammer and its impact is 36 frames. The framing rate is 30 frames per second, giving a fall time of 1.2 seconds. We have three separate estimates of the height. Helminen estimates the height as 120 cm and writes, "My estimation was simply from thinking how far you would bend forward with the PLSS on your back and from noticing how Dave did not hold his arms straight out parallel to the ground. I am just below 180cm tall and, when put myself in the same posture, 120 cm was a close estimate of the height of the bottom of the hammer head." An independent estimate is provided by the known length of the hammer, which is 39 cm. By noting the point on the ground where the hammer hits, a measurement can be made on the image of the initial height of 2.9 hammer lengths or 113 cm. A final estimate can be calulated knowing that the distance a dropped object falls is 0.5*acceleration multiplied by the square of the time in free fall. Gravity at the lunar surface is 163 cm/sec/sec. After falling for 1.2 seconds, a dropped object will have travelled 117 cm.]

167:23:06 Scott: Okay; let's see. What else we have here? (Reading CDR-39) "Penetrometer drum; 70 mm; 500 mm; 16 mm (magazines); maps".

167:23:14 Irwin: I can get the maps, if you want. Okay, the solar wind is in there now, Joe. Solar wind (and) penetrometer drum. (In the) ETB.

[Jim comes into view at the LMP seat as he gets the traverse maps. He runs around the back of the Rover.]

Video Clip  2 min 50 sec ( 0.7 Mb RealVideo or 25 Mb MPG )

167:23:35 Allen: Been saying it for years. (Long Pause)

[Jim appears at the back of the Rover, lifts the triple core-stem string off the vise, takes it to the LM and lays it across the back of the MESA.]

167:24:03 Allen: Dave, (we'll) be happy if you'd police the area there under the seats and on the console.

167:24:14 Scott: Yes, I'll do that, Joe. For sure.

167:24:16 Allen: Okay, thank you.

[Dave takes the ETB to the MESA. Jim passes him, headed to the Rover.]

167:24:22 Irwin: I still want to get that BSLSS bag off. Don't know what we'll need it for.

[Jim puts his left hand on the back of his seat and jumps onto it, landing on his right knee. He reaches far over to get the BSLSS bag off the forward surface of the geopallet, kicking the TV in the process. This lowers Fendell's aim and we get a view of what is probably the LMP camera sitting upside down in the footpan.]

[Tango (AS15-88) is the magazine that is still on the CDR camera and Romeo (AS15-95) is an unused, spare magazine that they will use during rendezvous with the Command Module.]

[Jim hops off the LMP seat, but without the BSLSS bag. He will release it with the tongs at about 167:26:58.]

[Irwin, from the 1971 Technical Debrief - "In order to get it unlocked there, I ended up jumping up on my seat and reaching over to get it unlocked. I guess the vise was really in the way, to some extent. It didn't give."]

167:25:00 Scott: Okay. (Long Pause)

[Jim goes to the back of the Rover, brushing against the rear fender on the way. In the background, Dave kicks the hammer and feather under the MESA so that he and Jim won't step on them. As Dave turns to go off-camera to the CDR seat, we see that he has the CDR camera, which he used to take a picture, AS15-88- 11890, of the hammer and feather lying next to the MESA.]

[Scott - "Also, with the feather up there, Jim left a four-leaf clover. He dropped it right by the feather. (Straight-faced) So we have flora and fauna."]

[Fendell raises his aim, losing our view of the LMP camera. Dave goes off-camera to the right. Jim is trying to release the BSLSS bag, reaching across the geopallet to get at it.]

167:25:31 Allen: Jim, a word on that core stem. When one of you takes it into...

167:25:34 Irwin: (Lost under Joe) release that BSLSS bag.

167:25:34 Allen: ...the LM, you can stow on the floor against the midstep. The Z-27 bulkhead.

167:25:47 Scott: Okay.

[Jones - "Could you explain how you stowed the core?"]

[Scott - "Yeah, 'on the floor against the midstep.' So, right along the floor."]

[Jones - "Behind where you stand, running left to right."]

[Scott - "Wedged in the corner so you don't step on it. Well, I guess you could step on it if you worked at it."]

[Jim goes to the LMP seat probably thinking about how to release the BSLSS bag.]

167:25:56 Scott: The seat pan is empty.

167:26:01 Allen: Roger.

[Jim goes to the back of the Rover and checks his RCU.]

167:26:06 Allen: Jim, we're reading you loud and clear; it's okay. (Pause)

167:26:15 Irwin: Yeah, I hit my volume...little deal.

[Jim means that, at some point, he hit the volume control on the RCU.]

167:26:16 Scott: That might have something to do with it. (Pause)

[Jim takes the tongs to the LMP seat in his effort to release the BSLSS bag.]

[In another few minutes, Houston will turn the TV off because it is getting too hot. They want Dave to take the brushes to the RIP site so that he can clean the camera radiators and lens.]

[From a point forward of his seat, Jim reaches across the seatback with the tongs and pries the bag loose. He then goes aft a few steps so he can reach in behind the seat with his right arm and lifts the bag out.]

167:27:04 Scott: Resetting the Nav system.

167:27:06 Irwin: Okay, Dave, I'll get the gate (closed at the back of the Rover) for you and you'll be ready to go.

167:27:09 Scott: Yeah. I got it.

[Off-camera behind the CDR seat, Dave latches the gate and now joins Jim at the right-rear of the Rover.]

167:27:16 Irwin: Yeah.

167:27:17 Scott: Okay.

[Jim heads for the MESA. Dave starts to his left to climb on the Rover but stops, apparently noticing that there is still a magazine on the 16-mm camera.]

[Dave goes to the LMP seat to get the magazine.]

167:27:30 Irwin: (It's) one that didn't work.

[Dave picks up the 16-mm camera which, apparently, was in the CDR footpan.]

167:27:36 Irwin: No, it wasn't driving. I was just checking it out.

167:27:39 Scott: I wonder if they want us to bring mag Golf back. We'd better bring it back. (Pause)

[Dave unscrews the mag lock on the 16-mm camera. Jim has joined Dave at the Rover but then goes back to the MESA. Dave removes the magazine, which we can see in his right hand.]

