Geology Station 10

Post-EVA-2 Activities

 

EVA-2 Close-out

Corrected Transcript and Commentary Copyright © 1997 by Eric M. Jones.
All rights reserved.
Scan credits in the Image Library.
Video credits in the Video Library.
Except where noted, audio clips by Roland Speth.
Last revised 16 June 2014.

[The EVA started at about 142:39:25 and, consequently, the elapsed time is about 6 hours 43 minutes. The Apollo 15 record was 7 hours 12 minutes. John and Charlie will get the record if they start cabin repress after about 149:52.]

149:22:44 Duke: Okay. Tony, do we put as many core tubes as we can in the rock box also?

149:22:53 England: We'll work that, Charlie.

149:22:56 Young: Boy, the speed....

149:22:58 Duke: How about the core tubes, do we put all the core tubes in the rock box also?.

149:23:06 England: Okay. Charlie, we can put four...

149:23:08 Young: Looks like the bearing (indicator) is working okay.

149:23:09 England: ...core tubes plus the CSVC in the rock box and then plus what documented samples you can get in there.

149:23:16 Duke: Okay; four core tube, CSVC, documented sample, gotcha.

149:23:20 England: Rog.

149:23:21 Duke: Okay. Looking back towards Stone Mountain, Tony...

149:23:24 Young: Charlie, let me park the LM right there.

149:23:26 Duke: Okay. The LM is already parked; but you sure can park the Rover.

149:23:30 Young: All right. Fair enough.

149:23:32 Duke: Okay. Looking back towards Stone Mountain, Tony, I don't see the Rover tracks.

[Although there is no mention of looking for Rover tracks on the mountain, this is probably something Charlie was curious about before the mission. The human eye can be a lot better than the Hasselblads in picking out detail at a distance.]

149:23:50 Duke: Okay, we're doing that right now, as fast as we can.

149:23:52 England: Okay. I understand.

[The closeout procedures are listed on cuff checklist pages CDR-21, CDR-22, CDR-23, LMP-21, LMP-22, and LMP-23.]

149:24:08 Young: Okay, 3. LRV powerdown...(Burst of static)...(As per CDR-21, I have to) reset the Far UV, Charlie.

[The UV camera has been taking data from a single field-of-view - just above the summit of Stone Mountain - ever since John last reset it at 143:23:03, just before he and Charlie started the drive to Station 4.]

149:24:36 Young: Roger.

149:24:40 England: You don't have to go up to it.

149:24:42 Young: From the Rover you want me to take that picture?

149:24:43 England: Yeah, just take it anywhere. As long as we can see that location, that's all we're looking for.

149:24:50 Young: Okay.

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149:24:53 Duke: Okay, you're aligned, Tony, with signal strength about 4.

149:24:55 England: Okay, we got a good picture.

[Fendell is looking toward the block-covered ridge SSW of the LM. He pans clockwise. John parked the Rover on a northeasterly heading at the MESA. If he has followed the procedures on CDR-21, his heading is 351.]

149:25:03 Young: (Wondering if f/5.6 is the right Hasselblad setting) Actually, just the normal old thing ought to catch it, Houston; because it's not in Sun but there sure is a lot of Sun behind it and on it and all that. Very strange. It's in shadow.

[As shown in the camera decals in Figure 5.3-2 in the Lunar Surface Procedures volume, f/5.6 was normally used for up-Sun photos taken with either color (HCEX) or black-and-white (HBW) film.]

[Journal Contributor Markus Mehring notes "'HCEX' is a cryptic acronym for the Apollo standard color film emulsion, used both in the Hasselblads ('HCEX') and the 16-mm Maurer cameras ('CEX'). Its full name is 'Ektachrome MS Film, Type SO 368 (19 DIN, 64 ASA)', and amateur and professional photographers worldwide know it as 'Ektachrome X' - hence the 'EX'."]

[Fendell pans past Charlie, who may be dusting the front of the Rover.]

149:25:23 Young: (Garbled) that? (Stops to listen) Okay. Well, I mean the leg...the shadows...You'll be able to see it fine.

[John takes three pictures of the UV Camera, AS16-114- 18468, 18469, and 18470. Neither he nor Charlie take any more pictures during this EVA.]

[Charlie goes off-camera to the right.]

149:25:38 England: Roger. Reset and I have new setting.

149:25:44 Young: Okay. Let me watch the wheels go around. (Pause)

149:25:53 Young: Reset; and it did work. It's working.

149:25:57 England: Okay.

149:25:58 Young: And what are the new settings, Houston?

149:26:02 England: Azimuth, 326.

