EVA-2 Preparations

Traverse to Station 6

 

Preps for EVA-2 Traverse

Corrected Transcript and Commentary Copyright © 1996 by Eric M. Jones.
All rights reserved.
Last revised 4 August 2017.

MP3 Audio Clip ( 6 min 29 sec ) by David Shaffer

142:22:53 Scott: Hey, Jim, let me get the old hatch open here. If you can...Okay...Yeah.

142:23:00 Irwin: Let me turn the other way, Dave.

142:23:01 Scott: Okay. (Pause) Make it all right? (Pause)

142:23:28 Irwin: Okay, I'm around.

142:23:31 Scott: Okay.

142:23:32 Irwin: Get the hatch open a little farther today.

142:23:33 Scott: Oh, yeah; it's much better. (Pause) Okay, I'm going to come around this way today. (Pause) Little easier.

142:23:44 Irwin: Just me.

[Dave may have bumped into Jim as he turned; and Jim is reassuring him that he hasn't hit any of the equipment.]

142:24:01 Irwin: Whoa, Dave, whoa.

142:24:02 Scott: Okay.

142:24:03 Irwin: Now you can get down. You were hung up on my RCU.

142:24:11 Scott: Okay. (Pause) How does that look to you? Okay?

142:24:12 Irwin: Yeah, that looks like you're pretty well cleared there. (Pause) You're well centered. I could get your (PLSS/OPS) antenna right now if you'd like.

142:24:21 Scott: No, let me get out.

142:24:23 Irwin: Okay. (Pause) Wanna hold right there?

142:24:29 Scott: Yeah. Why don't I hold here and you can get it.

142:24:32 Irwin: Okay. Your antenna is up.

[Jim is on EVA-2 cuff checklist page LMP-3 and Dave is on CDR-3.]

142:24:38 Irwin: Sure did.

142:24:39 Scott: Okay. (Pause)

142:24:48 Irwin: Hold there, and I'll get the BSLSS bag ( 159k ) and all our...

142:24:52 Scott: Yeah, do that.

142:24:53 Irwin: ...gear. (Pause)

142:24:57 Scott: Okay, Houston. I'm out on the first rung of the ladder, and we'll take care of the jettison procedures here.

142:25:04 Allen : Okay, Dave. According to our calculations, here, you'll just about fill Hadley Rille with water (collected from behind the engine cover).

142:25:17 Scott: (Laughs) Yes, sorry to say. (Pause) Okay. That's...That a boy. Good. (Pause) Okay; one (water-filled LiOH) can's down. (Pause)

[The timing in this sequence indicates that as Jim pushes the LiOH canisters and other articles out through the hatch, Dave takes them and drops them over the railing, probably on the right (south) side to avoid hitting the MESA.]

142:26:16 Irwin: Yeah. (Long Pause)

142:26:28 Scott: Okay.

142:26:30 Irwin: Just a minute...

142:26:31 Scott: You dropped it. Oh! I've got it. (Pause) Okay; it's down. And if you can hand me the ETB.

142:26:40 Irwin: Stand by. (Long Pause)

[The ETB contains the cameras and, consequently, Dave will carry it down by hand.]

142:27:10 Irwin: Got her?

142:27:11 Scott: Yeah.

142:27:12 Irwin: Good. (Pause)

142:27:19 Scott: Okay, down the ladder to the plains of Hadley. (Long Pause) By golly. Just like we left it yesterday.

142:27:49 Allen: Jim, this is Houston with a request.

142:27:51 Irwin: (To Dave) Good. (To Joe) Go ahead, Joe.

142:27:55 Allen: Roger, Jim. We're seeing some excursions in your Delta-P (pressure difference on) the Glycol Pump 1. We'd like for you to pull the Auto Transfer circuit breaker on that Glycol Pump, and select Pump number 2. Over.

142:28:14 Irwin: Okay, stand by. Okay, I'm pulling Auto Transfer now; and I'm selecting Pump 2. Is that affirm?

142:28:22 Allen: That's affirm; thank you. (Long Pause)

142:29:05 Scott: (To himself) Okay. Pick up the pallet. (Long Pause) Oh, boy; is that easy and fixed. My! (Pause)

[Dave is removing pallet number 2 from the MESA. It contains PLSS LiOH canisters, PLSS batteries for EVA-3, and food for the remainder of the LM mission. They will not do a pallet transfer during EVA-3.]

