Return to the LM

Post-EVA-1 Activities

 

EVA-1 Close-out

Corrected Transcript and Commentary Copyright © 1995 by Eric M. Jones.
All rights reserved.
Scan credits in the Image Library.
Video credits in the Video Library.
Audio clips by Dave Shaffer.
Last revised 17 June 2014.

MP3 Audio Clip starting at 123:16:50 ( 19 min 19 sec )

123:17:10 Schmitt: (To Bob) Okay, the SEP receiver temp is four-five. Four-five.

123:17:14 Parker: Copy; four-five. Beautiful.

123:17:15 Schmitt: (To Gene) You know, I think they left some Velcro off of this thing (the SEP receiver), Gene. There's no Velcro holding those (thermal cover) flaps down.

[During the traverses, the radiator on the top of the SEP is normally covered with thermal blankets held down by pieces of Velcro glued to tabs on the covers and to the thermal bag enclosing the body of the SEP receiver. The glue holding the Velcro on the thermal bag has failed and the covers are now loose.]

123:17:31 Schmitt: No. (Pause) Okay.

123:17:38 Cernan: I've got to get the brush and dust that thing. (I'll be) a minute or two. Okay, let me get the high gain. (Long Pause)

123:18:06 Schmitt: (Facetiously) I feel I'm gonna take some core tubes tomorrow.

123:18:09 Parker: I have a feeling you've got a couple left over, don't you?

[Jack was scheduled to use a drive tube at Station 1, but didn't for lack of time.]

123:18:16 Schmitt: (Responding to Bob) Yep.

123:18:17 Cernan: Bob, you got the high gain.

123:18:18 Parker: Okay, thank you.

123:18:20 Cernan: Is that my bag (SCB-1), Jack, you got?

123:18:23 Schmitt: Yes.

123:18:25 Cernan: (Not having felt Jack take it off) That's pretty good.

123:18:26 Parker: Okay, let's put all the stuff in that bag (SCB-1), Jack; both the stuff that's in yours (SCB-2) and the stuff that's in Gene's.

RealVideo Clip (8 min 38 sec)

RealVideo Clip ( 2 min 50 sec 0.7 Mb RealVideo or 28 Mb MPEG Clip )

[TV on. Gene has parked the Rover roughly between the LM and the U.S. flag.]

123:18:54 Cernan: Put these (unused sample bags) under the seat. Clean you up here while I'm at it. Oh, man, I tell you, it's going to take us half a dozen Sundays to dust. Look at that fender; that's terrible.

123:19:12 Schmitt: Okay, you want to get my bag off?

123:19:14 Cernan: Yup. If you're ready.

123:19:15 Schmitt: Yup. (Pause) I've got to put those samples in the SRC...(correcting himself) in your bag (SCB-1); and we'll save this one (SCB-2), I guess.

123:19:25 Cernan: Wait a minute. Let me clean you up.

123:19:26 Schmitt: Okay.

123:19:27 Cernan: Did you get me cleaned up?

123:19:29 Schmitt: Yeah, you've lost your...

123:19:30 Cernan: Wait a minute.

123:19:31 Schmitt: ...your strap though, here.

123:19:33 Cernan: Wait a minute, now. (Pause) Okay, (can) you get my hook back up over here?

123:19:41 Schmitt: Okay, turn around. Your hook's up, but I'm not sure I closed your other one.

123:19:45 Cernan: Take a look at it.

123:19:46 Schmitt: Yeah, your Velcro's (garbled). Okay, you're good.

123:19:55 Cernan: There you go. Okay, you're filling which bag? The...

123:19:59 Schmitt: Putting them in the bag that goes into the SRC...

123:20:01 Cernan: That's SCB-1.

123:20:03 Parker: Roger.

[Fendell pans to Jack, who is at his Rover seat. After all the samples are transferred to SCB-1, Gene will put it in the SRC.]

123:20:19 Parker: Okay; and I gather you didn't have any Rover samples today, did you, Jack?

123:20:22 Cernan: I've still got my tongs here. I got...

123:20:25 Schmitt: (Answering Bob) No, I have one sample bag in my pocket that has a rock in it.

123:20:31 Parker: We'll have to take that out when we get in the Rover (meaning the LM), I assume.

[Gene joins Jack, who is putting samples from under his seat into SCB-1.]

123:20:44 Cernan: Yeah, is it there?

[This is the sample Gene collected during the Rover deployment at 117:35:27.]

123:20:46 Cernan: It was on the floor on my side.

123:20:47 Schmitt: Your side?

123:20:49 Cernan: There it is; let me get it.

123:20:52 Schmitt: We can put that in one of the core tube slots here. (Pause)

123:21:02 Cernan: Boy, that one fender just is an order of magnitude more of a dust problem.

[That is, dust makes things ten times worse.]

[Jack reaches across the Rover to get the sample from Gene, who has now moved to his own side.]

[Jack means "SCB-1" rather than SRC-1. Some of the Sample Collection Bags have built-in, interior core-tube sleeves.]

123:21:19 Parker: Okay, I copy that.

123:21:24 Schmitt: Okay. (Pause) Gene, you want this one (SCB-1)?

123:21:30 Cernan: Yep, I want the full one.

123:21:31 Schmitt: Yeah. (Pause) Latched.

123:21:36 Cernan: Okay.

[Gene has come around the front of the Rover; Jack hands him SCB-1, which he takes to the MESA.]

123:21:47 Parker: Okay, then we'll put that in the big bag.

123:21:52 Schmitt: It's in the big bag.

123:21:53 Parker: Good enough. And I gather there's no Rover samples today, right?

123:22:03 Schmitt: Okay...(Hearing Bob) No Rover samples. Sorry.

123:22:11 Cernan: (Grunting; Long Pause)

[Jack joins Gene at the MESA. Jack gets a long, white, cloth bag out of the MESA and goes toward the ladder. This is a transport bag for the deepcore stems.]

[The SRC seal consists of a knife-edge closure on the rim of the lower section of the box which, when the SRC is closed, digs into a soft, indium strip set in the lid. When the box was packed in Houston, a protective cover made of Teflon cloth was fitted into the box. The cover was fitted on a wire frame that would just barely fit into the box and, therefore, would stay put. The cover had a large opening in the middle to give Gene access to the interior of the box and flaps on all four sides which, at the beginning of the EVA, Gene unfolded and laid on top of the knife edge and the indium strip so that they would stay reasonably clean. Gene is removing that cover and, as well, a Teflon spacer which was installed in Houston to keep the knife edge from cutting into the indium strip prior to this final sealing of the box. Once he removes the cover - called the "skirt" on cuff checklist page CDR-35 - and the spacer, Gene makes a final check to make sure that none of the sample bags will catch in the seal when he closes the lid. On some of the prior missions, bags that caught in the seal created leaks and, when the samples were examined in Houston, they were found to be contaminated with cabin and/or terrestrial gases.]

123:22:58 Parker: Beautiful.

123:23:02 Cernan: I don't know if it's beautiful, but it's clear.

123:23:06 Parker: It's clearly beautiful.

123:23:11 Cernan: Okay. Okay, that big mamoo (the rock box) is locked. (Turning toward the Sun to get a little light on his oxygen gauge) I got a lot of oxygen! I still got 22 percent.