149:26:05 Young: 326.

149:26:06 England: And elevation, 16. (Pause)

149:26:18 Young: Okay. (Pause)

[Fendell finds Charlie, who is visible beyond the LMP seat as he packs the rock box at the MESA.]

149:26:44 England: Okay. We copy that.

149:26:49 Duke: CSVC is in the rock box. Packing it right now.

149:26:53 England: Okay.

[Fendell pans up to look at the Ascent Stage. In Houston, Flight tells EVA (the person responsible for keeping track of the timeline and planned activities) that he thinks John has parked on the wrong heading.]

[Charlie is saying that there is an unbagged rock in SCB-2 and wants to know if it should go into the rock box along with the bagged samples and core tubes.]

149:27:06 England: Sixteen.

149:27:10 Young: Sixteen. (Long Pause)

[Charlie has probably put the unbagged rock aside on the MESA and now takes the empty SCB to the Rover. He tosses it in his foot pan and reaches under his seat to get another SCB. He pauses a moment, possibly to look at his checklist and then bangs the bag against the seat frame, possibly in an effort to get the top open.]

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149:27:37 England: Okay. Charlie, yeah, you can put unbagged rocks in the SRC.

149:27:43 Duke: Okay. (Long Pause)

[Charlie stands the SCB upright in his footpan, gets a core tube out of his seat pan and inserts it into a stowage sleeve in the SCB. During the following conversation, he reaches across the Rover and gets something - possibly a sample - out of John's seat pan.]

149:28:08 Duke: It's in the thing here.

149:28:10 Young: Okay, fine.

149:28:11 Duke: The seat. (Pause)

149:28:18 Young: I think this bag here has got so little in it we can...

149:28:20 Duke: Let's empty it into the SRC; some more will go in the SRC.

149:28:23 Young: Well, okay. But this has got those two whatchacallems there.

149:28:27 Duke: What you mean?

149:28:29 Young: (Garbled)

149:28:29 Duke: Oh, those - Yeah; okay. They can't go in the SRC.

149:28:32 Young: Where do they go, in the ETB?

[Charlie takes the SCB to the MESA. Its top is now open. Fendell pans right and finds John at the CDR seat. He is working with an SCB that appears to have little, if anything, in it.]

149:28:44 Young: Okay.

149:28:46 Duke: Back on the Rover. (Pause)

[John turns the SCB upside down, takes the bottom in his left hand and shakes it to get something out.]

[John takes the SCB to the back of the Rover. He then appears to attach the SCB to the tool carrier. Fendell pans left to watch Charlie at the MESA.]

149:29:29 England: Okay, good.

[Charlie has removed the Beta-cloth protector, which was covering the seals on the rock box, and discards it to his left.]

[Charlie removes the Teflon "spacer" from the rock box and tosses it off-camera to his left.]

[Charlie closes the top of the rock box and latches it.]

149:29:52 Duke: Good. What's the number on that one, John?

149:29:56 Young: That's SCB-2. No. Yeah, 1.

149:30:02 Duke: Okay, and John's crystalline rock and the two other core tubes go in (SCB) number 3, Tony.

149:30:14 England: Okay.

[John goes to the LMP seat. He doesn't appear to be carrying anything so, whatever it was he shook out of the SCB, it probably wasn't a sample. John is probably looking in the seat pans to make sure they haven't overlooked any samples.]

149:30:20 Young: I put them in here. Four and forty-five are in your seat (lost under Charlie).

149:30:23 Duke: Oh, okay, then I got them already.

149:30:25 Young: Okay.

[Charlie goes off-camera to the right, probably carrying the SCB so he can pack the film magazines in it as per LMP-22. John goes around the back of the Rover and joins Charlie off-camera to the right.]

149:30:32 Young: Here, let me unload your backpack.

149:30:37 Duke: Okay.

149:30:38 Young: My backpack's already been unloaded.

149:30:41 Duke: Okay.

[John is referring to the fact that his SCB fell off, probably while he climbed on the Rover at Station 9, and then wedged between the fender and the frame of the Rover.]

149:30:45 Duke: Yeah, extra.

149:30:47 Young : Well, good.

[John probably means that they have two unused SCBs which they previously unstowed from the MESA.]

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149:31:00 Young: Okay, I got it. (Pause) (Garbled) (Pause)

149:31:15 Duke: Got it.

149:31:17 Young: That's got it. Okay.

149:31:20 Duke: Okay.

149:31:21 Young: It's hardly got any rocks in it at all.

149:31:22 Duke: I know. I think I can stuff them in this other bag (meaning SCB-3) over here, John.