142:29:48 Irwin: Pins is green, yeah.

142:29:49 Scott: Yeah; they're green. Okay. Transfer the old pallet.

142:29:56 Allen: Sounds good.

142:30:03 Scott: Don't have to put an LiOH (canister for the ECS) in it. So, I guess it makes it little easier.

[Jim loaded an ECS LiOH canister in Pallet No. 1 at about 120:52:24 during the early stages of EVA-1.]

142:30:10 Scott: Yeah, that's a good idea. (Long Pause)

[At some point, possibly here, Dave carries the pallet up the ladder to Jim. The lack of discussion about the LEC clearly indicates that they are not using it at this point in the mission. The Apollo 16 and 17 crews wouldn't use the clothesline version of the LEC at all.]

142:30:47 Allen: Stand by, Jim....

142:30:49 Irwin: ...in that configuration for the EVA?

142:30:49 Allen: ... Stand by on that. I think we probably will. I'll give you some words shortly.

142:30:56 Irwin: Okay. I'll call you before I get out.

142:30:59 Allen: Roger.

[Comm Break]

142:32:39 Allen: Okay, Dave, how're you doing?

142:32:44 Scott: Oh, I'm doing just fine, Joe. I'm getting the high-gain antenna squared away for you, hopefully.

142:32:52 Allen: Okay. And while you're working there, Dave, you did such a beautiful job on fixing Jim's PLSS antenna, we've got another Walter Mitty repair job we'd like for you to carry out for us, please, on the cable lead from the high gain antenna to the LCRU, and when you think you're at a good place to do that, I'll go through a description of what we need.

[Mitty was the fictional hero of the James Thurber story, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. In real-life, Mitty was an unremarkable, inconspicuous, henpecked man who, in his daydreams, was courageous and resourceful and lived a life of high adventure.]

142:33:20 Scott: Gee, I'm right there, Joe.

142:33:22 Allen: Roger, Dave. Basically, our camera keeps hanging...

142:33:25 Irwin: And, Joe, I'm going to put...

142:33:27 Allen : ... our camera keeps hanging up on that cable, and we'd like for you perhaps, if you think it's feasible, to tape a part of a cable below the fastening device on the staff of the high-gain antenna. If you think a piece of tape right there might help, we suggest you go ahead and do that now.

142:33:52 Scott: Joe, I just completed that little task. It's all done!

[As requested by Houston, Dave brought a piece of tape out to secure the cable. In a before-and-after comparison ( 0.25 Mb or 0.5 Mb ), a detail from AS15-86-11602 (left) shows the configuration at the end of EVA-1 of the cables connecting the TV camera to the Television Control Unit (TCU) and the High-Gain antenna to the Lunar Communications Relay Unit (LCRU). A detail from AS15-88-11866 shows the configuration of those two cable early in EVA-3. A cable connecting the Low-Gain antenna to the LCRU is also labelled. Finally, a detail from AS15-87-11780, taken from Dave's seat late in EVA-2, shows a bit more detail about how Dave secured the high-gain cable to the mast.]

142:34:02 Scott: I'm clear, Jim. (Pause)

142:34:13 Irwin: And, Joe, I'm in a position to get out. Let me know what the final configuration is on the glycol pumps.

142:34:18 Allen: Jim, the best I can do for you right now is ask you to stand by one minute. We're going to make a final decision.

142:34:27 Irwin: Okay. (Long Pause)

142:34:44 Allen: And, Dave, as you might guess, when Jim comes out, you can delete that step to deploy his antenna.

142:34:53 Scott: Yes, sir. Will do.

142:34:55 Allen: I have a very keen sense of the obvious.

142:35:02 Scott: No, that's a good reminder, Joe.

142:35:05 Irwin: Don't worry; I wouldn't let him do it, Joe.

142:35:08 Allen: Shows you're thinking.

142:35:11 Irwin: But I sure would...(Stops to listen to Allen) Time's a wasting, Joe. (Pause) You're going to get way ahead of me, Dave.