167:27:48 Irwin: I put that one large rock (probably Great Scott) in the BSLSS (stops to listen to Joe). (Pause)

[Dave puts the 16-mm camera on Jim's seat and does something with the magazine, possibly tightening the film.]

[The quality of the TV begins to deteriorate, with some good segments. As Joe indicates at 167:29:33, the TV is getting very hot.]

[Dave gets the LMP Hasselblad off the footpan.]

167:28:06 Scott: No, it's too late for that.

167:28:07 Irwin: Yeah. (Long Pause)

[In the following dialog, mag Hotel is a spare that is never used during the mission. Dave takes the LMP camera to the MESA. The dialog at 167:54:26 indicates that Dave does not have the 16-mm magazine but has left it on the Rover.]

167:28:37 Irwin: Yeah.

167:28:38 Scott: Here's mag Hotel, on your camera, that I can't get off; you might work on that while I drive...(brief static; TV off) Stick it in the ETB. (Pause) Hey, Jim, would you check my lower hooks on my PLSS. Are they hooked?

[As Joe indicates at 167:29:33, Houston has turned off the TV because it is getting too hot. Coverage resumes at 167:47:52.]

167:29:04 Scott: Okay. My OPS on good? Check that. (Pause)

167:29:14 Irwin: What made you wonder?

167:29:15 Scott: I bounced. The PLSS bounced a little.

167:29:21 Irwin: Well, it looks like you're secure.

167:29:22 Scott: Okay.

167:29:23 Irwin: Watch the TV cable. (Pause)

[Scott, from the 1971 Technical Debrief - "One thing I want to add. I asked you to check me to see if my PLSS was loose, and you couldn't see anything wrong with it. I had the distinct feeling the lower straps were disconnected from the PLSS, because it was bouncing around when we got to the LM. When I got off (the Rover), I could feel it bouncing on my back, and I never did figure out what that was. I just went slow, and when I walked back from the Rover('s final parking spot), I took very small steps that kept it from bouncing around. During the bouncing steps that we were using, it was really flopping back there."]

[Irwin, from the 1971 Technical Debrief - "Well, you hadn't walked much before that, had you?"]

[Scott, from the 1971 Technical Debrief - "I would have noticed it before, because of getting on and off the Rover. I noticed it when I got off the Rover that time. It banged on my back, and that's why I asked you to check it. I still don't know why it felt loose."]

[The dialog at 167:30:01 indicates that Dave hasn't yet gotten on the Rover.]

167:29:36 Scott: Okay, Joe, I'm getting ready to drive.

167:29:37 Allen: ...the TV camera's gotten so hot we've turned it off temporarily, here.

167:29:44 Scott: Okay.

[Obviously, Houston thinks that, after a cool-down period, the TV will be operable again. Had they thought otherwise, they would have abandoned the drive to the VIP site because the only reason for that exercise is to put the TV in place to watch the launch.]

167:30:01 Scott: Righto! I'm just about getting on. Right now. (Pause)

[Cuff-checklist page CDR-40 indicates that Dave will drive 100 meters east of the LM on a heading of 96 degrees and then maneuver as shown on the sketch map.]

167:30:27 Allen: Roger. (Long Pause)

167:30:48 Irwin: Okay, I got that mag off (the LMP Hasselblad), Dave.

167:30:50 Scott: Good.

167:30:52 Irwin: Put it in the ETB. (Pause)

167:31:58 Scott: Okay. (Long Pause) (Looking at CDR-40) Okay; 096. (Pause)

167:31:21 Irwin: And you're going to bring the dustbrush back with you, then, huh?

167:31:24 Scott: Yeah. Remind me.

167:31:27 Irwin: I'll wait here for you.

167:31:30 Scott: And 096...Okay, we're...Ooooh! We almost were in the middle of a big crater. (Pause) Distance, one tenth. (Long Pause)

167:32:13 Allen: Dave, are you getting off yet?

167:32:18 Scott: I'm driving, Joe. Sorry about that.

167:32:20 Allen: Okay, fine. A couple of requests: when you get there, we'd like for you to report on possible dust condition on the battery mirrors, and we'd also like for you to tap the amp-hour meters just to see if the readings change.

167:32:37 Scott: Joe, wait. Joe, stand by. Break, break. Hey, Joe, wait until I get there, will you, please? I've got to concentrate on driving right now.

167:32:45 Allen: Roger.

167:32:50 Scott: Just going to have to repeat it again.

167:32:53 Allen: No problem. (Long Pause)

167:33:26 Scott: Oh my! I blew it, Joe. I left the (Nav) Reset on. No wonder I couldn't find my way. I was wondering why I wasn't getting anything (on the distance indicator).

167:33:36 Irwin: Why don't you drive back fast and reset?

167:33:38 Scott: I will.

167:33:40 Allen: Plenty of time, Dave, and I should have called it.

167:33:48 Scott: But you know, with the cratering out here, if you're going to see the lift-off, I'm almost tempted just to take a shot up on a rise, here. If I take it right to the exact spot, I'm afraid that you're not going to see it, Joe, because of the depressions and the hummocky, and everything. What do you think about that?

167:34:08 Allen: Sounds good.

167:34:12 Scott: I think I'll just stay out here and put you at about 300 feet, which we are. There's a nice little rise here. And I'll point you...You want to be heading 255. Oh, that's all messed up, too. Just slightly...Okay. (Pause) South and west. I got a good spot for you, Joe. Joe, what's my relative azimuth of the Sun, right now, with west.

167:35:05 Allen: 30 degrees, Dave.

[Joe probably means that the Sun is 30 degrees south of east.]

167:35:18 Allen: Okay, it's about, between 30 and 40 degrees.

167:35:24 Scott: Okay, I think I've got a good place for you. Right up on a rise. We're about 300 feet (90 meters) away. I think you'll like this. (Pause) Okay. Switches are off. Brake's on. Now tell me what else you wanted to do, Joe, that was different, besides dust.

[An analysis of mission photographs of the LM taken here at the final parking place and elsewhere indicated that the Rover is actually 160-165 meters from the LM.]

167:36:06 Scott: Okay, wait a minute. I'll dust off the LCRU. (Long Pause) (TV) camera's dusted and the LCRU's dusted. (Pause) Tap the amp-hours. And the amp-hours read 83 and 90.