149:31:26 Young: Okay.

[Most of the rocks they collected went into John's SCB.]

[Fendell starts a counter-clockwise pan. In Houston, Flight is having a discussion with Experiments, who are pointing out that, at this point, SCB-3 is supposed to be empty and under the LMP seat for use during EVA-3. At 149:30:02, they heard Charlie say that he was putting some full core tubes and John's crystalline rock in SCB-3 and, by inference, that he was planning to take it up to the cabin. Tony joins the SCB discussion in Houston.]

149:31:32 Duke: Okay. (Pause) Yeah, I can stuff them (meaning the samples that were in Charlie's SCB) in here (meaning SCB-3).

149:31:36 Young: Let me get these core tube caps out of here. Out of (SCB-)1 and put them under the seat pan. (Pause) Okay. (Pause) I'll put them on the HTC, how would that be?

149:31:58 Young: That's fine, that cap (dispenser) is empty. (Pause)

149:32:04 England: Okay, Charlie, you called out that you put two core tubes and John's crystalline rocks in SCB-3; that should have some empty core tubes and core caps in it (that are planned for use during EVA-3). Could you straighten that out?

149:32:18 Duke: No, we...It had two core tubes empty that we used. We used the bag, Tony, that's true...

149:32:27 Young: (Garbled), Charlie.

149:32:28 Duke: Excuse me, John. (To Tony) That was set...

149:32:29 Young: (Lost under Charlie)

149:32:30 Duke: ...for EVA-l...(Correcting himself) I mean EVA-3...(Stops to think)

149:32:40 England: There's no problem as long as you took those core tubes and core caps out.

149:32:46 Duke: We don't...(Stops to listen)

149:32:47 Duke: Well, we got the core caps out, but we didn't get the core tubes out and I don't know whether...We must have used them!

[Part way through his pan, Fendell raised his aim and continued turning the TV until he found the high-gain antenna on the front of the Rover. He then raised his aim some more and is now looking at Earth.]

149:33:00 Duke: How about core tubes?

149:33:02 Young: (Garbled, possibly "Glad they asked"); a couple of core tubes in number 1.

149:33:03 Duke: Oh, good, okay, we'll take those out.

149:33:05 Young: Are they empty?

149:33:06 Duke: Yeah. They're empty. Okay, put them under my seat.

149:33:09 Young: Sure they're empty?

149:33:10 Duke: Yeah, I'm positive, unless they got a cap on, they're empty. Okay, Tony, we found them.

149:33:15 England: Okay, good show. (Pause)

[Fendell has zoomed in on Earth. At maximum zoom, the apparent diameter of Earth - which is two degrees - is equivalent to about one third of the vertical height of the TV field-of view. About one quarter of the Moon-facing hemisphere is sunlit.]

149:33:23 Duke: (To Tony) Okay, SCB-3 is going to go up with us, the SRC is going to go up with us, and I'm packing the ETB now.

149:33:30 England: Okay.

149:33:31 Young: And I'm going to put these two (empty) bags under your seat, Charlie.

149:33:34 Duke: Okay.

149:33:38 Young: Now here's a...Something like that; that critter.

149:33:42 Duke: You can just leave those bags out, John.

149:33:45 Young: Will the bags weather all right out here in the sunshine?

149:33:47 Duke: Oh, yeah.

149:33:49 England: Oh, I think they'll make it.

[Fendell pulls back on the zoom and lowers his aim.]

149:33:53 Young: (Answering Tony) Okay. (Pause)

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149:33:58 Duke: Where's your camera, John? I need your camera.

149:34:01 Young: Right here. (Pause) Okay.

149:34:09 Duke: Got it.

[When the horizon comes into view, Fendell is looking at the Solar Wind Collector. He pans right until he gets the U.S. flag centered. He stops for a moment and then resumes panning to the right.]

149:34:21 Duke: I've got it in my checklist, too; so...(Pause)

[Although LMP-21 and CDR-21 are a bit different in detail, they both have the ETB loading procedures on the following pages, LMP-22 and CDR-22.]

[John is just reminding Charlie that they both changed magazines during the EVA and don't want to leave any of the used magazines outside.]

149:34:49 Young: Okay.

149:34:50 Duke: 'Preciate it.

[Here, Charlie is using "bag" to describe the stowage enclosure under his seat. As with the SCBs, the sides and bottom of the stowage area are made of Beta cloth.]

149:35:01 Young: Yes, that's...

149:35:03 Duke: Let's see, there's one...No, there's one over there, I think, at the corner. That's...No, we got them all. Yeah, there it is.