142:35:34 Scott: It's alright.

[Scott - "He's up there waiting for them to tell him on the glycol pumps. And he knows that our tasks are sequenced. We're working in parallel. So, he's saying I'm going to get way ahead of him, 'cause I'm doing my tasks and he should be doing his. He's standing up there, knowing he's falling behind and waiting for them to tell him about the glycol pumps, and wanting to get going."]

[Jones - "Not only is it putting him a couple of minutes behind but, at some point, it's going to put you a couple of minutes behind."]

142:35:37 Irwin: You get too far ahead, you might have to go out and drill a little bit.

142:35:38 Allen : ... to Pump number 1.

142:35:43 Irwin: Okay, going back to Pump 1.

142:35:44 Allen: Okay, select Pump 1, Jim, and then close the...

142:35:47 Irwin: Okay, I'm on Pump 1.

142:35:49 Allen: Auto Transfer circuit breaker. Close the circuit breaker when you're on Pump 1.

142:35:56 Irwin: Okay, Auto Transfer, closed, and I'm egressing.

142:36:01 Allen: Roger. Sounds good.

[Comm Break]

[Once Jim is down on the surface, he will be on cuff checklist page LMP-4.]

142:37 37 Allen: Roger, Jim! Copy. (Long Pause) Dave, this is Houston...

142:38:15 Scott: Okay, Joe. Let me review the...

142:38:18 Allen: Go ahead.

[Dave's next transmission indicates that he is working on the tasks on CDR-4.]

142:38:49 Allen: Roger. Copy that clearly, Dave, and when you are ready to drive the Rover, I've got some words to lay on you about getting those front wheels unstuck.

142:39 08 Scott: Okay. Stand by, Joe. I'll give you a call.

142:39:11 Allen: Okay. (Long Pause)

[Scott - "Let me make a little comment on the phonetic alphabet that we use here. I think it's getting lost today, but there was a NATO-derived phonetic alphabet after World War II that everybody used in Europe in flying. And that somehow transferred into Apollo. I said 'Epsilon' here - which we use in school a lot, right? - and, actually, the phonetic is 'Echo'. And, as a young fighter pilot, you learn 'alpha, bravo, charlie, delta, echo.'"]

[Jones - "And there are a couple of instances where people got playful and switched over to other systems. One of the CapComs (Bruce McCandless on Apollo 14) used things like Esmeralda Ecuador and Jack used girls names and things like that."]

[Scott - "It could get confusing!"]

[Jones - "I suppose there's a time to be playful and a time to stick to business."]

[Scott - "In flying airplanes, they were very rigid about that. I mean, the phonetics that you used were the phonetics that were published and you had gone through, obviously, a series of evaluations where people defined words that, over a radio transmission, were the best words to use. And the phonetic alphabet that came out of that exercise is the one that should be used, because it had been researched."]

[Jones - "And if you start getting playful, in a critical situation, you may forget and be misunderstood."]

[Scott - "Yeah, that's the problem."]

[Jones - "Here, you're making sure that they understand exactly which magazines are out on this EVA, what's on the camera, so that, after the fact, they don't have to work terribly hard figuring out what pictures were taken where."]

[Scott - "Or, if they want something different, now's the time (to make a change)."]

142:39:44 Scott: Okay. (Long Pause)

142:39:57 Irwin: And I've got one for you, real time, here, Joe. It (meaning checklist page LMP-4) says to put the battery in the plus-Z (north) footpad, in the shadow. We don't have any shadow in the plus-Z. Should I put the battery over in, say, the plus-Z?

142:40:15 Allen: Sounds like a good fallback procedure, Jim.

142:40:20 Irwin: Okay. (Long Pause)

[During the mission review, Dave and I were both puzzled by the checklist instruction to put the LCRU battery in shadow in the plus-Y footpad. During the Nav initialization at 143:08:23, we learn that the Sun is currently 13 degrees south of east - or a clock position of 6:30 - and, as can be seen from Figure 3.1-5 in the Apollo 15 Final Lunar Surface Procedures volume, the plus-Y footpad was not going to be in complete shadow unless the spacecraft was rotated counter-clockwise by more than 30 degrees. Of course, for any spacecraft orientation, there was shadow of the plus-Y landing leg on the western side of the footpad and this may be what was meant. If so, Jim was not aware of that intent.]