123:23:24 Schmitt: I expect our (PLSS sublimator) feedwater may be getting a little low.

[Table 9-II gives EMU consumable status for EVAs 1, 2, and 3. Both Jack and Gene will consistently use more oxygen and cooling water than predicted pre-flight, but will end each EVA with comfortable margins.]

[Gene goes to the Rover; Jack is working just beyond the ladder.]

123:23:47 Cernan: What, dusting?

123:23:48 Schmitt: Yeah.

123:23:49 Cernan: Well, I need a fender, that's what I need. Figure out something we can make a fender with.

123:23:56 Schmitt: How about one of the others that's not as critical?

123:23:59 Cernan: Yeah, but I wouldn't ever take one of those off! You know, I had one to put on and it didn't stay, which is what I figured.

123:24:06 Schmitt: I thought you said it was broken, though?

123:24:07 Cernan: Well, it was. But these aren't supposed to come off, either, unless you break them. (Pause) I broke that one. My hammer got caught underneath it. It wasn't the fender's fault.

Video Clip ( 3 min 01 sec 0.8 Mb RealVideo or 30 Mb MPEG Clip )

123:24:19 Schmitt: (At the ladder) Okay, the (deep) core tube is packed. (Long Pause)

[Gene is standing between the TV and the LM while he dusts the battery cover.]

123:24:53 Cernan: Every time what?

123:25:03 Schmitt: I read "containment bag".

123:25:06 Cernan: (Guffaws) You've been thinking of the other kind too long. You've been living in the Command Module too long. (Pause)

[Jack is thinking of fecal containment bags. Upon reflection, Jack and Gene both believe that the containment bags Jack is now stowing in the ETB were later put around the SCBs to help with dust control. According to the Lunar Surface Procedures document (36 Mb PDF), the six "sample containment bags" stowed in the MESA are distinct from the six "sample collection bags (SCBs)" stowed on the geopallet. Photos of containment bags in the National Air & Space collection courtesy Allan Needell.]

[When they are in the Command Module, they have regularly scheduled exercise periods to help counteract the effects of weightlessness.]

123:25:45 Schmitt: Well, I'll tell you.

123:25:47 Cernan: This hole out here...

123:26:49 Schmitt: That new ALSEP had more to it than met the eye.

[Gene leaves the field-of-view; Fendell examines the top of the LM.]

[Schmitt - "Although we still called it the ALSEP in the checklists, this was really a new piece of equipment which, among other things, had a two-year design life rather than the one-year life of the prior units."]

123:26:06 Schmitt: Does that sound familiar?

123:26:09 Cernan: Okay, Jack, I'll wait on the rest of my dusting until...

123:26:12 Schmitt: Am I in your way?

123:26:13 Cernan: Yeah, I'd like to get over there to get this last battery cover. (Pause; the TV camera shakes) That's good enough. I can get over there now. I want to make sure these things stay clean because I don't want to walk.

[That is, he doesn't want the Rover to fail because a battery or some other critical piece of equipment overheats.]

123:26:51 Parker: Copy that. And don't forget the scissors, guys.

123:26:56 Schmitt: Don't worry. I've got them right here.

123:26:58 Parker: Beautiful. Don't want to go hungry.

123:27:03 Cernan: That's a good call, Bob.

123:27:05 Schmitt: That's right.

[As Fendell moves the TV camera, The SEP receiving antenna is briefly visible above Jack's seat. Jack is starting page LMP-36.]

123:27:23 Schmitt: That's all right; we can do that.

123:27:24 Cernan: Yeah, we can do that. I guess just because that rock's in there, huh?

123:27:27 Schmitt: I'd like to do that and look at that rock with the hand lens.

123:27:31 Parker: All right; so then we'd be taking it back out in the second EVA, if you guys are agreeable to that.

123:27:38 Cernan: Yeah, we'll do that, Bob.

RealVideo Clip (4 min 28 sec)

Video Clip ( 4 min 32 sec 1.1 Mb RealVideo or 45 Mb MPEG Clip )

123:27:40 Parker: And, Jack, do you think it'll go in the SCB?

123:27:46 Schmitt: Say again.

123:27:47 Parker: Do you think it'll go in the SCB number 2?

123:27:54 Schmitt: What would? The rock?

123:27:56 Parker: Yeah, that's right.

123:28:02 Schmitt: Well, it'll go in there! It's not that big. I gave you the dimensions.

123:28:06 Parker: Okay, why don't you put it in SCB-2 and bring that in, instead. Leave SRB (Sample Return Bag, the big bag) out, and then we'll just leave SCB-2 in (the cabin) forever.

[Fendell finds Jack at Gene's side of the Rover. The SRB can be seen in AS17-143-21924, a charge "locator" that Jack will take at the end of EVA-3 at 169:12:57.]

123:28:18 Cernan: Okay. (Reading CDR-35) "Verify (good seal)...SRC (in) plus-Z pad..." What are those things going over? What is that, Jack? Hey, something just hit here!

[Beyond Jack's head, a piece of debris is visible moving north and away from the LM.]

123:28:33 Schmitt: Oh, your antenna...It's that Styrofoam off the high-gain antenna package.

123:28:41 Cernan: On the LM?

123:28:42 Schmitt: No, the one you deployed. The Rover high-gain antenna.

[Another piece of foam packing has exploded because of sunlight heating of trapped gas bubbles.]

123:28:49 Schmitt: Yeah.

[Fendell pans to Gene at Jack's seat; he is holding the dustbrush.]

[Gene is beginning to realize that the piece of "brown glass" he picked up at the SEP site at 123:03:25 was actually a piece of foam.]

123:29:10 Parker: John (Young) says it blew up on his mission too, guys.

123:29:11 Cernan: Well...

123:29:12 Schmitt: (To Gene, not having heard Bob yet) Isn't that what you thought it was? Isn't that what you thought it was?

123:29:17 Cernan: Huh?

123:29:18 Schmitt: I thought you were kidding (about the "brown glass").

123:29:19 Cernan: No! I've never seen that before.

123:29:21 Schmitt: Oh, I'm sorry. I thought that was...

123:29:23 Cernan: Well, you saw that stuff coming. I didn't see that at all. Holy Smoley!

123:29:30 Parker: Roger, 17. And John says that it blew up on his mission, as well.

[Evidently, some of the interior voids in the Styrofoam were still filled with gas, despite many days of exposure to vacuum during the trip out from Earth. Alternatively, the voids may have been filling with gases released from the foam matrix during the six hours or so that it has been lying out in the sunlight. In either case, solar heating has raised the pressure of the trapped gases. The fact that several fragments can be seen - coupled with Gene's use of the word "exploded" and John Young's phrase "blew up" - indicates an explosive disintegration of a piece of foam. Such explosions would propel fragments over considerable distances. For example, if a piece was launched at a 45 degree angle at a speed of 15.6 meters per second, it would come down 150 meters from the LM after a 13.6 second flight. It is also possible that the piece Gene picked up at the SEP site got there in several hops, each the result of a separate explosion or of a non-explosive venting episode.]

[Fendell pans to Jack at Gene's seat, packing maps, cameras, and film magazines into the ETB.]