149:35:10 LM Crew: That's it.

149:35:13 Young: That's a glass ball that I found out there, Houston, (that) I never said nothing about.

149:35:17 England: Good show. Let's bring that in.

149:35:23 Young: I'll put that in the...(Stops to listen) Might as well. (Long Pause)

[Fendell has stopped his pan and has zoomed in on some footprints, Rover tracks, and rocks northeast of the Rover. After giving the people in the Backroom a few seconds to get a picture off the TV monitor, he pulls back on the zoom and pans to the right again.]

149:35:47 Young: Yeah, let's put it in this here thing.

149:35:49 Duke: Okay. (Pause) Aw, rats!

[They have probably dropped the glass ball. Bailey and Ulrich, in "Apollo 16 Voice Transcript Pertaining to the geology of the landing site" identify this sample as 65016, while, in the caption to Figure 45 of the Professional Paper, sample 65016 is identified as a Station 5 sample, probably the one John examined at 145:20:52. Readers should note that Bailey and Ulrich don't really make a clear decision about 65016; specifically, they identify 65016 as BOTH the 145:20:52 specimen and the glass ball the crew is collecting here at the LM. However, in the Station 5 TV coverage, we can clearly see John drop the 145:20:52 specimen and, therefore, I am inclined to believe that 65016 is the glass ball they have just dropped.]

149:35:58 Duke: Those things just bounce out of your hand. It's like...(Long Pause) Okay, I got magazine Lima; the 500's going back under the seat. Might as well drop it in the dirt, as clean as that seat is. Okay, got to get the camera over there. (Long Pause)

[Fendell finds John at the back of the Rover. John turns and heads for the ladder with SCB-1. Charlie is off-camera, and is probably loading John's camera into the ETB.]

149:36:46 Young: Okay, Houston. Okay, SCB number 1 is sitting over there on the foot strut, Charlie.

[Charlie comes into view at the LMP seat. He grabs the DAC and rotates it on its staff so he can get at the film magazine for removal.]

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149:37:04 England: Okay, we see that, Charlie.

149:37:07 Duke: ...(And the film magazine's going) into the ETB.

[Charlie stows the DAC magazine in the ETB while John goes off-camera to the right, headed for the front of the Rover.]

149:37:16 England: Okay...

149:37:17 Young: (Lost under Tony) do that. Say again.

[Charlie is still working at the LMP seat, perhaps re-organizing the gear in the seat pan.]

149:37:39 Young: Okay, point the camera away from the Sun. (Stops to listen) They're all the way open now.

149:37:45 Young: Yeah, the camera directly down-Sun...

149:37:47 England: And down at the ground.

149:37:48 Young: ...and down, huh?

149:37:50 England: That's right.

[John turns the camera clockwise but quickly runs into the stop.]

[John now turns the camera counter-clockwise.]

149:37:56 England: Negative. Away from the Sun and down.

[John turns the camera until it's pointing down-Sun, which happens to be toward the high-gain mast, and then tilts it down.]

149:38:06 England: That looks good.

149:38:08 Duke: How did that old nursery rhyme go? Oh, I know. "Here's the church..."

149:38:15 Young: Okay, the battery covers are coming open.

[We get a good view of the dust coating falling off the battery cover as John opens it. Don McMillan has provided an animation ( 0.8 Mb ) of the battery covers on his Virtual Rover being opened.]

149:38:20 Young: What?

149:38:21 Duke: That old nursery rhyme. "This is the church, this is the steeple, open the door, and here are the people." (Scanning LMP-22) Okay, two padded bags, we're just going to leave. One set maps, we got; one mag from DAC; one mag. Okay, it's all loaded. Padded bags are staying under the seat, Houston.

149:38:37 England: Okay. (Pause)

149:38:42 Duke: Okay, and the ETB's coming over and I'm going to hook it on the (lanyard hook)...(Pause)

149:38:55 Young: And the batteries do need dusting.

[In John's shadow, we see him unstow the big dustbrush. A detail from training photo KSC-71PC-777 shows the dustbrush stowed on the front of the training Rover.]

149:39:00 Duke: Do you want me to do that, John? I can reach better.

149:39:02 Young: I can get it. (Hearing Tony) Those LCRUs, yeah.

[John now dusts the battery covers.]

149:39:12 England: Good show.

149:39:14 Young: Only way to fly, Charlie.

149:39:15 England: The name of the game.

[John now dusts the LCRU mirrors in the foreground of the TV picture.]

[Charlie's next transmission indicates that he is scanning his checklist and noticed the item "Large Rocks (LRV) to SCB".]