[When Jim did the readout at 166:46:52 when he and Dave got back to the LM at the end of the traverse, the amp-hour readings were 88 and 90.]

[The following is Section 8.2.3 from the Apollo 15 Mission Report:"The lunar roving vehicle used less power than predicted. The predicted power consumption was based on worst-case surface roughness and soil composition, but the actual surface conditions were less severe. The cause of an initial ampere-hour reading of 105 ampere-hours instead of 121 ampere-hours is not known. Subsequent readings, correlated with ammeter readings, produce an estimated total power consumption of 52 ampere-hours of the 242 ampere-hours available. The consumed electrical power corresponds to a rate of 1.87 ampere-hours per kilometer. The preflight prediction of the usage rate was 3.67 ampere-hours per kilometer. Except for the ampere-hour indicator readings and the inoperative battery 2 volt/ammeter (sec. 14.6.2), the electrical power system operation was normal during the traverses."]

[Journal Contributor Jeroen Wackers notes that the 52 A-h figure used above to calculate an average of 1.87 A-h/km assumes that Dave's initial reading of 105 A-h and his final reading of 83 are both correct and discounts Jim's intermediate readings. Alternatively, use of Jim's readings with Dave's initial reading, give averages for the three EVAs of 1.74, 1.60, and 1.76., respectively, and an overall average of 1.69 A-h. We have too little information to make a firm conclusion about Apollo 15 usage except that it was half or less of the expected value.]

[On Apollo 16, John and Charlie drove 26.7 km and used 98.2 A-h, for an average of 3.67. However, the Apollo 16 Mission report indicates that abnormal drainage from Battery 1 was noted during EVA-2. John and Charlie don't give regular amp-hour readings but the few we have indicate big drops during both EVA-2 and EVA-3.]

[On Apollo 17, Gene and Jack drove 36 km and used 57.2 A-h, for an average of 1.59 A-h/km. This is consistent with Apollo 16 being an anomaly and, perhaps, suggests that the pre-tap 'final' reading is the one to use in calculating A15 usage.]

167:36:58 Scott: Oh! Okay. 00 on the amps (with the drive motors and TV off), of course; the battery temps, 112 and 119; and motor temps are still off-scale low.

167:37:21 Allen: Okay, Dave. Set up your circuit breaker configuration (as per CDR-40) and open the batt covers, please.

167:37:32 Scott: All righty. In work. Everything is going to be open except Bus A and Bus C and the Aux(illary) circuit breaker. The Aux is now Closed. Bus B is Open; Bus D is Open. Open the others. (Pause) Amp-hours, Open. Okay, Joe, all circuit breakers are now open with the exception of Aux, Bus A, and Bus C.

167:38:33 Allen: Roger, Dave, and Power, External; TV, Remote (as per CDR-41).

167:38:42 Scott: Okay, stand by. I'm in the middle of getting your (battery) covers, here. Just a second.

[Don McMillan has provided an animation ( 0.8 Mb ) of the battery covers on a his Virtual Rover being opened.]

167:38:54 Scott: Oh! Okay. Well, there's a little dust on the central mirror. But the other two seem to be fairly clean. I just happen to have a camera, which I'll take a picture for you.

167:39:14 Allen: Okay.

167:39:15 Scott: So you'll know what everything looks like.

167:39:16 Allen: Why not? (Long Pause)

[Dave's stereopair of the battery mirrors are AS15-88- 11891 and 11892.]

167:39:31 Scott: Okay, I'm going to Power...(Brief static) There's so much dust on here. The down position is Remote, right, Joe? (Correcting himself) I mean External/Aux.

167:39:49 Allen: That's affirm.

167:39:53 Irwin: Use that dustbrush, Dave, to dust it off?

167:39:56 Scott: It's in a shadow and I can't see.

167:39:59 Irwin: Oh.

167:40:00 Allen: No problem, Dave. The down position. (Pause) And, Dave. We'd like for you to align the high-gain (antenna) per the checklist procedures, but we're standing by for your readings on how possible you think that is, because of the dim intensity of the Earth. (Long Pause)

167:40:52 Allen: Dave, do you read Houston? (No answer) Hadley Base, do you read Houston? (No answer) Hadley Base, do you read Houston?

167:41:16 Scott: Yeah. Now, 5 by, Joe.

167:41:18 Allen: Okay. And I guess we're standing by for your high-gain alignment per the checklist.

167:41:30 Scott: Okay, stand by. (Long Pause)

[Without Houston's knowledge, Dave is preparing and photographing a memorial to the astronauts and cosmonauts who had died in space and in other circumstances. Dave talked about the memorial during the post-flight press conference. Photos AS15-88- 11893 and 11894 are a stereopair of the memorial.]

[Jones - "It was in your post-flight press conference."]

[Scott - "That's where we told 'em about it. I was thinking I had discussed it on the Moon, but I didn't."]

[Jones - "Tell me about it."]

[Scott - "We made a plaque for all the astronauts and cosmonauts that had been killed. And a little figurine, a Fallen Astronaut, and we put it right by the Rover. You can see it in the picture (AS15-88-11893). That was just a little memorial, in alphabetical order. In relative terms, we had both lost a lot and, interestingly enough, we didn't lose any more after that until Challenger. That's what I was doing when I said I was cleaning up behind the Rover (at 167:43:36). Jim knew what I was doing. We just thought we'd recognize the guys that made the ultimate contribution."]

[In a 2000 exchange of e-mail, Dave Scott adds "As I recall, we had the idea for the memorial and then looked around for the manner in which it might best be realized. The plaque was the obvious baseline."]

[In September 2021, Dave Scott provided a Memorandum for the Record clarifying the origin of the memorial that states, in part: "During the subsequent three weeks before launch, a plaque listing the names of both astronauts and cosmonauts in alphabetic order (and) a simple figurine representing a 'fallen astronaut' were designed and fabricated by NASA personnel and stowed in the pocket of my spacesuit. The figurine was precision-machined from a single block of aluminum alloy 6061, the same material approved for fabrication of our lunar surface tools. The design of the figurine was based on standard 'stick-figures' that had been universally accepted in the late 1960's as location symbols for bathrooms. Prior to the mission this private memorial concept was known only to a few individuals who were involved in preparing and stowing the plaque and figurine; there was absolutely no contact or knowledge outside these limited NASA personnel regarding this project."]