123:29:xx Cernan: Okay, I'm going to open the circuit (breakers)...(Stops to listen)

123:29:xx Parker: One thing we'd like before you guys leave the Rover is a fairly good description of what happened to the rear fender when it came off. Is the damage primarily to the piece that you've lost, or are the rails on the pieces remaining fairly bad?

123:30:08 Cernan: (To Bob) Okay.

123:30:12 Schmitt: Mag...

123:30:15 Cernan: The...

123:30:17 Schmitt: ...Romeo!

[Jack is loading film magazines into the ETB.]

123:30:48 Parker: Okay, do you have any feeling that...

123:30:49 Cernan: I heard John telling me, but...

[Young lost a fender during the second Apollo 16 EVA, in much the same fashion. Ron Creel has provided a summary ( 1.3 Mb PDF ) of the fender extension losses that occurred on all three Rover missions.]

123:31:01 Cernan: Well, I have done it before, but it's not easy.

123:31:07 Parker: Okay, as far as you can tell, so that we can look at it overnight, the rear fender - the part that's remaining - looks in fairly good shape, right?

[In Houston, there is a discussion going on to the effect that re-attaching the fender is difficult enough unsuited, and probably impossible in a suit.]

[Jack is packing film magazines and loose rocks in the ETB; he briefly examines one of the rocks or one of the film magazines.]

[There is no mention of taking brushes up to the cabin on LMP-36, the page devoted to packing the ETB. Loss of the fender certainly makes it a good idea.]

123:31:46 Parker: Okay, we'll take a look at it here while you're sleeping.

123:31:53 Cernan: Okay, let me get some (Rover circuit) breakers here. LRV breakers Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and Delta.

123:31:59 Schmitt: Bob, while you were talking, I got all the mags: Romeo, Alpha, Golf, Charlie.

123:32:09 Parker: Hotel.

[TV off.]

[Magazine Hotel - 136/H - is the B&W magazine Jack used during this EVA.]

123:32:15 Parker: Okay. Got you on that one; you're right.

123:32:19 Schmitt: Is it not?

123:32:21 Parker: You're right; my fault. You've got the maps, too.

123:32:24 Schmitt: Okay, I need those maps, Gene. Could you hand me the maps?

123:32:30 Cernan: I don't know. (Pause)

123:32:35 Schmitt: Pretty good clip.

[Jack is probably referring to the map clip on the accessory staff. It has held the maps tightly despite the bouncy ride.]

[The maps are printed on stiff, cronopaque pages with an overhead photograph on one side and, laminated to the back, a contour map. The photos and maps are black and white, generally a fairly dark gray; they probably absorb heat fairly readily and may be delaminating as a result.]

123:32:55 Schmitt: Put it down, yeah. Okay, I've got the maps, the 500 mag. Yeah. And the two cameras.

[What Jack doesn't mention is that he has put the 500-mm camera in the ETB so that he can take some long-lens photos from the cabin. He will report these at 127:02:28.]

[Bob means the previously mentioned "containment bags", which is the designation in the checklist.]

[This is a hook on the back of the ladder, the one that Jack hung the scissors on at the start of the EVA.]

123:33:17 Schmitt: Say that again, Bob.

123:33:18 Parker: Roger. We've got the contamination bags to get, too, out of the MESA.

123:33:26 Schmitt: I got them.

123:33:27 Parker: Okay; copy that.

123:33:28 Schmitt: Mentioned that earlier (at 123:24:53).

123:33:29 Parker: Sorry about that.

123:33:30 Schmitt: They're in there (in the ETB).

123:33:33 Parker: Okay; and Geno, when you're brushing the LCRU, we'd like the blankets (that cover the radiating mirrors) left at 100 percent rather than 65 percent. We'd like them all left open; and it's been a little warm, also.

123:33:56 Cernan: Okay, Bob, I've already dusted everything. And it all looks pretty good. The breakers are Open; the LCRU power is Off. I'm going to...Where do you want the TV camera? Do you want it tilted down and aft?

123:34:14 Parker: Rog. Down and away from the Sun, like we talked about. Think that's what you mean by aft.

123:34:18 Cernan: That's what I thought. Okay, it is down...Yeah, it's there.

123:34:22 Parker: Okay; can you confirm that that's 100 percent on the LCRU blanket rather than 65 percent as per the checklist?

123:34:34 Cernan: Yes, sir; I sure can. (Pause) Okay, I'm opening all the battery covers. The batteries are not dirty. I've been dusting the covers every stop.

123:34:49 Parker: Okay; good.

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

123:34:55 Cernan: Yeah, I just left it there.

123:34:56 Schmitt: I've got to get to the (MESA) table.

[Gene decided to leave the SRC on the MESA table, rather than move it to the plus-Z footpad at the base of the ladder.]

123:35:23 Parker: Stand by. (Pause) Okay; that sounds right, they say.

123:35:33 Cernan: Okay, the LCRU has been dusted; everything is dusted. Our blankets are open 100 percent. But why don't I recheck (the tasks at the bottom of CDR-35). Battery covers, open; LCRU blanket is open 100 percent; samples off. You got them all off, Jack?

123:35:45 Schmitt: Yeah.

123:35:46 Cernan: And anything else? Let me look around. (Turning to CDR-36) I got to get the TGE.

123:35:50 Schmitt: Check it one more time.

123:35:52 Cernan: Samples off; let's look under here. There's nothing under here. This bag is empty. Those are (unused) sample bags.

MP3 Audio Clip ( 20 min 28 sec )

123:36:04 Schmitt: Okay, we do not bring up the LM ECS canister. Is that correct?

123:36:10 Parker: That's correct, 17.

123:36:14 Schmitt: Okay. (Pause)

[Jack is referring to a replacement lithium hydroxide (LiOH) canister for the cabin Environmental Control System (ECS). The canisters remove carbon dioxide from the cabin air and need to be replaced at intervals through the mission. One replacement is stowed behind the ascent engine cover in the cabin, two others are stowed in the MESA. They will take one up to the cabin at the end of EVA-2 and the other at the end of EVA-3. At the moment, Jack is getting EVA Pallet 1 out of the MESA. Jack remembers that the pallet contains their food for the next 24 hours, along with such things as replacement batteries and replacement LiOH canisters for the PLSSs.]

123:36:22 Cernan: Okay, and (garbled)

123:36:24 Schmitt: (Laughing and responding to Bob) Yes, sir. Thank you, again.

123:36:32 Cernan: Okay.

123:36:33 Schmitt: Fighting the old blanket. (Pause)

[Jack is tidying the MESA thermal blankets.]

123:36:45 Parker: Copy that.

[The pins are indicators on the PLSS replacement batteries. The fact that they are green indicates that the batteries are fresh.]

123:36:53 Cernan: Okay. (Pause)

123:36:59 Schmitt: Okay, I'll take some stuff up (to the porch). SCB-2, we don't have. Oh, wait a minute. What did we decide to do? ...

123:37:09 Parker: SCB-2 for the big rock there, Jack.

123:37:11 Schmitt: Put that big rock in the...(Hearing Bob) Oh, okay.

123:37:17 Schmitt: How's our time, Bob?

123:37:20 Parker: No problem on time.

123:37:23 Schmitt: There's a little (dust) in on those (radiating) mirrors, Geno.