149:39:22 England: Oh, we wouldn't do that.

[Big Muley ( 175k ) is the 11.7 kg breccia they collected at the rim of Plum Crater. It has been sitting in the plus-Z (ladder) footpad since Charlie put it there at the end of EVA-1.]

149:39:43 Young: (Laughing) Charlie.

[John is now dusting just off-camera to the left.]

[Pallet 2 contains food and replacement batteries and LiOH canisters for the PLSSs. It is stowed in the MESA. According to the Final LM Stowage List, Apollo 16 carried a 10.5 pound (4.8 kg) 'food assembly' in the LM ascent stage and two 4.6 pound (2.1 kg) 'food assemblies' in the descent stage. One of the latter is in Pallet 2 and the other was in Pallet 1, which they took up to the cabin at the end of EVA-1. See, also, the discussion following 153:48:13.]

[Charlie is looking for the replacement LiOH canister for the LM ECS system but doesn't see it. What he is having trouble remembering is that, at Houston's request, he took it out of the MESA at 125:26:47 at the end of EVA-1 and he and John took it up to the cabin. The change in procedure was caused by the landing delay.]

149:40:12 England: You already have the LiOH can up there.

149:40:17 Duke: We already got it up there, don't we?

149:40:19 England: That's right.

149:40:20 Duke: Yeah, that went up yesterday, so...Okay, then we won't worry about that.

[Jones - "I've just been thinking about how relaxed and unhurried all of this is."]

[Duke - "Yeah. By now, we were getting real familiar. You know, real confident in the suits; and we were real confident with our procedures. And, you know, we'd really worked a routine to work together; and it just made you comfortable."]

[Jones - "Had that pallet given you trouble all the way through training or..."]

[Duke - "Well, when I say pallet, you know, there was an old training article that everybody used; and it was just old, and the stuff was in racks and everything got out of align and it would get twisted a little bit and you couldn't get it out and it'd stick and they did whatever they did to it - graphited it. So it was frustrating. So, when it worked here, it was always a miracle. 'Eureka! It worked!' 'Cause we had a lot of trouble with the old training gear."]

149:40:38 England: Okay, understand.

[John goes around the front side of the Rover so he can dust from the right side of the vehicle.]

149:40:45 England: Okay.

149:40:46 Duke: This one needs dusting, John.

149:40:47 Young: I know. I ain't dusted it yet.

149:40:48 Duke: Okay. I'm going over and kick off on the strut here. (Pause)

[Charlie is going over to the ladder and is kicking his boots against the ladder strut to knock some of the dirt off his legs.]

149:41:02 Young: Maybe we landed later than we thought, Charlie.

[As shown in Figure 2.3-1 in the Lunar Surface Procedures volume, they had planned to end EVA-2 at about 131 hours, when the Sun's elevation was about 28 degrees. Because of the landing delay and the decision to have a rest period before doing EVA-1, the Sun's elevation is currently about 38 degrees. The LM shadow is only about 9 meters long. When they landed, the Sun's elevation was about 15 degrees and the shadow was about 26 meters long.]

149:41:13 Young: Okay.

149:41:19 Duke: This is the best way to get the dust off, John, is kick against the strut. Look at that stuff go.

149:41:24 Young: Yeah, but I...Wait a minute, don't go anywhere yet.

149:41:27 Duke: I'm not. (Sing-song) Pat your hands, kick your feet. (Pause) Okay, (reading LMP-23) two SCBs, we got. Looks like we're going to have everything. Pallet to Ascent Stage, two SCBs to Ascent Stage. (Pause) Okay, John, I'm gonna take one of these up to the Ascent Stage.

149:42:13 Young: Okay. Careful now, you're about to kick the other...Oh... (Chuckles)

149:42:17 Duke: Oh, rats! Did kick it open.

149:42:21 Young: Wait a minute. Move, Charlie. Let me get it. Okay?

[The TV picture is no longer jiggling now that John has gone over to help Charlie.]

149:42:27 Young: It's not a question of...(Pause) Where's that sample that was in it.

149:42:38 Duke: There you go. (Pause) The top just wasn't too closed.

149:42:47 Young: Yeah.

149:42:48 Duke: Okay, I got the bag.

149:42:50 Young: No, wait a minute. What'd I do with the sample? There it goes.

149:42:53 Duke: Another sample. (Long Pause) The thing's not designed to fit in there, John.

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149:43:15 Young: It goes in there.

149:43:17 Duke: Not flat like that, I bet you.