[Jones - "I'm glad you did it."]

[Scott - "We felt satisfied in doing it. Several good guys didn't get to go."]

[Jones - "I was just checking to see if there was any notation in the printed version of your checklist."]

[Scott - "Probably not. That's one of the things that's easy to remember."]

[Scott - "The plaque is explained in the Apollo 15 movie (Apollo 15: In the Mountains of the Moon), too, because they folded our press conference into that."]

[The fourteen astronauts and cosmonauts listed on the memorial are Charles Bassett (died Feb. 1966 in an aircraft accident), Pavel Belyayev (Jan. 1970, disease), Roger Chaffee (Jan. 1967, Apollo 1 fire), Georgi Dobrovolsky (Jun. 1971 re-entry pressurization failure), Theodore Freeman (Oct. 1964, aircraft accident), Yuri Gagarin (Mar 1968, aircraft accident), Edward Givens (1967, automobile accident), Gus Grissom (Jan. 1967, Apollo 1 fire), Vladimir Komarov (Apr. 1967, re-entry parachute failure), Viktor Patsayev (Jun. 1971, re-entry pressurization failure), Elliot See (Feb. 1966, aircraft accident), Vladislaw Volkov (Jun. 1971, re-entry pressurization failure), Edward White (Jan. 1967, Apollo 1 fire), and C.C. Williams (Oct. 1967, aircraft accident). Journal Contributor Brian Lawrence notes that "unknown at the time, two of the original selection of 20 cosmonauts were also deceased before Apollo 15: Valentin Bondarenko (fire during training, March 1961) and Grigori Nelyubov (train accident/suicide, February 1966)." Further, Lawrence notes that, while no more astronauts died in active service until the Challenger accident, "Jack Swigert died in December, 1982 of cancer and another six cosmonauts died between Apollo 15 and Challenger (Benderov, Shcheglov, Sorokin, Kononenko, Varlamov and Ivanov). Another death in the same period was the backup Vietnamese cosmonaut Bui Thanh Liem."]

167:41:56 Irwin: Oh, fine, Joe. Transferred a few bags up to the porch (by hand).

167:42:02 Allen: Sounds good.

167:42:11 Irwin: We have about three more to transfer up.

167:42:15 Allen: Super. (Long Pause) And, Dave, you might want to check TV Remote.

167:42:50 Scott: Okay, Joe. Just a sec(ond). (Long Pause)

167:43:30 Allen: Dave, give me a call on your present activity.

167:43:36 Scott: Oh, just cleaning up the back of the Rover, here, a little, Joe.

167:43:40 Allen: Oh, okay. (Pause) And, Dave, we do not have our TV yet. You might want to check TV Remote.

167:43:54 Scott: Okay, Joe. (Long Pause) It's sure hard to see the Earth. (Pause) (I'll) cycle it (meaning the LCRU Select Switch). You were in TV Remote.

167:44:42 Allen: Okay, you might want to...

167:44:44 Scott: I'm back again.

167:44:45 Allen: You might want to verify the Aux circuit breaker in.

167:44:59 Scott: That's verified, Joe. The Aux circuit breaker is in.

167:45:02 Allen: Thank you.

167:45:04 Scott: But you probably aren't getting it because I haven't found the Earth yet. Looking into the Sun, it's just tough, when you're trying to align this thing.

167:45:20 Irwin: You want me to go out there and see if I can assist in any way, Dave?

167:45:23 Scott: No. I'm going to try it from the other side, now.

167:45:30 Allen: Dave, maybe the best idea is just to use the AGC technique.

167:45:37 Scott: Yeah, I will.

167:45:40 Allen: That's plenty good enough.

167:45:45 Scott: Okay. Just hang right there, Jim, for a minute.

167:45:55 Irwin: Okay. And you can use that background sound, too.

167:46:03 Scott: Yeah.

167:46:04 Irwin: When you've locked on.

167:46:05 Scott: Oh, Earth! Where are you? (Pause) Can't get my visor (close enough to the sighting scope). There, I think I might be able to find him.

[Scott, from the 1971 Technical Debrief - "I had problems aligning the antenna. The ground desired to have us pointing down-Sun for the TV. That meant that, when I pointed the antenna, I had to look up-Sun because of the position of the high-gain on the Rover. Looking up-Sun, I just couldn't see the Earth. In the pointing device there, it was just too dim, even with the sunshade extended and the filter up and open. About 50 percent of the time, I used the AGC signal strength to get an indication that I was pointing to Earth and just sort of visually eyeballed the thing. It would be a significant improvement if they could open up the light passage through that sighting device."]

167:46:34 Irwin: If you want, I can come out and watch the AGC meter.

167:46:37 Scott: No, I got 'em.

167:46:38 Irwin: Good.

[Irwin - "The only time I really had a chance to relax and enjoy walking or running on the Moon was just before lift-off, just before we got into the Lunar Module on the last day. Dave was out parking the car and, for some reason, I just didn't have anything planned in my schedule, so I went around the Lunar Module a few times. I didn't jump up, but I jumped forward a few times. Like playing in the school yard just before the end of recess. That was the only little bit of free time that I had. And, by then, you would be pretty well adapted after spending three days on the Moon."]

[Irwin, from the 1971 Technical Debrief - "That was one period when we probably could have collected another 50 pounds of rocks if we had wanted."]

[Scott, from the 1971 Technical Debrief - "You're right."]

[Irwin, from the 1971 Technical Debrief - "We didn't plan that too well."]

[Scott, from the 1971 Technical Debrief - "I don't think we had planned on having that much time when we got back to the LM. I think we really got called back too soon because, once we got back there, we really had more time than we had ever planned on for that closeout. Therefore, I think we wasted a lot of time. I remember when I was out at the Rover, I could see you back at the LM just watching me."]

[Irwin, from the 1971 Technical Debrief - "Yes."]

[Scott, from the 1971 Technical Debrief - "You could have been collecting a whole bunch of rocks at that point."]

[Irwin, from the 1971 Technical Debrief - "I spent the time transferring as many bags as I could up to the porch, but there was still plenty of time left to collect maybe 50 pounds more of rocks."]