[Gene is dusting the SEP. Jack has noticed some dust that has gotten under the loose cover.]

[Schmitt - "Poor Gene. It was just like when you're doing windows and somebody taps from the other side to point out you missed something."]

123:37:31 Cernan: Yep. (Pause)

[Jack is getting SCB-2 from his seat so that he can take it to the MESA, put the football-sized rock into it, and then carry it and the core-stem bag up to the porch.]

123:37:51 Cernan: Okay. (Pause) Okay, the SEP blankets are open; it is dusted. Okay, and I verify that the DSEA is Off, and the power's Off.

123:38:08 Parker: Copy that, Gene; thank you.

[The DSEA is the SEP Data Storage Electronics Assembly, which Gene and Jack will remove at the end of EVA-3 and return to Earth for analysis.]

123:38:19 Parker: That's affirm. (Pause)

123:38:26 Cernan: Boy, did it (the TGE) get covered with dust (because of the lost fender), too. (Long Pause) Bob, no trouble with the TGE and the TV, huh?

[TGE readings could be taken with the instrument on the ground or mounted on the back of the Rover. In the latter case, there had been some concern that movement of the TV camera would spoil the measurements.]

123:39:08 Cernan: Okay, Jack, if I set this here, we'll...(Pause) Jack?

123:39:15 Schmitt: What?

123:39:16 Cernan: Okay, I just want to set it here so you don't knock it over.

123:39:18 Schmitt: What's that?

123:39:19 Cernan: The TGE, right where you left foot is.

123:39:21 Schmitt: Oh, well.

123:39:23 Cernan: I'm afraid we'll knock it over if I set it anywhere else.

123:39:24 Schmitt: Well, stand by; I've got a lot of stuff here.

123:39:27 Cernan: Okay.

123:39:31 Schmitt: We should have volunteered to take the big bag in.

123:39:33 Cernan: Why? You having trouble getting that thing (the football-sized rock) in?

123:39:36 Schmitt: Oh, it's just (non)standard. (Pause) Yes, I'm having trouble.

123:39:45 Cernan: Well, here; let me help you.

123:39:47 Schmitt: Hold this big bag, please.

[They are trying to transfer the football-sized sample from the big bag to SCB-2. The big bag has the same-sized opening as the SCB but has about twice the length.]

[Schmitt - "I couldn't get a grip on the rock to get it out, and I needed to have Gene hold the bag still."]

123:39:52 Schmitt: Hold the bag. This big one, this one. No, the other one, the other one; don't.

123:39:57 Cernan: I can't (garbled). (Pause) I got it. That's a big rock. (Garbled) fit there is long ways.

123:40:07 Schmitt: Okay, there should be another one in there. Is there?

123:40:12 Cernan: Feel it, squeeze it...Hit it. On the bottom. See if there's any in there.

123:40:15 Schmitt: (Thinking that he can feel a rock in the bag) Yeah, there is.

123:40:16 Cernan: Okay. (Pause) Well, let's get it out. Here, pick it up. We'll get it out. (Pause) Hold the top. (Pause) Shake it.

[They've probably turned the big bag over to see if they can shake anything out.]

[Jack is looking for the sample he collected near the back of the LM at 118:31:10 and put in the big bag a moment later. Jack makes another reference to the disappearance of this rock at 147:36:11 during the EVA-2 close-out. It seems likely that the sample fell out during their current effort to get the football-sized rock out of the big bag.]

123:40:44 Schmitt: I thought I put one in there.

123:40:45 Cernan: Okay.

123:40:46 Schmitt: Well, I guess not. If I did, it's gotten out. Got away.

123:40:58 Cernan: Okay, I'm going to leave the TGE right here. "Off-load TGE (at the) right side of MESA." Okay, I might give them a gravimeter reading, believe it or not. Boy, I'll tell you, the only thing bad about putting this thing on the ground - just like everything else - you have to bend over to get at it. And you need support to get back up. (Pause) Okay. Mark, gravimeter.

123:41:20 Parker: Mark your Mark

123:41:22 Cernan: And she's flashing, Bob.

123:41:24 Parker: Thank you. (Pause)

123:41:32 Schmitt: Okay, I'm supposed to take this (SCB-2) and the core stem bag up there (to the porch).

123:41:36 Cernan: I'll get it for you.

123:41:38 Schmitt: Can you get the core-stem bag?

123:41:40 Cernan: Yeah, I'll get it for you. (Long Pause)

[Jack probably jumps up to the first ladder rung during this interval and then waits for Gene to hand the two bags up to him.]

123:42:18 Cernan: Yep, let me give it one zap with the (dust)brush.

123:42:22 Schmitt: Okay. (Pause) I didn't mean to drop that, but I did.

123:42:31 Cernan: Yeah, we got to keep from dropping everything. I'll tell you, the big lesson today...

123:42:35 Schmitt: (Garbled)

123:42:36 Cernan: Dust, I guess.

123:42:38 Schmitt: The big lesson is that it's going to get dropped if your hands get tired.

[Cernan - "The longer you work in that suit, the less feeling and dexterity you have in your hands. Your hands try to relax and you tend to drop things. And, if you drop things, they get dusty. If you drop things, you've got to get down and pick them up."]

123:42:43 Schmitt: Let me come down. (Pause) Got it.

123:42:54 Cernan: Okay. (Garbled). (Reviewing CDR-36) Okay, the TGE is reading. We got to stow our antennas and...(Pause) Get some dusting done here. I'll make a check of what you've got up there. What have you got up there so far?

[Gene is running down the items on CDR-37.]

123:43:17 Cernan: Okay, SRC-2 and the core stems. Okay. (Consulting his checklist) Where's the EVA pallet?

123:43:26 Schmitt: It's on the MESA table.

123:43:28 Cernan: Okay, that's good; that's ready. Where's ETB? That's ready to go up.

123:43:32 Schmitt: Yep.

[The ETB is probably hanging from the lanyard, which is next to the ladder.]

123:43:49 Schmitt: No, I think...

123:43:50 Cernan: Why don't I dust you here.

[Jack is probably on the ground again, having put the core stems and SCB-2 on the porch.]

[This is a rock under the west or plus-Z footpad, the one below the ladder.]

123:43:57 Schmitt: Yeh.

123:43:58 Cernan: Pick up your right foot. (Pause) Jack, you're just going to have to get up on that ladder somewhere so I don't get the dust all over this thing.

[Gene is probably referring to the TGE.]

123:44:08 Cernan: Well, okay. Go ahead and get me.

123:44:11 Schmitt: Yeah, where's your brush?

123:44:12 Cernan: Right on the hook. (Pause)

[This is a hook on the inside of the ladder strut.]

123:44:18 Schmitt: You have to go anywhere else, now?

123:44:20 Cernan: Just right around here; no place but right around here. (Pause) Man! That (dusting)'s like a super-endless task. (Pause) Get the top of that thing (possibly Gene's RCU) if you can.

123:44:44 Schmitt: Oop. Oop. Landed on a slope.

123:44:49 Cernan: Yup.

[They may have dropped the dustbrush.]

123:44:56 Cernan: How about the arms?

123:44:58 Schmitt: Can you hold them up and shake them, too, in case there's anything down in them?