149:43:19 Young: Certainly does. I put it in there a minute ago. (Long Pause) No. (Pause)

149:43:38 Duke: Got it!

149:43:39 Young: I figured it would really be good (laughing) because we'd keep the top closed.

149:43:44 Duke: And the way to close these things is bang on them. There you go. Okay, that's good. Okay, I'm gonna just go up and take one of them up, John, and then I was going to come back down. I'm not going inside.

149:43:56 Young: Okay.

[Charlie is assuring John that he won't go in the cabin until John's had a chance to brush him off.]

149:44:00 Young: Yeah.

149:44:03 Duke: Here you go.

149:44:06 Young: Charlie, why don't you let me get them. Let me clean you off, you go up in there, hook on, and let me just carry those things upstairs.

149:44:12 Duke: Hook on to what?

149:44:14 Young: Hook on to the upstairs.

[John may have been thinking that Charlie would be hooking up to the LM ECS or that he was going to hook up the clothesline-type LEC that was flown on the missions prior to Apollo 16. In either case, he is mistaken and this may be yet another sign of fatigue.]

149:44:20 Young: That's what I mean. Go on up there and let me just bring them all up.

149:44:25 Duke: You've got four things to bring up.

149:44:27 Young: No problem.

149:44:28 Duke: But you want to...Whatever you want to do. (Pause) Okay, let me pull my visor down. (Long Pause) I can't believe it. Tony, do we look as dirty to y'all as we do to each other?

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149:44:57 England: (Joking) Nah! You just look pristine!

149:45:05 Duke: Okay.

149:45:08 Young: Well, we've got two (extra) hours, and I got the feeling we're going to stand up tonight (laughing) cleaning each other off. (Long Pause)

[Just prior to the second rest period, at 128:18:33, Tony told John and Charlie that they would get two extra hours - one Command Module orbit - added to the period from EVA-2 wake-up to the start of the post-EVA-2 rest period.]

149:45:58 Duke: That's good enough, John. Clean off my RCU. That's the only other thing I wanted. Can you clean the top of it off? (Pause) There we go. (Pause) Let me get you. (Long Pause)

[Training photo KSC-72PC-140 gives us a good view of the top of John's RCU and Hasselblad.]

149:46:39 Duke: Somebody's in trouble (if that's true). (Pause) John, I'm not sure we're doing much good.

149:46:51 Young: I agree with you. But, really, don't forget to kick your feeties (sic).

[This sounds like something John might have said to his children when they were younger. His kids are daughter Sandy and son Johnny who were born in 1957 and 1959, respectively.]

149:46:59 Young: Mainly (dust) on the back of the PLSS and the helmet, and that kind of stuff, because we (lost under Tony)

149:47:03 England: And while you're working on it there...

149:47:04 Duke: (To John) Yeah, okay.

149:47:04 England: ...verify your PLSS antennas are down.

149:47:10 Young: Good thought, but they're not.

149:47:11 Duke: Not yet.

[They never do stow the antennas and a portion of John's breaks off, probably while he crawls into the cabin.]

[A tapping sound is audible.]

149:47:20 Duke: (Laughing) I wouldn't hit you hard.

149:47:22 Young: Listen, I don't...(Laughing) Nobody's ever tried that on a pressure suit.

149:47:28 Duke: That was with the...Dealie (sic) came loose here.

149:47:32 Young: He's just knocking me in the head, Houston, in case you're wondering what's going on.

[Duke - "I was hitting on the top of his helmet, I think."]

149:47:39 Young: Get the dirt off. (But it) knocks your visor loose.

149:47:43 Duke: Okay, let me see down here.

149:47:44 England: Okay, you're getting pretty far behind now. We're gonna have to ask you to go on in.

149:47:50 Duke: Okay, I'm going up right now.

149:47:52 Young: Charlie's going in right now.

149:47:54 England: Okay.

149:47:55 Duke: We were just dusting off. We're pretty dusty. Can you hand me the pallet when you jump up (to the first rung), John?

149:48:00 Young: Yeah. Wait. Okay, I sure will. I got to put this (dustbrush) on the LCRU (stowage bracket).

149:48:04 Duke: Okay.

[John's feet come into view from the right side of the Rover. In his shadow, we see him re-stow the dustbrush.]

149:48:15 Duke: Yeah, well, we'll get in right in a hurry.

149:48:18 England: Okay, fine. And as you walk past that MESA, make sure the blankets are down. We are seeing a temperature rise.

149:48:28 Young: The blankets are down on the MESA.

149:48:31 Duke: They are down.

149:48:32 England: Okay. Fine.