[Scott, from the 1971 Technical Debrief - "They got us back too soon. We wasted considerable time back there. I had the distinct impression people were getting awful itchy about us getting back in time and getting closed out in time. We felt pretty warm (that is, comfortable) about that final closeout because we had run through it so many times, and we knew we could handle the timeline as prescribed. We never did have a problem. Once we got back in the LM (in training), we always had plenty of time to get everything done."]

[Irwin, from the 1971 Technical Debrief - "The unknown was your taking the Rover out to the right position and getting all that taken care of."]

167:46:45 Allen: Okay, Dave, thank you.

167:46:50 Scott: I'll wait till you give me a go. Make sure you've got what you need. (Pause)

167:47:06 Allen: Dave, cycle the switch: Internal and External once for us, please.

167:47:14 Scott: All right. (Pause) Internal. External. (Long Pause)

167:47:37 Allen: And we got it.

167:47:41 Scott: Good show.

167:47:43 Allen: Thank you, D.R. (Pause)

[TV on, giving us a view of the U.S. flag decal on the right-front fender.]

167:47:52 Scott: And, Joe, let me verify that the position of the Earth in the grid is the important thing and not the angle at which the grid intersects the local vertical. Is that correct?

167:48:07 Allen: Dave, that's more or less correct. I think we're satisfied with the alignment here. We just need some help on tilting our camera up to the level.

167:48:19 Scott: Okay, just a second. (Pause)

[Fendell pans left, but is unable to raise the camera. We get a good view of the shadow of the high-gain sighting scope.]

167:48:40 Scott: Okay, Joe. (Pause) Poor camera!

[Dave raises the camera, which promptly starts to drift up toward the zenith.]

167:48:51 Scott: (Garbled)

167:48:52 Allen: ...is to take the dustbrush with you back to the LM. However, we may have also...

167:48:59 Scott: Okay, I'm going to take one last pan here.

167:49:00 Allen: Rog. And we may have overshot on the camera. We might have to have some help getting it back towards the horizontal.

167:49:12 Scott: (Laughing) Okay. One last comment on the mountain that's south of Hadley. I can see some large outcrops on the upper slopes, on the upper 10 percent. And they really stand out and there's a talus downslope. As a matter of fact, it almost looks like we have some layering on the upper slopes, the upper 10 percent, apparently...

167:49:38 Allen: (Cutting Dave off) Okay, Dave, we copy that. We need the camera fixed.

167:49:38 Scott: ...exposes bedrock (lost under Joe) slope. (Hearing Joe) Yes sir. Going right there!

[Dave's tone of voice - you can almost hear him snapping to attention and saluting - indicates that he understands he is being scolded and that it is time to obey orders.]

[Scott - "I'll bet somebody jumped on Joe and said, 'Get 'em back to LM, tell 'em to get the TV fixed, tell 'em to stop talking about all that geology stuff! We're through with that.' See, they're all getting nervous now, getting almost to the end."]

[Jones - "Time to get you guys back in and get the LM set up to get back to orbit."]

[Scott - "Had enough of that geology stuff. Get on with it."]

[Jones - "How far are we from launch, actually. Launch is at 171:36, so it's a little under four hours."]

[Dave's VIP Site pan consists of frames AS15-88- 11895 to 11925 (assembled by Dave Byrne).]

[Frame 11895 is a down-Sun and shows the LM with the ALSEP in the background. Jim is north of the spacecraft and is facing south. In frame 11896, Jim is facing north and, in 11897, he has moved in toward the LM. Frame 11899 shows the front of the Rover and the open LCRU covers. The TV camera is pointing north. Frame 88-11900 shows the Rover console, Jim's seat, and the low-gain antenna. Note the damage the seat has sustained as a result of Jim's getting on and off while wearing his backpack. Frame AS15-88- 11901 shows the Rover at it's final parking place. Brian Lawrence notes that the left-front fender is missing. At the back, we can see the rake, but neither of the tongs. the dust brush in on Dave's seat. What appears to be a 16-mm magazine is on Jim's seat. If so, it is probably the one Dave removed from the 16-mm camera after 167:27:19. Ron Creel has provided a summary ( 1.3 Mb PDF ) of the fender extension losses that occurred on all three Rover missions.]

[Keith Wilson writes in 1999, "In a 1990 communication, Jim Irwin told me that Dave Scott left a small red Bible on the LRV. Andy Chaikin also mentions this in his book 'A Man On The Moon' - Andy states that the Bible was left on the 'control panel'. I believe that the Bible can be seen edge on in AS15-88- 11901 propped up against the drive control handle. Irwin also told me that he left several objects on the Moon but not on the LRV." Those objects are documented in AS15-88-11867 to 71 and are discussed in the associated captions in the Apollo 15 Image Library.]

[Scott, from a 1999 communication - "Keith is right on! What a great scan -- really clear! And the Bible can be clearly seen leaning against the T-handle; exactly where I placed it. Your troops (meaning the ALSJ Team) are awesome."]

[Kipp Teague has produced a detail scan of the bible.]

[Frame 88-11902 shows the back of the Rover and, beyond it, the card listing the fallen astronauts and cosmonauts. Frame 88-11903 shows the astronaut/cosmonaut memorial. Note that the Rover tracks in this area do not seem to be as dark as those near the ALSEP. Mt. Hadley is in the background. Frames 88- 11904 to 11915 show Mt. Hadley and the Swann Range, and 11916 is centered on Silver Spur. Frame 88- 11917 shows Mt. Hadley Delta with the bright crater on the east rim of St. George Crater at the right edge. Note that the Rover tracks in the foreground are not appreciably darkened. Frame 88- 11921 shows St. George Crater. Notice how washed out the details are compared with the pictures such as 85-11376 which Dave took during the SEVA at about 106:53:45. The final frame, 88- 11925 shows the LM. Jim is nowhere in sight and may be hand-carrying gear up to the porch.]

167:49:49 Scott: (Lost under Joe) you're only up about five degrees. Ten degrees

[Dave re-positions the TV. Apparently, the clutch will only hold now when the camera is perfectly level.]

167:49:59 Scott: Okay. How's the camera? Is that okay? (No answer; Long Pause)

[Dave hops off-camera to the left. Fendell starts panning left past St. George.]

167:50:22 Allen: Okay.

[Dave crosses the field-of-view from left to right, headed for the LM. He is carrying the large dustbrush.]