123:45:00 Cernan: Let me just...Yep. Let me get lower so you can get at me. Okay, how's that? (Pause)

123:45:13 Cernan: But, at best, it is going to be bad but we want to get as much off as we can. (Pause) How about this one?

123:45:29 Schmitt: Guess I can come around on the other side, if you want.

123:45:31 Cernan: Yeah, I can hold on (to the ladder) better that way. (Long Pause)

[Schmitt - "You're hands were tired, so it was hard to hold on to the brush; and, in the suit, you couldn't position the brush any old which way you wanted. So you had to keep moving your body to get in position. It was a mess."]

123:45:57 Cernan: Yeah.

123:45:59 Schmitt: Hold still.

123:46:02 Cernan: I'll get up on that ladder and you get a whack at my legs, best you can. And I'll kick my boots clean. (Pause)

123:46:16 Schmitt: That fender is really going to be a nuisance. (Pause) (We got) rained on. (Pause) I'm going to have to get you to bend over, too, so I...Not now. Now there's a lot (of dust) on the OPS.

123:46:45 Cernan: Might just as well stow my antenna if you're up there (working on the OPS).

[Jack doesn't get Gene's (PLSS/OPS) antenna at this point.]

123:46:58 Cernan: Yeh. (Long Pause)

123:47:12 Schmitt: How'd you get so dirty?

123:47:15 Cernan: Wait until I show you the picture I took of you.

123:47:20 Schmitt: Didn't. Okay, Gene. Most of what's left is up on your...Get your antenna. Oh, you're going to go up there (on the ladder), first?

123:47:33 Cernan: You want...

123:47:34 Schmitt: Okay.

123:47:36 Cernan: I don't know how you do that.

[This is Gene's first attempt at jumping up to the bottom rung on the ladder.]

123:47:46 Cernan: Beautiful!

123:47:47 Parker: Okay, 17, do we copy...

123:47:48 Schmitt: Okay.

123:47:49 Cernan: Better get my legs, and I'll kick (garbled).

123:47:49 Parker: ...both antennas up?

[On Apollo 15, Dave Scott forgot to stow Jim Irwin's antenna at one point, and it broke off when he climbed back in the LM. Fortunately, Scott and Irwin were able to use tape to make an adequate repair.]

123:47:53 Cernan: No, sir, Bob. I'm still getting dusted. We're trying to go over this thing pretty thoroughly.

123:47:56 Parker: Okay. (Pause)

123:48:14 Schmitt: (Your) pocket is probably full of dirt.

123:48:16 Cernan: That brush does pretty good, though. (Pause) Want me to move, or anything now?

123:48:23 Schmitt: No.

123:48:24 Cernan: Okay.

123:48:29 Schmitt: (Garbled) Of course, when I do this, I get dirtier.

[Gene is on the ladder, above Jack. As Jack cleans Gene's legs, the dirt falls on him.]

[Schmitt - "The dust issue is one that just has to be addressed. It's going to be the major environmental issue for future missions on both the Moon and Mars. Mars is going to have a different type of dust; but in both cases it's going to require careful thought to design suits that can handle 100 or 200 or 300 EVAs compared with the three that we did."]

123:49:18 Schmitt: No. You're not okay. You're awful dusty. But I don't know that I can...

123:49:24 Cernan: Okay.

123:49:25 Schmitt: ...do too much more.

123:49:26 Cernan: That looks pretty good. I'll walk...

123:49:27 Schmitt: Hit your boots real hard when you come up.

123:49:29 Cernan: Yep. (Pause) Okay. I've just got to stay on my feet here for a while.

123:49:36 Schmitt: Want me to...

123:49:38 Cernan: Stand in the (foot)pad. Yeah. Stay there and I'll get your back and your PLSS while I'm at it - to start with. Stoop down, if you can. Stand on the bottom of the pad...There you go. (Pause)

123:49:54 Schmitt: How's the old ALSEP, Bob?

123:49:58 Parker: It's looking great, guys.

[Schmitt - "Little did we know!"]

123:50:11 Schmitt: Right.

123:50:13 Cernan: Okay, while I'm up here let me get the top of your OPS and I'll stow your antenna at the same time.

123:50:18 Schmitt: Okay.

123:50:19 Cernan: You're going to have to get further down. I can't reach it. (Pause) That's good.

123:50:26 Schmitt: (With knees bent so that Gene can reach his OPS) I feel like I'm praying. I guess I am.

123:50:30 Cernan: Now, maybe I can get some dust off you. Okay, stay there. The antenna will be stowed in half of a jiff. (Pause) Oh, my fingers! They do not have the dexterity that they once had. (Pause)

123:51:10 Cernan: Okay. (I'll) make sure you don't have anything hanging on you. Wait a minute. (Pause) Okay. You can stand up. I'll work on your arms. (Long Pause)

123:51:58 Cernan: I'll come around that side and get the other one. No, maybe I won't either. Maybe I'll get it...Hold onto the ladder some. It'll give me stability, too. (Pause) Okay, I'll get the backside of your arm from the other side. Let me get around your waist here now. (Pause)

123:52:30 Cernan: Getting there. (Garbled; Pause) Ah. (Pause) Okay, let me try your left arm. (Long Pause)

123:53:04 Cernan: Why don't you go up the step. (Pause) Okay. Stay there. (Pause) Oh, boy. Hallelujah. Yeah, do that. That gets a lot off, Jack. Keep doing that. Keep doing that. Boy, that gets it off your shoes.

[Jack is stomping his boots on a ladder rung.]

123:53:56 Parker: Yeah! It seemed to go a lot faster down there in the clean room at the Cape.

123:54:04 Cernan: Boy, you bet you. And I know why we didn't do it. It was just as tough down there as it is here.

[Cernan - "We practiced dusting each other in training, but never with any dust or dirt; we just went through the motions."]

123:54:12 Cernan: No, not yet. I want to get the other leg. And then I want you to lean over and get my antenna.

123:54:27 Schmitt: Oh, that's right. I need to brush off the top, too. I'll stow your antenna first.

123:54:36 Cernan: Okay, babe. That's about all I can do for you. Okay, get my antenna. Oh, I think all the dust I took off you went on me. (Pause) Can you reach it from there? (Pause)

123:54:51 Schmitt: Well, yeah; I think I can. (Pause) Oh, whew! (Pause)

[They've been dusting each other for eleven minutes.]

123:55:19 Parker: You guys have got 6 hours and 53 minutes and 40 seconds.

123:55:23 Schmitt: Okay, Gene, you're stowed. Let me...(Stops to listen to Bob) (To Gene) Okay. Let me see your brush.

123:55:27 Cernan: Okay. Here it is. (Pause)

123:55:38 Schmitt: Okay. That's the best I can do.

123:55:39 Cernan: Okay. Let me get the top of this (shin) pocket. (Pause) Okay. Go on up; stay clean.

123:55:48 Schmitt: Well...You've got...Let's see...

123:55:52 Cernan: I'll hand you something.

123:55:53 Schmitt: You've got to bring stuff up I guess, huh?

123:55:54 Cernan: Yep. (To Houston) Okay, Bob...

MP3 Audio Clip ( 18 min 14 sec )

123:55:55 Schmitt: Okay. I need the EVA pallet.