[John goes around the front of the Rover and goes off-camera to the left. He is going to turn the TV off and the controls are on the left side of the LCRU.]

[TV off. Comm noise increases]

149:48:46 England: And we would like those Rover readouts before you pull those circuit breakers, John.

149:48:52 Young: (To Charlie) You want the pallet, right?

149:48:53 Duke: Yeah. Tony, the MESA's partially in the Sun, and that's probably the reason.

149:49:00 England: Ah so.

149:49:01 Duke: In fact, the...(To John as he gets the pallet) Got it.

149:49:05 Young: Make it?

149:49:06 Duke: Uh-huh. (Pause) Okay, ol'...

149:49:13 Young: If you want, I'll take these smaller (thermal) blankets and put over the top of it, Houston.

149:49:27 England: We'd like you to just get on in.

149:49:32 Young: Okay. (Pause) How you coming, Charlie?

149:49:42 Duke: I'm up on the porch.

149:49:43 Young: Okay, Houston, you want to Reset the UV camera?

149:49:47 England: Yep. We got a setting.

149:49:52 Young: Okay.

149:49:53 England: Okay, it's azimuth, 100; and elevation, 77.

149:50:01 Young: Okay. Going to Reset. That wheel's moved more than 180?

149:50:12 England: That may look pretty close to the LM, but we'll just take it the way it is.

149:50:19 Young: Okay.

149:50:30 Duke: It's going to be pointing right at the LM, Houston!

149:50:32 England: Elevation is 77.

[Charlie's breathing is audible as he crawls into the cabin.]

149:50:55 Duke: Okay, Tony, I'm inside.

149:50:57 England: Okay.

149:51:00 Young: Standing up, Charlie?

149:51:01 Duke: Yeah. And I got about a ton of dirt from somewhere. (Pause)

149:51:10 Young: (To Tony) Okay, elevation, 100...(Correcting himself) Azimuth, 100; elevation, 77, set and pointed. It misses the LM okay. That's straight overhead. (Lost under Tony)

149:51:19 England: Okay. Good show. You're looking at the geo-corona.

149:51:25 Young: Oh, the geo-corona. Hopefully. (Long Pause) Charlie, are you standing up?

149:51:44 Duke: Yeah, I'm standing up.

149:51:46 Young: You ready for a rock box?

149:51:48 Duke: Uh...Yeah. I'd like to get this pallet (unstowed). You can start on up.

149:52:02 Young: Okay. (Pause)

149:52:09 England: And, John, have you closed the circuit breakers on the LRV?

149:52:15 Young: That's affirmative.

149:52:16 England: Okay. Fine. (Pause)

[John has forgotten to give Houston the readouts they requested.]

[The following dialog indicates that, at this point, Charlie tosses something small out through the hatch.]

149:53:08 Duke: What?

149:53:11 Young: You're too near the (UV) camera to be slinging stuff out there.

149:53:13 Duke: Oh, I'm sorry. It's just that one little old dinky thing. That's all I was going to do.

149:53:15 Young: Okay.

149:53:16 Duke: Okay, here comes the (empty) pallet to you.

149:53:25 Young: Okay.

149:53:26 Duke: Got it?

149:53:27 Young: Yeah.

149:53:28 Duke: Okay. (Pause)

149:53:35 Young: I'm going to throw it by the...

149:53:39 Duke: Okay, babe, you got two SCBs and an ETB to come up. You could probably load the...

149:53:45 Young: There the SRC right there, Charlie.

149:53:47 Duke: I know it. Well, you still got two ETBs (means SCBs).

149:53:50 Young: Two ETBs?

149:53:52 Duke: Yeah. I mean one ETB and the...(Pause) The two SCBs.

149:54:05 Young: Right.

149:54:06 Duke: You might put one SCB on that ETB line. It's real light. (Pause)

[From the porch, John will use the lanyard to haul up the ETB.]

[Duke - "(I was suggesting that he) just put the SCB on top of the ETB with the handles, I believe, and it would just come on up, I think."]

[The following dialog suggests that the next thing John does is to haul up the ETB.]

149:54:20 Duke: Pass her in. (Pause) Okay. (Pause) I should have unhooked it. I got it.

[Apparently, John didn't detach the lanyard before passing in the ETB.]

149:54:32 Duke: Well, I got it now.

149:54:33 Young: Okay, don't lock the hook. Just unhook it.

149:54:36 Duke: I'm not. It's alright. (Pause) Okay, there it comes.

149:54:53 Young: Okay, I got the hook.

149:54:57 Duke: Okay, two SCBs and we got it.