167:50:32 Allen: Rog, Dave. I think Ed (Fendell) must have lost control.

[Fendell stops his counter-clockwise pan and reverses direction.]

167:50:41 Allen: You're right. He has.

167:50:42 Scott: He has a pretty high batting average.

Video Clip  2 min 58 sec ( 0.8 Mb RealVideo or 27 Mb MPG )

167:50:46 Allen: He surely does. (Long Pause)

[Fendell stops his clockwise pan once he is aimed at the LM. Dave is not yet back at the spacecraft. At some point during the trip, he takes AS15-88- 11928, which shows Jim at the MESA. Note the rock just below and to the left of the flag. A few moments later, Dave stops again and takes 11929, which shows a partially-buried boulder. This is probably the rock noted in 11928. Note the relative position of the intersecting Rover tracks in the two pictures.]

167:51:06 Allen: Dave and Jim, we're ready for you to move the baggage up into Falcon and climb in.

167:51:17 Scott: Okay.

167:51:18 Irwin: Okay.

[Fendell zooms in on the LM and we see Jim working at the MESA.]

[Scott - "That's from the Green Hills of Earth. That's one we talked about before the flight. Have you read that one?"]

[Jones - "Oh, yeah! That was a favorite when I was a kid. Had you read it?"]

[Scott - "Sure. (Quoting from memory) 'We pray for one last landing, on the globe that gave us birth. To rest our eyes on fleecy skies, and the cool green hills of Earth.'"]

[Scott - "In thinking about perception kind of stuff, if you think about where we are (at Hadley), the thing that's really different about the Earth is 'cool green hills' with the fleecy skies and the blue sky. So Heinlein's perception of a meaningful thing for the Blind Poet of the Spaceways is pretty good. That he could transport himself out."]

[Jones - "It was written sometime in the 40s, I think."]

[Scott - "And here we have black skies, and a gray surface. Dramatic difference. I always think it's amazing. Some of those science fiction guys can really project themselves out there that way."]

[Jones - "The good ones could."]

[Scott - "Cause one of the questions people ask about this is, 'Is the sky really all black?' Yeah. 'When it was daylight?' Yup. 'Wow!'"]

[Heinlein's short story, "The Green Hills of Earth", was published in the February 8, 1947 edition of the Saturday Evening Post and was included in a collection of the same name first published in 1951.]

[The title is that of a Rhysling poem:

The Green Hills of Earth

Let the sweet fresh breezes heal me
As they rove around the girth
Of our lovely mother planet
Of the cool, green hills of Earth.

We've tried each spinning space mote
And reckoned its true worth:
Take us back again to the homes of men
On the cool, green hills of Earth.

The arching sky is calling
Spacemen back to their trade.
ALL HANDS! STAND BY! FREE FALLING!
And the lights below us fade.

Out ride the sons of Terra,
Far drives the thundering jet,
Up leaps a race of Earthmen,
Out, far, and onward yet ---

We pray for one last landing
On the globe that gave us birth;
Let us rest our eyes on the fleecy skies
And the cool, green hills of Earth.

Robert A. Heinlein]

[Jones - "On the way back from lunch, you said that you and Jim were feeling really comfortable about the launch back to orbit because you'd worked it so often in the effort to develop and sell the shortened rendezvous."]

[Scott - "In having to present a short rendezvous to the experts, we had to learn a fair amount about it. So, when we got to this part of it, we were very comfortable that we knew what was going on. So it was a good learning experience for us."]

[Fendell zooms in on the LM and in doing so, has to lower the camera in small steps to get it centered.]

[Scott - "If I were running the camera, I'd say, 'Leave it like it is.'"]

[Jones - "Because of the troubles Ed's been having with it."]

[Scott - "'Cause, once you get it trained on the LM, boy, I'd say leave it. No more. I think it was in the plan to track it (during the launch), but not with these problems."]

[Jones - "I don't remember if Ed tracked John and Charlie. He did track Gene and Jack."]

[Scott - "I think it was in the plan to track us. With the capability to tilt, why wouldn't you track it?"]

[Scott - "From a technical point of view, this is a big deal, to get to see the lift-off. I mean, this is a big engineering objective. You get to see a lot of things. How does the attitude control work, and separation, and etc. So, for the engineering side of the house to get to watch the lift-off, that's a pretty big deal. And it's good show biz, too."]

[Jones - "So he's not going to mess with the camera again, after he gets it pointed at the LM."]

[Scott - "I wouldn't think so. We'll see."]

[Jones - "In fact, there are times after this point in 17 where he plays with it and my reaction is, 'God, why is he doing that?' Nobody's going to be able to come out and rescue it."]

[Scott - "'Better is the evil of good.' Joe Shea."]

[Scott - "Let me tell you a little story about that saying. The first time I heard it was early on in Apollo, when Joe Shea said it all the time. (In the 1990s), I'm working with the current group, and that (saying) showed up in some other form - about a year ago - and everybody really laughed. The young generation - late twenties and early thirties - had never heard that before. And these are people in the business. And those clichés usually carry through, even though they usually get boring after a while. But I thought it was rather amusing that that hadn't carried through. I think it's pretty description. Leave it alone. 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it.'"]

167:52:07 Scott: Good.

167:52:08 Allen: Roger, Jim.

167:52:09 Scott: Let me brush you off maybe a little, partner. I'm almost there. (Long Pause)

[Dave appears at the lower right in the TV image. He is running easily. Fendell has the TV aimed so that the LM footpads are at the bottom of the image and, at launch, he will get as much of the flight as possible without moving the camera.]

[The original transcription of Jim's transmission was "Good time?", but I have a feeling - and it is nothing more than that - that he was asking Dave if he was able to "get time" to deploy the memorial. However, I am not convinced that "Get time" is any more valid than the original transcription. In a 1996 letter, Dave agreed that Jim was asking about the memorial and that "get time?" is probably right.]

[Dave left the Rover at about 167:50:22 and, therefore, made the trip - stop at the rock included - in 2 minutes 8 seconds.]

[Although Dave and Jim are in view while they dust each other, the TV is too far away to give us useful detail beyond the timing information that is already available from the audio.]

167:53:39 Allen: Jim, while you're dusting there, how many suitcases have you carried up?