[Irwin, from the 1971 Technical Debrief - "As far as the storage of the LCRU battery, the plus-Y footpad was in the sunshine, so I changed it there and put that battery in the plus-Z footpad, which was a change. I wrapped it in the blanket and put it in the plus-Z."]

[Scott, from a 1996 letter - "The 'intent' of this (instruction in Jim's checklist) should have been clear when the procedures were developed and rehearsed. Was the leg shadow large enough to protect the LCRU battery? If not, that might have been the source of the misunderstanding."]

142:41:03 Scott: Okay, Joe. I'm about ready to change the LCRU battery now.

142:41:07 Allen: Roger.

[Dave is at 0:34 in his checklist. The EVA started at 142:14:44 and, therefore, Dave is actually about 7 minutes ahead of the timeline. A good deal of this is probably due to the crew's decision not to use the LEC to transfer the pallet. In support of this conclusion, note that Jim is at about 0:31 in his checklist and, despite the delay caused by the glycol pump, he is also ahead of the timeline.]

142:41:16 Allen: Roger. (Long Pause)

142:42:09 Scott: Okay, no problem with the change. (Pause)

142:42:23 Irwin: SRC (Sample Return Container or rock box) 2 is on the table.

142:42:28 Allen: Thank you, Jim. (Pause)

142:42:41 Allen: And, Dave, we want meter readings before the circuit breakers get closed, please.

142:42:48 Scott: All right. Reading...All of them are off scale low, Joe. Oop, except of course the battery volts: about 7.1 on number 1, and number 2 is still 0.

142:43:04 Allen: Okay, copy. That was an easy reading.

142:43:13 Scott: Okay, circuit breakers are coming in. (Pause) All except the Aux.

142:43:34 Allen: Roger.

142:43:40 Irwin: Okay, and the organic sample is closed for SRC 2.

142:43:45 Allen: Thank you. (Long Pause)

142:44:43 Irwin: Let's see, Joe. We still have bag 2 on the right side of the Hand Tool Carrier (HTC) (as seen from the back of the Rover). Should I put it temporarily under my seat?

142:45:01 Allen: Can if you want, Jim. Sounds good.

[LMP-4 indicates that they want SCB-5 on the left side of the HTC, SCB-7 on the right side, and SCB-6 on the geopallet. SCB-2 was on the right side during EVA-1 but did not get filled.]

[Jones - "Had you worked the training exercises knowing which bags you expected to have on the Rover and which bags each of you was going to wear during a particular EVA?"]

[Scott - "Absolutely. In fact, that's part of the blank piece of paper we started with on 15. We didn't have all these bags. So that evolved over the training exercises because, all of a sudden you have the Rover, and you can carry more. How do you carry more, what do you do, and in what sequence? So these extra bags were all new."]

[Jones - "Pete and Al had a bag in the middle of their Hand Tool Carrier; Al and Ed basically had that same Hand Tool Carrier on the MET, and they could put other samples in additional bags hanging from the sides of the MET. But nobody, prior to your mission, had the SCB - as they were later called - on the side of the PLSS."]

[Scott - "And we did that because we had the Rover and could carry more."]

[Jones - "Any thoughts about how quickly that evolved during the preparation for 15?"]

[Scott - "Not really. I could go back and dig it up, but I remember the whole system evolving around the Rover: the tools, the tool carrier, the bags, under the seat, more cameras, more mags, and the 500-mm. A lot of equipment was new. So, where do you put it, and how do you use it? And I can remember going through the exercise of developing those concepts. I don't think they all showed up at once. I think they showed up slowly as we went along. So, how can you carry more rocks with you and not have your hands tied down with rocks."]

["We finally had somebody on the Flight Crew Support Team draw up a picture of all this stuff. We could follow it, 'cause we were there when it was designed. But other people couldn't follow it without the picture; when we started in with the simulations with the Control Center, people couldn't track what was going on, 'cause there was so much stuff. So, we had this picture drawn."]

[Jones - "And I assume, again, the development was a team effort, with some of the ideas coming from the crew and a lot of it coming from support people who are thinking about how things can get the job done and how to take advantage of the Rover."]