123:55:57 Cernan: Okay, I'll give you that and then I'll get to work. I've got some work I've got to do for Bob. Ah! Okay, (is) everything on the EVA pallet?

[Schmitt - "I don't think I'd actually loaded anything on the pallet. Gene just wanted to make sure nothing had fallen out."]

123:56:09 Cernan: Okay. Man, I forgot I had my visor up. Zowie! See if I can get back in the shade. (Pause)

[Schmitt - "Gene must have put his visor up so he could see to dust me while we were standing in the LM shadow at the ladder; and then he stepped out into the sunlight."]

123:56:32 Schmitt: Yeah.

123:56:34 Cernan: Okay. (Pause) Okay, Bob. I'll try giving them to you one at a time (that is, the items at the bottom of CDR-36). LMP's got the EVA pallet. Let me give you a MESA (meaning gravimeter) reading...(correcting himself), or a reading, then I'll tidy the (MESA) blanket.

123:56:49 Parker: Okay. (Pause)

123:56:55 Cernan: Okay. The reading is 000, 133, 201 (a nonsense reading), and I can only assume that one of us hit it. I think I've got time to give you another one.

123:57:07 Parker: Okay. Quickly.

123:57:10 Cernan: Well, that's the way it'll be, because it's already punched. (Pause) Mark it.

123:57:16 Parker: Copy that. (Pause)

123:57:22 Cernan: Okay, I'm tidying up the MESA blankets. I'm pretty tidy!

123:57:27 Schmitt: I did that.

123:57:28 Cernan: Okay, MESA blankets are tidied. Okay. Open TGE. I'll do that (later). (Dust)brush to ladder hook. Final transfer (check, on CDR-37), Jack. I'm going to...(Pause) Okay, I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to inventory here. You got the pallet. ETB is here, and you got the core stem bag. SCB-2 is (up) there; SRC-1 is here; big bag is not required. Bob, I think we got everything. The two things on the surface yet are the ETB and the SRC and me.

123:58:11 Parker: Okay, we copy that. But, of course...

[A bag can be seen hanging from the ladder hook behind the lefthand side of the bottom rung in AS17-134-20482, which will be taken at the end of EVA-3.]

123:58:20 Schmitt: "I can't get any lower, Willie. Me buttons are in the way."

[Schmitt - "This a quote from one of Bill Mauldin's more famous World War II cartoons in the 'Up Front' collection. Willie and Joe are down in the mud with bullets going over them and that's the caption."]

123:58:43 Schmitt: That's not as easy as in the K-bird.

[Cernan - "We could get about 30 seconds of one-sixth gravity flying in the KC-135 aircraft. That was too short for a lot of things and it had been a problem way back in Gemini. Training underwater was not totally realistic either, but at least it gave you a lot longer duration."]

[Schmitt - "We practiced getting in a hatch simulator in the KC-135 but that wasn't a static environment and I think it made it easier. There was just a little bit of motion and I think that helped you get through the hatch. And, of course, our hands weren't tired in the 135 and that also made a significant difference."]

123:58:57 Schmitt: Your (LM) hoses...We've got to have a better way to store your hoses.

[Jack is crawling into the LM and is getting caught up in Gene's LM hoses. They would be to Jack's right as he goes through the hatch, draped over Gene's handcontroller.]

123:59:17 Schmitt: (Breathing heavily) Whew, boy.

123:59:15 Cernan: (To Jack) You in?

123:59:17 Schmitt: Yuh.

123:59:19 Cernan: Sounds like it. (Pause) (To himself, possibly having missed the first rung and having to jump again) Oh, come on. Get up there. (Pause) Okay, Jack, coming up with the rockbox.

123:59:35 Schmitt: I'm not ready.

123:59:36 Cernan: Well, I've got to...I've got to...

123:59:39 Schmitt: Can you put it on the porch?

123:59:42 Cernan: Well, I only got one more thing to do and that's just clean up (that is, read) the TGE. Okay. I've got to come up there anyway. (Long Pause)

124:00:08 Cernan: "Godspeed the crew of Apollo 17."

124:00:13 Schmitt: Who signed it? I forgot to read it.

124:00:16 Cernan: I'm not going to tell you, but I like the message. (Pause) Probably shouldn't tell you. (Pause, grunting)

[Gene isn't absolutely certain, but thinks that the message was written on a piece of tape on the strut. He thinks he may have put the message there himself. Gene and Jack took a number of photos of the official plaque mounted on the ladder strut. One of these shows all but the top two rungs and there is no piece of tape discernible in a 16x20 inch enlargement. Because a good deal of detail on the official plaque can be seen in this image, I conclude that there was no taped message in this part of the image. At the start of EVA-3, Jack took a picture of the entire forward face of the LM as part of a color pan taken with Gene's camera. The LM image is AS17-140-21370, but nothing definitive shows up in an enlargement of that image, either.]

124:00:45 Parker: Rog. It should be ready to read by now.

124:00:47 Cernan: Oh! That last step down again. Okay. Bob, before...Well, let me get this for you. (Long Pause)

124:01:06 Cernan: Okay, Bob, 670, 021, 501; 670, 021, 501.

124:01:14 Parker: Okay. Got that, Gene.

124:01:17 Cernan: And the cover is up. (Breathing into his microphone as he bends down to reach the TGE) Cover is up, if I can keep it up. (Pause) If I can keep it up. (Pause) That'll keep it up. (Pause) It's been dusted. And I'll get it to Standby.

[Gene is opening the top of the TGE to expose a radiator. The TGE is now sitting in the shade of the LM and will be able to cool during the rest period.]

124:01:47 Cernan: Yes, sir; I dusted that a little earlier. Okay, it is Standby, Bob. Radiator is up.

124:01:54 Parker: And dusted.

124:01:58 Cernan: Cover is open.

124:02:00 Cernan: Okay. I'm going up to the porch. All I've got down here is ETB, and it's on the LEC.

[On the early missions, the Lunar Equipment Conveyor (LEC) was a clothesline-like device used to transfer equipment up to the cabin. Using it was a two-man operation. Beginning with Apollo 14, the astronauts carried at least some equipment up the ladder by hand. Finally, the Apollo 16 crew decided that the clothesline LEC was more trouble than it was worth and carried everything but the ETB up by hand. To raise and lower the ETB, they used a simple hook-and-lanyard, but kept the LEC designation. Gene is using the lanyard-type LEC.]

[Schmitt - "We used the lanyard to raise and lower the ETB because it had delicate equipment in it, particularly the cameras. It wasn't a rigid bag and, while I don't remember how or when the decision was made, I think we decided that, rather, than sling the ETB around, we'd just hoist it up."]

[Jack has been emptying the EVA pallet, which he will now push out through the hatch, almost certainly with his foot, so that Gene can discard it.]

124:02:10 Parker: Negative.

124:02:11 Schmitt: I'm ready for you up here.

124:02:15 Cernan: Let's see what kind of dusting job I can do on myself. (Long Pause)

[The sound of Gene beating on his suit with the dustbrush is audible, unless we are hearing him hit his microphone on his neckring as he strains to look down at what he is doing.]

124:02:50 Schmitt: Okay.

124:02:51 Cernan: (Pause, as he makes the long jump, this time unencumbered.) Whee! (Pause, as he climbs to the porch) Okay.