167:53:41 Irwin: (Garbled) dirty (To Joe) Oh, I only have two up there. There are two more down here plus the ETB...

167:53:53 Allen: Okay, and...

167:53:54 Irwin: ...and the core stem up there on the porch...

167:53:56 Allen: Okay; good.

167:53:57 Irwin: (Garbled) porch.

167:53:58 Allen: Good. And that core stem will go inside and lie on the floor against the midstep.

167:54:07 Irwin: Okay; we understand.

167:54:13 Scott: Man, I'm glad we got that core!

167:54:15 Irwin: (Laughing) Davy's core!

167:54:17 Scott: I'll tell you.

[A summary of results obtained from the deep core can be found in the discussion of samples 15001-006 in the Lunar Sample Compendium.]

[They turn to the MESA. At some point, Dave takes AS15-88- 11930, which is a view through the struts toward the Rover at the VIP site. Note that, as planned, Dave parked the Rover facing slightly to the right of the LM. John Young and Gene Cernan parked their Rovers in similar orientations.]

[This is probably the magazine that Dave removed from the 16-mm camera after 167:27:19 but may have left on Jim's Rover seat and then carried back from the VIP site. Like Dave, Jim is wearing a pocket strapped to each thigh ( 153k ).]

[The comm is increasingly distorted. They will launch at 171:37:25 and, because the Command Module orbit is 1 hour 58 minutes, it is too early for this distortion to be due to Al Worden passing overhead.]

167:54:43 Scott: Yeah.

167:54:44 Irwin: These two over here. (Going to the ladder) Want to use the LEC?

167:54:49 Scott: I think...Oh, I think it'll be okay, Jim.

167:54:51 Irwin: Yeah. (Long Pause, comm clears)

[Dave is saying that he can carry the remaining bags up to the porch by hand.]

167:55:59 Irwin: Okay, I'm getting in, Dave.

167:56:00 Scott: Yeah. (Pause) I think with a little practice, Jim, I could jump all the way to the porch! (Pause)

167:56:12 Irwin: Okay; I'm in.

167:56:14 Scott: Okay.

167:56:15 Irwin: And if you'll...(When you) come up, if you hand me that tool, it'll help.

Video Clip  2 min 35 sec ( 0.7 Mb RealVideo or 23 Mb MPG )

167:56:20 Scott: Oh, yeah, I will. Here's the ETB; let me get you the tool. (Pause)

[Dave and I were unable to figure out what tool Jim is talking about. Perhaps the tongs or scoop to help him drag the gear in through the hatch.]

167:56:40 Scott: Okay. (I'll) go back down and get the others. (Long Pause, probably as Dave goes down the ladder and then back up) Right over on your right there, partner.

167:57:41 Irwin: Got it.

[Comm Break]

[Fendell plays with the zoom but, eventually, returns to the original setting. By pulling back on the zoom in the second immediately following launch, he could get a bit more of the initial flight.]

167:58:50 Scott: Getting the last one right now, Joe.

167:58:53 Allen: Oh, boy. (Long Pause)

Video Clip  3 min 06 sec ( 0.8 Mb RealVideo or 28 Mb MPG )

167:59:31 Scott: Okay. (Long Pause)

167:59:45 Irwin: Dave, just a reminder on the stems there.

167:59:51 Scott: Yeah. Let me get you this bag.

167:59:54 Irwin: Yeah. (Pause)

167:59:58 Scott: There. Got it?

167:59:59 Irwin: Got it.

168:00:00 Scott: Good. Those are good little holders, there.

168:00:02 Irwin: Yep.

[Again, Dave and I were unable to translate "little holders".]

168:00:18 Irwin: Yeah, I got them.

168:00:19 Scott: Okay. Watch it. The caps are on not very tight; so be careful.

168:00:23 Irwin: Lie it on the floor, here.

168:00:25 Scott: Why don't you put it back up in the...That's all right.

168:00:27 Irwin: Well, I'm afraid it'll get bumped there, Dave.

168:00:29 Scott: Yeah. I guess we'll just have to be careful and not step on the thing. (Pause) Okay.

168:00:35 Irwin: (Garbled)

168:00:37 Scott: Okay; coming in.

168:00:38 Irwin: Okay, let me...Hold on, Dave, let me...

168:00:40 Scott: Oh, yeah. Move out of the way.

168:00:41 Irwin: ...get the LEC out to you.

168:00:43 Scott: Okay.

168:00:45 Irwin: I'll get behind my...(Get behind) the hatch.

168:00:49 Scott: Okay. (Long Pause)

[Jim has to close the hatch so that he can get on his side of the cabin and then open the hatch again so that Dave can get in.]

[Dave has probably dropped the LEC to the ground over the side porch rail.]

168:01:20 Irwin: Okay, I'll move. Go ahead, Joe.

168:01:23 Allen: Roger, Jim...

168:01:25 Irwin: Okay, Dave. I think you can get in now.

168:01:26 Allen: ...We're hoping you've got four collection bags and an ETB...

168:01:32 Irwin: In the middle.

168:01:33 Allen: ...in the cabin with you now.

168:01:36 Irwin: Yeah, we do.

168:01:39 Allen: Right on.

168:01:40 Scott: We've even got the core stems.

168:01:42 Allen: Okay, and...

168:01:43 Irwin: Hold it there, Dave. I'll get your (PLSS/OPS) antenna.

168:01:45 Scott: Okay.

Video Clip  1 min 38 sec ( 0.8 Mb RealVideo or 28 Mb MPG )

168:01:49 Allen: And, Dave and Jim, I've noticed a very slight smile on the face of the Professor. I think you very well may have passed your final exam.

168:02:02 Scott: (Hearty Laugh) Okay.

[Scott - "The Professor is Lee Silver. He's the kind of guy that you like to do this for. You would like to excel for Lee Silver. He makes you want to do that. That's one of the beauties of his teaching. So, a smile from Lee Silver is worth the whole thing. 'Cause the guy conveys it that way."]

[Jones - "The frustrations of the core stem. All that other stuff."]

[Scott - "Sure. 'Cause you like to do things for a Lee Silver. The guy made such a contribution to the program that, somehow, he should be recognized, someday."]

[At the very least, Lee Silver's contribution is recognized in the name of Silver Spur at Hadley.]