[Scott - "Yeah. And going out into the field and doing this stuff. The hands-on approach was pretty effective. This was, again, the value of the field trips and field exercises - doing a high-fidelity timeline with all the equipment, helped us develop all this stuff."]

[Irwin, from the 1971 Technical Debrief - "We had at least one extra bag under my seat, but I don't believe there was any confusion because the bags were very clearly labeled."]

[Scott, from the 1971 Technical Debrief - "I think the ground did a good, good job of keeping track of all the bookkeeping for us. With all that equipment, that was a good thing to have everybody on the ground keeping track, because we didn't have to worry about the way things went and because (otherwise) it could get very confusing."]

142:45:13 Allen: Okay, great, Dave. Thank you.

142:45:19 Scott: Good; okay. And, Joe, I'm in a position to take another crack at that steering, if you'd like to talk me through the procedures.

[Dave is ahead of Jim in his list of tasks and has a chance to check the steering while Jim completes the tasks on LMP-4.]

142:45:46 Scott: Roger; in work. (Pause)

142:45:53 Irwin: Joe, I'm going to take bag number 3 off the back of the pallet. Put number 6 there (as per checklist), so we can keep the numbers straight.

142:46:02 Allen: Okay.

142:46:07 Scott: And Steering Forward is now in Bus Charlie, and I cycled it three times.

142:46:11 Allen: Okay, Dave. Now proceed on with your normal power-up cycle if you haven't already; and give me a call when you're ready to start driving.

142:46:24 Scott: Okay. Well, Jim still has a few things to do. I just thought I'd take care of the other little sundry items if I could.

142:46:37 Allen: Okay, Dave. Basically, the rest of the procedure is just to cycle the Forward Steering circuit breaker, open; and then close, and then attempt Forward Steering. You can do that when you power- up, and if there's no Forward Steering, we're going to ask that the Forward Steering switch be turned Off. Do you copy?

142:47:01 Scott: Roger. (Long Pause)

142:47:24 Irwin: Okay, Joe; I'm putting bag number 7 on the right-hand side of the tool carrier (as per LMP-4).

142:47:29 Allen: Roger, Jim. Sounds good. (Pause)

142:47:42 Irwin: Okay. I'm going to be transferring some core tubes.

142:47:45 Allen: Rog. (Long Pause)

142:48:31 Irwin: Okay, I have the three core tubes in there; two bag dispensers.

[Comm Break]

142:49:51 Scott: Okay, Joe. Just a sec. (Pause) Okay. (Long Pause)

[Dave will change S-band modes using the switch at the center of the LCRU Control Panel and will put the LCRU on internal power, using the switch at the upper right.]

142:50:24 Scott: Okay, the blankets are open a hundred (percent); on Internal; PM1/WB.

142:50:41 Allen: Roger.

142:50:45 Irwin: And the SESC (Special Environmental Sample Container) is going into my seat bag. (Pause) Oh, we're going to have a lot of bags under my seat, Joe.

142:51:10 Allen: Okay, Jimmy. I hope we can fill some of them.

142:51:12 Irwin: I guess that will be all right. (Responding to Joe) Oh, we'll do our best.

142:51:19 Scott: There. Get the lens brush out. Try to take care of those lens. (Pause) Hey, that works pretty good.

142:51:31 Irwin: Work good?

142:51:32 Scott: Man, does it ever. Bright and shiny.

142:51:40 Irwin: Let's see, you still have some sample bags on your camera, don't you?

142:51:44 Scott: Yeah, so do you, Jim.

142:51:46 Irwin: Better put these under the seat then.

142:51:47 Scott: Okay.

142:51:48 Irwin: Why don't I just put one under your seat and one under mine?

142:51:55 Scott: Yeah. That's good. I'll tell you that lens brush really does the trick.

142:52:03 Irwin: Yep. (Pause)

142:52:11 Allen: Hence the name, Dave.

142:52:16 Scott: Say again.

142:52:17 Allen: Roger. I say hence the name.

142:52:23 Scott: Oh. Rog. Hence the name. (Pause) Well, our cameras, as you might have expected, got pretty dirty yesterday. As a matter of fact, we were having to wipe the dust off of the settings every time we took a picture so we could see them, and the lenses got pretty dusty, but they're all cleaned off now.