[Cernan - "Getting up the ladder was a piece of cake. You pushed up with your legs - just a little spring up - and pulled with your arms."]

124:03:13 Schmitt: I'll get it (the EVA pallet) to you.

124:03:15 Cernan: I got it.

124:03:17 Schmitt: Watch the (hatch) seal.

124:03:24 Cernan: Okay. (Pause) Okay, here's an SRC.

124:03:27 Schmitt: Okay; float her in here.

[Gene probably stands the SRC on end to make it easier to grab; then it falls on its side.]

124:03:34 Schmitt: No. That's all right.

124:03:37 Cernan: Ah. I think you got the ticket right there.

124:03:40 Schmitt: Ah. (Pause)

124:03:44 Cernan: I'll watch that. No sense making it hard. See if I can't stand this one up. (Pause) Okay. (Pause)

[Jack is having to bend over as far as he can to grab the equipment as Gene hands it through the hatch. Jack notes that his voice quality suggests that he has his chin bent down so that he can see.]

[Cernan - "Even with the hatch open, he couldn't have worked kneeling, because he would have had to have his legs toward the hatch and it would have been hard to reach back and pull things in around his body."]

[Schmitt - "As Gene handed the stuff in, I probably put it back on the engine cover, although I may have stowed the SRC right away. There were special compartments for each of the SRCs and the SCBs but we may not have stowed those until after we were repressurized."]

[Cernan - "Once the deep core was finished it really was a turning point. While we were deploying the ALSEP, we had a fixed set of tasks to do; and removing that core was probably the hardest of them. But after it was finished, then we could settle back into an exploratory mode of operations with a lot more control and choice about what we did."]

124:04:22 Schmitt: Got it. (Pause) Yeah, we had a lot of turning points.

[Schmitt - "From my point of view, the big turning point of the mission didn't come until we'd finished the second EVA. From an operational point of view, which was Gene's perspective, getting the core extracted and the rest of the ALSEP deployed was a major accomplishment; drilling those holes and extracting the core was tough work. But I was frustrated that we were still in the position that, if we had to leave the Moon before we had done another EVA, we wouldn't have had much information about the site. We'd gotten the heat flow experiment deployed so we were going to get confirmation of the Apollo 15 measurement. We had a few samples of the basalt, but had done no systematic sampling. We had the soil in the core, so we probably would have found the black beads; but there's not a lot of orange soil in that valley - it's mostly black - so we might not have had enough orange beads in the core to recognize it's importance. We had put out two seismic charges which, by themselves wouldn't have given us much. We had a few gravimeter readings but no profile across the valley and not enough information to understand the depth of the basalt fill. And, although we didn't know it at this point, the major experiment on the ALSEP, the long-period gravimeter (LSG), wasn't going to work. So, at the end of the first EVA, we were in the scientifically vulnerable position of having gone all the way to the Moon without having gotten very much out of the mission relative to what the potential was. By the time we finished the second EVA, we had a lot of information about the site and, from a scientific point of view, that was the big turning point of the mission. By the end of the second EVA, we had at least half a gravity profile because we'd gone across one contact up onto the South Massif; we had several more seismic charges deployed; and we had done a lot of systematic sampling of the mare basalts, the massif breccias, and the soils."]

124:04:32 Parker: Negative, you can leave the LEC outside.

124:04:37 Schmitt: (Answering Gene) No, just the bag (ETB).

124:04:39 Cernan: Where are the scissors, by the way?

124:04:40 Schmitt: They're in the bag.

124:04:41 Cernan: Okay. I hope they don't come out this time.

124:04:43 Schmitt: Well, I stuck them down in there. I hope they don't.

124:04:46 Parker: Yeah, Jack...

124:04:47 Schmitt: We'll have to figure out something else if they do.

124:04:48 Parker: ...you guys put the scissors in the ETB.

124:04:53 Schmitt: I think so, Bob.

124:04:55 Cernan: I'll take a peek down there. If they fell out, they'll be right on top (of the ground surface). Okay. (Pause) Mama me. (Pause)

124:05:09 Parker: Okay, Gene. And you got the SCB number 2 in and the pallet out, right?

124:05:17 Schmitt: Right. (Pause)

124:05:25 Cernan: Here it comes, Jack. (Pause) Take that? (Pause) There are no scissors on the ground beneath where the ETB was. So I would say that they're probably in the ETB.

124:05:54 Parker: Well, good enough.

124:05:55 Schmitt: (To Gene) Okay. You got everything, now?

124:05:57 Cernan: Yes, sir.

124:06:00 Schmitt: Okay, let me get out of the way. (Long Pause)

[Jack has been working with the hatch door fully open to his right. He now moves to Gene's station on the left side of the cabin, closes the door far enough so that he can move across to his station on the right and then swing the door open as far as possible against his legs.]

124:06:47 Parker: I copy that. Fifty (sic) percent oxygen, Geno...That's...

124:06:49 Schmitt: Come on in.

124:06:50 Cernan: Coming through that hole. (Answering Bob) No; thirteen percent, I think.

124:06:56 Parker: One-five (sic). (Pause)

124:07:08 Schmitt: Okay. Put your "buttons" down. You're great. Now your head up. You're right against the top. Right against the Z-27. Come towards me. Okay, now up. (Pause)

[As can be seen in the accompanying diagrams, the plus Z-27 bulkhead separates the front the cabin from the back, and is just forward of the ascent engine cover. The plus Z-27 bulkhead is also the front face of what is called the midstep.]

[Cernan - "By this time, I was really tired and it was a lot of trouble to get back in the cabin. It's such a small space; and you've got to twist and turn to get in there. You've got to crawl in with that big PLSS on your back until you hit the back bulkhead with your helmet. Then you've got to start arching your back so that you can get your head up so that you can get further in. But you've got to keep the PLSS clear of the DSKY, so that means really arching your back. Then you push with your feet until you're in and you can stand up and then turn around. And it didn't help that a lot of space, particularly on the engine cover, was taken up by the boxes and bags we'd brought in from the surface. It was really crowded."]

124:07:30 Schmitt: Tight fit.

124:07:32 Cernan: What am I caught on back there?

124:07:34 Schmitt: You're just scraping against your PLSS.

124:07:36 Cernan: Okay. I'll just bend.

[Schmitt - "While you were arching your back, trying to keep your PLSS from hitting the DSKY, you really had to be careful not to scratch your visor on the back bulkhead any more than absolutely necessary. Gene may have had more trouble getting in than I did, simply because he is a longer person, even though, for the same reason, he didn't have as much trouble getting his back arched. Certainly he was tired - we both were - and it was only prudent for me to help him. You didn't want to bang that DSKY any more than you absolutely had to."]

124:07:42 Cernan: Okay.

124:07:45 Schmitt: Okay. Come on in. Just hug as close as you can. Okay, you're there. (Long Pause) Okay?

124:08:07 Cernan: Yup, let me just get on my feet here. Ohh! Ah. Wait a minute. Got to turn one way or the other. Does this look better?

124:08:18 Schmitt: Yeah. I'd turn towards your right. (Pause)

124:08:24 Cernan: Well, can't do that.

124:08:25 Schmitt: Try the other way. Get your PLSS back in there towards the circuit breakers.