149:54:58 England: Okay, John...(Correcting himself) Charlie. Sounds good.

149:55:09 Duke: John, you're not going to believe the dirt on this floor.

149:55:11 Young: Yeah, I am. (Long Pause)

[John probably goes down the ladder at this point to get the SCBs.]

149:55:54 Young: Oh, I'm trying to set something up here.

149:55:59 Duke: Okay. (Long Pause)

[John may be adjusting the lanyard or, quite simply, he may be dawdling to make sure he and Charlie surpass the Apollo 15 EVA record.]

149:56:38 Young: Did you throw something out of there?

149:56:40 Duke: No.

149:56:41 Young: You didn't?

149:56:42 Duke: No. (Burst of static; Long Pause) (Deadpan) Maybe we've got visitors. (Long Pause)

[John brings up the first of the SCBs and tries to put it into the cabin far enough that Charlie can bend down and grab it.]

149:57:31 Young: Got it?

149:57:32 Duke: Yeah.

149:57:33 Young: Okay.

149:57:34 Duke: Yeah. How do you read, Houston?

149:57:37 England: We're copying you, Charlie.

149:57:42 Duke: Okay. I just heard a little squeal back there (and) I was curious.

149:57:48 England: All right. We had a (site) hand-off.

149:57:53 Young: Ah so. (Pause)

[It is currently about 23:52 hours, April 22, 1972, Universal (Greenwich) Time. The Moon is about to set at the Madrid tracking station and, for the next eight hours or so, communications will come through the Goldstone station in California.]

149:58:11 England: Okay. We'll call that Charlie's Law.

149:58:16 Duke: Yeah. (Pause)

[This is a reference to Murphy's Law - "If any thing can go wrong, it will." and its many corollaries. My favorite is O'Toole's Rule: "Murphy was an optimist."]

[John has probably gone down the ladder to get the second SCB and is now passing it in.]

149:58:27 Duke: You okay?

149:58:28 Young: Yeah. I'm fine. I'm just having a problem with...

149:58:35 Duke: I got it.

149:58:36 Young: Got it?

149:58:37 Duke: Okay, now let me get behind the hatch.

149:58:38 Young: Okay. (Long Pause)

[Charlie is standing on John's side of the cabin and now must close the hatch, move over to his side, and then re-open the hatch so John can get in.]

149:58:51 England: Charlie, what's John doing right now?

149:58:57 Duke: He's on the porch waiting...

149:58:58 Young: Sitting (more likely kneeling) on the porch waiting for Charlie to move out of the way.

149:59:01 England: Okay.

MP3 Audio Clip ( 2 min 14 sec )

149:59:05 Duke: Okay. Come on, John. Here we go. (Long Pause) Okay, you've got to come right, John. You reading me okay?

149:59:29 Young: Yeah.

149:59:30 Duke: Okay.

149:59:33 Young: Okay, I'm in the house.

149:59:36 Duke: Okay. (Pause) Okay; (reading LMP-23) "close hatch and repress".

149:59:48 Young: That ain't what you do now.

[John has remembered that, as per Surface 5-1, they have to turn off their PLSS feedwater before they close the hatch.]

149:59:59 Young: (Garbled) are open, Charlie.

150:00:01 Duke: Yeah. Okay, we shouldn't have closed that hatch all the way. We've got our water still on.

150:00:05 Young: That's what I said.

150:00:06 Duke: I'm sorry.

150:00:08 Young: Just a second and I'll get it. (Pause) There we go.

150:00:13 Duke: Okay. (Pause) Okay. I'll turn your water off.

150:00:17 Young: Okay. (Pause)

150:00:24 Duke: Well, I can't reach it. Oh, there you go. You were caught on the...

150:00:31 Young: On that thing.

150:00:33 Duke: Yeah, on that bracket. Okay, there you go.

150:00:34 Young: Okay.

150:00:35 Duke: Okay.

150:00:38 Young: Turn sideways?

150:00:39 Duke: Okay. (Pause) Okay, go ahead. (Pause)

[Charlie's feedwater controls are on the lower right corner and he is turning to face aft so John can reach them.]

150:00:59 Duke: Okay. Read the next step. Close hatch, I think.

150:01:04 Young: "Close hatch and lock."

150:01:16 Duke: Okay.

150:01:27 Young: It's closed and locked.

150:01:28 Duke: Okay. (Pause)

150:01:34 Young: It's locked.

[They are now 7 hours 22 minutes into the EVA and, even though the EVA won't end until the cabin pressure gets to 3.5 psi, they have already broken the Apollo 15 record.]