142:52:43 Allen: Yes, sir, we copied and sounds good now. (Long Pause)

[This exchange suggests that Dave is taking care of some of the equipment tasks on CDR-5.]

142:53:09 Irwin: Yeah. (Pause) Still sorting out the bags.

142:53:18 Scott: That's okay. Better to have them right. (Pause) Get to my tongs, here. (Pause) Okay. (Long Pause)

[Because both yo-yos broke during the first EVA, Dave and Jim will stow the tongs and scoop between the seats.]

[Irwin, from the 1971 Technical Debrief - "I positioned the scoop extension handle on the left-hand side of my seat, kind of under the bracket, at the attachment of the seat to the Rover frame. It did ride fairly securely there."]

[Scott, from the 1971 Technical Debrief - "I took the tongs and stuck them under the left-hand side of my seat between the seatpost and the (seatpan) bag, and they rode very securely there, too."]

142:54:11 Scott: Okay.

142:54:12 Irwin: ...and you on me (as per CDR-5).

142:54:13 Scott: Okay, stand by one, Jim.

142:54:16 Irwin: Okay. In the meantime I'll look at the seatbelt. See if I can do anything with it.

142:54:23 Scott: Okay.

[Comm Break]

[As indicated in the dialog at 142:56:47, Dave is probably collecting the glass ball they have decided to call an Aggie.]

142:55:37 Scott: Okay, I think without the extension handle, it ought to work okay. (Pause)

[Because both yo-yos broke during EVA-1, neither of them will be wearing tongs. They should be smaller around and the seatbelts should fit better.]

142:55:53 Scott: Careful how you do ...

142:55:54 Allen : ... putting the collection bags on now?

142:55:58 Scott: Yeah. Just starting.

142:56:00 Allen: Okay.

[They're at 0:39 in the checklists and 41 minutes into the EVA. The EVA started at 142:14:44.]

142:56:02 Allen: We think you should wind up with collection bags 3 and 7 on your PLSSs and not collection bag 2, which still should be under the seat. (Pause) I'm sorry, not on the PLSSs, on the Hand Tool Carrier. I called that incorrectly.

[Jim's prior transmissions indicated that he correctly put onto the HTC and pallet the bags called out in the checklist.]

142:56:24 Allen: Right.

142:56:25 Scott: Yeah. On the PLSSs, Joe, we're going to put on number 2 and number 5, just like in the (checklists)...

142:56:31 Irwin: No, that's wrong.

142:56:32 Scott: Huh?

142:56:34 Irwin: That's wrong.

142:56:35 Scott: Oh, you changed it, huh?

142:56:37 Irwin: Somehow the wrong gear's in bag 2.

142:56:39 Scott: How did that happen?

142:56:41 Irwin: We still have the core tubes in here.

142:56:42 Scott: Oh, yeah!

[Because EVA-1 was shortened, they did not have a chance to use the core tubes in SCB-2. See the dialog at 125:44:19.]

142:56:45 Scott: Okay.

142:56:46 Allen: Okay, Jim, that's right on.

142:56:47 Scott: Hey, Joe, by the way, bag...(Listens to Joe) Okay. (Pause) Joe, bag number 162 has that little glass aggie in it.

142:57:05 Allen: Roger, Davy. You never walked past it. Beautiful.

[An aggie is a type of playing marble. A genuine aggie was made of agate stone as opposed to a glass imitation. A more complete discussion of the name can be found following 108:30:36. Prior to collecting the aggie, Dave took 86- 11604 , a cross-Sun from the north. He had noticed this small glass sphere on the ground under the Rover stowage position prior to the first EVA at 108:30:36. The piece of hardware on the ground is probably a so-called "pip-pin" that was pulled off the Rover during the deployment. The "aggie" is above the slightly-buried rock which, in turn, is above and slightly to the right of the center of the picture.]

[Dave stepped to his left to get a stereo companion, 11605, and then to his right to get a final cross-Sun "before", 11606, which shows the glass sphere better than any of the others in the series. The "aggie" is beyond the relatively large rock that is above and to the left of the pip-pin.]