168:02:08 Scott: Okay. Coming through.

168:02:12 Irwin: A little more to your left, if you can.

168:02:14 Scott: Okay.

168:02:15 Irwin: Straight ahead. (Pause) More to your left? Okay.

168:02:21 Scott: Okay.

168:02:24 Irwin: Okay. Got it?

168:02:27 Scott: Yeah.

168:02:28 Irwin: You're hung up a little on me. If you can shift to your right...

168:02:30 Scott: Okay. (Pause) Okay. Just don't let me get that cover (?). (Pause) Okay. Let's see; why don't we close the door?

168:02:46 Irwin: Yeah. (Pause)

168:02:55 Irwin: (Reading from Surface 11-1) "Prim(ary) water, close."

168:02:58 Scott: Okay. (Pause)

168:03:04 Irwin: Now let me get yours.

168:03:07 Scott: I can...(Pause)

168:03:11 Irwin: Trouble? Maybe I'll struggle too.

168:03:13 Scott: I got it.

168:03:14 Irwin: Now I'll get you to get mine, then.

168:03:16 Scott: Yeah.

168:03:18 Irwin: (Garbled) there.

168:03:19 Scott: If you can turn around...Okay, back into your corner. Let me get back into my corner. There. Now I think you can turn around. (Pause) Get any further left? Oh, wait. Just let me try it. (Pause) Tell you what. (Laughs)

168:03:49 Irwin: (Garbled)

[The next RealVideo clip starts at 170:55:17.]

168:04:14 Irwin: Yeah, I know. I can't get down that low. Get down that low. Go ahead and repress with it (meaning the primary water valve) open.

168:04:19 Scott: Let me try it. (Long Pause) (Feeling the switches on the bottom, right-front corner of Jim's PLSS) Cooling. Oxygen. PLSS water, right there. Okay, I got you. Okay, now...

168:04:42 Allen: Troops, we need that...

168:04:43 Scott: Come on now.

168:04:44 Allen: ...water off.

168:04:45 Scott: Okay. We're fixed. (To Houston) Yeah, Joe; it's off. (To Jim) Get back in your corner if you can. Look. You have to turn right so you can get the dump valve.

168:04:57 Irwin: I've already got it; (it's) in Auto.

168:04:59 Scott: Really?

168:05:00 Irwin: Yeah.

168:05:01 Scott: Okay, just move back so I can get the door then. (Can you) go farther?

168:05:08 Irwin: Go back in my little corner?

168:05:10 Scott: Yeah!

168:05:11 Irwin: Yep.

168:05:13 Scott: That a boy. Okay. Now we're cooking. (Long Pause) Man! (Pause) Closed and locked, babe.

168:05:46 Irwin: Okay. (Pause)

168:05:51 Scott: Okay, "dump valves both to Auto".

168:05:54 Irwin: They are.

168:05:55 Scott: Okay; "Cabin Repress (valve) to Auto".

168:06:00 Irwin: Stand by.

168:06:02 Allen: Jim, we're having trouble verifying...

168:06:04 Scott: "CB(16) ECS..."

168:06:06 Allen: ...your (PLSS) water off.

168:06:11 Irwin: Well, we'll check it here on the repress.

168:06:16 Allen: Jim...

168:06:17 Irwin: (Garbled)

168:06:18 Scott: Okay; "CB..."

168:06:18 Allen: ...we'd like for you to check it now. You're going dump water in the cabin if you miss it.

168:06:24 Scott: Okay; get in your corner, Jim; I'll get you from the rear. Turn around and get in your corner. Go back to your little corner. (Pause) Oh, my! (Pause) If I could just feel something.

168:06:51 Irwin: You must have got it, Dave. I just got a tone.

168:06:54 Scott: Did you? Okay, Joe. Now can you confirm it?

168:06:59 Allen: Looks good.

168:07:01 Irwin: Yeah, I've got an A flag. You got it.

168:07:04 Scott: (To Houston) Well, it was off! Okay. "CB(16) ECS: Cabin Repress, close."

168:07:12 Irwin: Closed.

168:07:14 Scott: Okay, up she comes. (Sound of repress) There's 1 (psi). (Pause) 1.5. (Pause) 2. (Pause) 2.5. (Pause)

168:08:09 Scott: 3.5. (Long Pause) 4.0. (Pause; sound of repress ends) Okay; "Press Reg A and B to Cabin".

168:08:32 Irwin: Okay. Standby. (Pause)

[An EVA is defined as the time when the cabin pressure is below 3.5 psi and, therefore, EVA-3 started at approximately 163:18:11 and ended at approximately 168:08:09. These times give a duration of 4 hours 49 minutes 58 seconds. The Apollo 15 Mission Report gives start and end times of 163:18:14 and 168:08:04, respectively. The differences are too small to be significant and are indicative of the typical errors in the original NASA transcript.]

168:08:40 Irwin: Okay; A and B are in Cabin.

168:08:43 Scott: Okay; PLSS O2 going off.

[Dave is a little annoyed at the thought of another interruption.]

168:08:48 Scott: Yeah, I know it.

168:08:50 Allen: Troops...

168:08:51 Scott: Go ahead, Houston.

168:08:52 Allen: Rog, Dave and Jim. Ed's coming on the line down here. Just wanted to say I enjoyed it.

168:08:59 Scott: (Pleased) Oh! Well, thank you, Joe. You did a superfine job. Appreciate you keeping such good track of us.

168:09:05 Allen: Wouldn't have missed it for anything.

168:09:06 Irwin: Thank you, Joe.

[Flight Director Gerry Griffin comes on line briefly.]

168:09:22 Scott: Well, thank you, Gerry. We'd like to take our hats off to the whole team. By golly, you guys are really sharp down there, and we sure appreciate it. 'Cause you know as well as we do we sure couldn't do it without you. (Pause) (To Jim) Okay, let's see. "Cabin warning lights off. Cabin pressure's stable at about 4.5." "Use purge valve to depress." We're depressed. I am. Aren't you?

168:09:51 Irwin: Yeah.

[Journal Contributor Harald Kucharek wonders "if this is really a pure technical exchange or is it also a play on words? They've finished their last EVA and they are going to leave, never to return. They are not really depressed; but, perhaps, feel a little bit sad, particularly after the loss of the North Complex."]