[Frame 11607 is a down-Sun "before" photo.]

[After completing the sampling, Dave took 11608, which shows that he not only picked up the aggie but two other rocks as well. The aggie is sample 15017, a 17-gram "hollow glass sphere"; and the other two samples are 15027 and 15028. Both are glass-coated breccias, and they weigh 51 and 59 grams, respectively.]

[Here, Dave and Jim are probably at the back of the Rover. Dave is taking tools off the Rover and is securing them to the left side of Jim's PLSS. On Apollo 16 and 17, hammer-wielders John Young and Gene Cernan, respectively, decided to stow their hammers in a right-shin pocket and both accidentally pulled their right-rear Rover fender off by catching it with the hammer. Dave and I talked about hammer stowage.]

[Scott - "When we did this, we didn't know about John and Gene. They didn't exist, in terms of doing this, and I think the hammer was on Jim so it was easy for me to get."]

[Jones - "But somebody made a decision, John maybe, that it was easier for him to have it in his shin pocket."]

[Scott - "I don't know about that. But I remember the hammer exercise, and where to put the hammer. And it was easiest to get if it were on Jim."]

["You can't isolate where the hammer was, relative to three guys. You have to look at what we (the Apollo 15 crew) did when we were there. And then, after our mission was over, 16 had a new mission. And there may have been a new requirement that somehow resulted in the hammer being moved, or it could have been personal preference, or may be it could have been something else more important that goes on the PLSS there. And then 17...So you can't take each mission and compare it one on one. You have to go through the evolution and find out. Now, maybe it was a preference that John and Gene had it in their shin bags, but maybe not. Maybe it was driven by some other decision on some other piece of equipment."]

[Jones - "Or because of the way a particular team worked, the way they divided up the tasks - how much they worked together, how much they worked separately. Or, maybe there were a number of times when there were two solo operations and they decided it was more efficient for them to be working on separate tasks."]

[Scott - "And one mission may have had requirements the other mission didn't, which dictated that things be set up that way. I think I mentioned this guy in Houston who started this Lunar Surface Experiments Lessons Learned. A guy named (Tom) Sullivan."]

[Jones - "Yeah. I've talked to him."]

[Scott - "Well, I'd never heard back from him, but I got a big pile of stuff from him (that) he wanted me to review; it looked like he was trying to compare the missions one on one. You can't do that, unless you put it into context. 'Cause it doesn't make any sense to say 'Neil Armstrong did one thing and Gene Cernan did another. Why did they do it differently?' That doesn't fit. I mean, they both happened to be on the Moon."]

[Jones - "But you can legitimately ask the question of what was different between the way you and Jim worked versus the way John and Charlie worked, and how the decision was made to do the hammer differently on 16."]

142:57 44 Scott: Rammer. (Pause) Okay, the rammer is on.

142:57 51 Irwin: Okay, I'll get the core tubes.

142:57 53 Scott: Okay. (Pause)

142:58 04 Allen: Jim, this is Houston. While you're being loaded up there, can you glance over and confirm for us that the LRV batt(ery) covers have closed automatically?

142:58:17 Irwin: No, the right one is still up!

142:58:21 Scott: Yeah, the right one is still up.

142:58:22 Allen: Okay, Jim. Thank you. We will ask you to move that one down before you climb on.

142:58:32 Irwin: Okay. (Long Pause)

142:58:47 Scott: (To Jim) Yeah, they really stretch. Hold on the bag a minute, Jim. The straps really stretch. (Pause)

[Dave is probably talking about the tool harness which they fit over the PLSS during the EVA Prep, as per checklist page 3-6.]

142:59:03 Irwin: Man, I am straight.

142:59:04 Scott: Are you kidding!

142:59:05 Irwin: (Chuckling) I'm (standing) in a crater. You want to move back?

142:59:08 Scott: No, I can get it. (Pause) Okay, take a step forward then. Give me the bag. (Pause) Okay, a little to the left. There. No, rotate left. Now, okay. (Long Pause) Sure glad they put so much Velcro on here. (Pause) Okay, now if you could bend over, Jim. Take a step. Well, if you can take a little step forward. Don't fall down in the hole.

143:00:22 Irwin: Try not to.

143:00:23 Scott: Okay. Get me?

[Now, Jim will put SCB-5 on Dave's PLSS. While it is not absolutely certain as to which bag Dave just put on Jim's PLSS, the dialog following 142:56:25 suggests that it was SCB-3.]

143:01:21 Scott: Okay.

143:01:24 Irwin: Let me pull that flap off. There.

143:01:28 Scott: Okay. Got the 70-millimeter camera and the bags and the antenna stowed (and the cable) taped; I'll close the other LRV battery covers, here.

143:01:42 Allen: Rog, Dave. Thanks. (Long Pause)

143:02:00 Scott: It's closed. (Pause) Okay, Jim. Are you ready to hop on (the Rover)?

143:02:12 Irwin: I will, Dave. Let me just check the MESA blankets.

143:02:15 Scott: Okay. I closed them up for you, most of them.

143:02:17 Irwin: Okay. (Pause)

143:02:27 Irwin: The dispenser bag's on

143:02:29 Scott: What are you going to do with those two bags there - in front of you?

143:02:30 Irwin: I'm going to put them under the seat.

143:02:32 Scott: Okay. (Long Pause)

143:02:51 Irwin: I wouldn't get rid of bag 2 because it has all your tools in it.

143:02:54 Scott: Right. (Pause) (Don't want to) get rid of all my tools. (Pause)

143:03:14 Scott: (Joking) We can see the solar wind there, Joe, and looks like it's blowing.

143:03:19 Allen: Roger. I'm sure it must be, Dave. A little bit, at least.

143:03:22 Irwin: Stand by, see if I can buckle myself before you get in.

143:03:27 Scott: Jim, you don't have to put your seatbelt on now. We're just going to drive over to the Nav initialization.

143:03:32 Irwin: You're not going to get off there, are you?

143:03:34 Scott: No. But you can put it on there. So why don't you hop on. Let's go over and get the Nav started.

143:03:37 Irwin: Okay.

143:03:38 Allen: And we copied that those bat covers are closed...

143:03:39 Scott: As a matter of fact, you don't even have to hop on if you don't want to.

143:03:40 Allen: ... so press on.

143:03:45 Scott: Okay.

143:03:46 Irwin: In fact, let me walk. Yeah, I'd like to just walk a little bit. Not going to go too far?

143:03:50 Scott: Nope.

143:03:51 Irwin: Don't run off and leave me.

143:03:52 Scott: Never happen.

[At some point prior to climbing on the Rover, Jim takes photos AS15-85-11470 and 11471.]

[In 11470, Dave may be about to drive a short way out from the LM to re-initialize the navigation system based on the known position of the Sun. In this down-Sun photo, we can see the ALSEP in the background and, on the Rover, the maps and 16-mm movie camera mounted on the accessory staff forward of Jim's seat, and the tool rack at the back of the vehicle. The umbrella-shaped high-gain antenna at the front of the Rover is pointed straight up, the TV is in its stowed position, the low-gain antenna just forward of Dave is pointed straight up. The small bag mounted on the back of Jim's seat is the BSLSS (Buddy Secondary Life Support System) bag ( 159k ) which contains a set of hoses and fittings which would allow the astronauts to share cooling water in case one of them lost cooling. Note the rearward fender extensions on both visible fenders. During the flight out from Earth, these were stacked onto the forward sections and, during deployment, the astronauts slid these extensions aft on guide rails until they locked into place. On both Apollo 16 and 17, the Commanders accidentally tore the right rear extension off by walking too close and brushing against them.]

[After taking 11470, Jim has taken a step to his left to take a stereo companion, 11471. The Solar Wind Collector is visible beyond the Rover TV camera. Between the two frames, Dave has driven forward perhaps 30 cm. Note that there is dust coming off the wheels as Dave maneuvers. At the front of the Rover, we can see the closed battery covers. In front of Jim's seat, we can see his foot rests. This picture also gives us a good view of Dave's RCU-mounted Hasselblad camera and of the wire Rover wheels. A high-resolution detail from 11471 ( 169k ) shows Dave's Hasselblad, the DAC, the handcontroller, and the traverse map. Note the RCU bracket mounted on the back of the DAC.]