124:08:32 Cernan: Move your right...(correcting himself) your left arm.

124:08:34 Schmitt: (Laughing) Where? Okay.

124:08:39 Cernan: There. Okay. Let me make sure there's nothing in that hatch.

124:08:43 Schmitt: Well, there's dust. That's one thing that's in there.

124:08:44 Cernan: Well...Take one quick peek.

124:08:49 Schmitt: From where I stand, all I can see is dust.

[Cernan - "With two guys standing there, relatively immobile and wearing PLSSs, there wasn't a lot of room to bend over to look at the hatch opening for things that might keep you from getting a good seal. So you leaned back to get a look at it. It was important to get a good seal the first time, because otherwise you'd have to go through the whole procedure again."]

[Schmitt - "You would probably blow the hatch seal clean if you depressed again, but you certainly didn't want to lose all that pressurization oxygen."]

124:08:56 Schmitt: Pockets...Your pockets (are catching on the hatch door). Okay?

[Jack may be kicking the hatch partially shut to get it out of the way. They will actually close and latch the hatch at 124:10:44.]

124:09:07 Cernan: (Reading from the post-EVA cue card, which has the same information as checklist page 3-1) "Primary water, Closed. Forward hatch..." Turn our Water (to) Off. (Pause) Do you have to turn the primaries or just the secondary (Auxiliary), Bob?

124:09:22 Schmitt: Primary.

124:09:23 Parker: Primary only. (Gene is breathing very heavily) That's why you don't turn your Primary Water off when you go to Aux.

[The two feedwater tanks are hooked up in series. The auxiliary tank was added to the PLSS for Apollo 15 and subsequent missions. Apparently, it was easier to add a second tank to the design than to enlarge the existing tank.]

124:09:36 Parker: That's okay, too.

124:09:40 Schmitt: Well, wait a minute.

124:09:42 Cernan: Got yours?

124:09:43 Schmitt: No, I can't quite reach it.

124:09:45 Cernan: Well, if you can roll to the left, I'll get it for you.

124:09:46 Schmitt: Yeah, I can.

124:09:48 Cernan: (Garbled), let me get back here. I've gotten bigger since I've been out there. (Pause) You got to go (that is, turn) more. You got to go more.

124:10:03 Schmitt: Yup. There's something keeping me from going more.

124:10:06 Cernan: Okay. Okay, let me see if I can't...(Pause)

124:10:18 Schmitt: (Garbled) awfully far inboard for what I (garbled).

124:10:23 Cernan: Okay. Your Primary Water is Off.

124:10:25 Schmitt: Okay. LMP's Water is Off.

124:10:28 Cernan: Now you're going to have to move way over there, so I can get the hatch.

[Closing the hatch is a difficult job in an inflated suit. Gene needs Jack to get back against the right-hand side circuit breaker panel so that he, Gene, can reach down to close the hatch.]

124:10:34 Cernan: Back up against the circuit breakers.

124:10:35 Schmitt: Yup.

124:10:36 Cernan: Can you see what I'm catching on, upward?

124:10:39 Schmitt: Yeah. You're just hitting the rail over there.

124:10:44 Cernan: Okay. Now. (Pause) See, I can't..."Close and lock forward hatch", huh?

124:10:54 Schmitt: Yeah. (Pause) Can you do it?

124:10:59 Cernan: Yup. Can't see it. Okay. (Pause)

[Cernan - "To get the hatch closed and latched, you had to lean forward and sideways and close it by feel. The instrument panel stuck out about a foot into the cabin and you just couldn't see under it while you were closing the hatch. Then, once I got back up, I could lean back and see it was closed, and as Jack could, too. All of this was necessary because we were really constrained by weight; the LM had to be as lightweight as possible and we couldn't afford a lot of volume in the spacecraft. If we'd had more room and a little bigger hatch, all of this would have been a lot easier and have gone a lot faster."]

124:11:10 Schmitt: Locked?

124:11:12 Cernan: ...and Locked. Which one of those dump valves is (open)...That one up on top. I can get that one.

124:11:17 Schmitt: Okay. (Pause) Take it easy.

[Gene is reaching up and behind to his right to close the overhead dump valve.]

124:11:38 Schmitt: You're sure? Is that locked there?

124:11:40 Cernan: Yes, sir.

124:11:41 Schmitt: Okay.

124:11:42 Cernan: And it is Auto.

124:11:44 Schmitt: Okay.

124:11:45 Cernan: Okay.

[In the Auto position, the dump valve will open if the cabin pressure exceeds 5.4 psi.]

124:11:48 Cernan: Okay.

124:11:49 Parker: Roger, Jack; we saw it.

[Having turned the PLSS water pump off, they verify that the warning signals are working properly.]

124:11:57 Schmitt: Yeh. Okay...

[If the PLSS oxygen supply in either suit was less than ten percent, they would have to do a manual cabin repressurization, watching the suit pressure gauge to make sure the suit maintained positive pressure.]

124:12:01 Schmitt: "If not less (than 10 percent)...manual control repress." Okay. I've got to turn (so that he can get at the valves and circuit breakers and controlling the Environmental Control System).

124:12:06 Cernan: Okay. Let me get out of your way. Okay. About as far as I can go. Okay. I'll read it to you, when you get there. (Pause)

124:12:17 Schmitt: I think part of our problem is this slope. There's no "purchase"- as my Father used to say - no "purchase".

124:12:26 Cernan: Okay, are you ready? Are you ready?

124:12:30 Schmitt: Wait a minute.

124:12:34 Cernan: I need you on Cabin Repress (valve), Auto; and then on (circuit breaker panel) 16 ( CB(16) ) I need you...

124:12:39 Schmitt: Okay.

[Jack will set the cabin repressurization valve so that, when he closes the corresponding circuit breaker, repressurization will begin and, when the cabin is up to 5 psi, the valve will close automatically.]

124:12:44 Schmitt: Going Auto.

124:12:47 Cernan: Okay. ECS Cabin Repress (circuit breaker), Closed.

124:12:49 Schmitt: Okay. Stand by for repress.

124:12:50 Cernan: I'll try and get cabin...that master. Okay, there's the Master Alarm. (Audible sound of repressurization) Well, I can't (garbled).

124:12:58 Schmitt: Okay.

[Gene is turning to make sure that the Cabin Warning light has come on.]

124:13:04 Schmitt: Okay.

124:13:05 Cernan: Okay. Verify cabin pressure increasing. Press(ure) Reg(ulators) A and B to Cabin.

124:13:17 Schmitt: Now?

124:13:18 Cernan: Now.

124:13:19 Schmitt: A's Cabin; B's Cabin.

[The pressure regulators are now set to keep the cabin pressure at 4.8 psi.]

124:13:33 Cernan: Okay, now. We're at 3. Can you get it? If you can't, I'll reach it for you.

124:13:39 Schmitt: It's Off.

124:13:40 Cernan: Okay, Cabin Warning Light Off. Verify cabin pressure stable at 4.6. Okay, it's coming up. It's 3.6. And you use the Purge valve to depress.

[The EVA ends when the cabin pressure reaches 3.5 psi. Although the PLSS oxygen is off, without intervention, the suits would deflate relatively slowly. To hasten suit deflation, once the cabin pressure is significant, they can open the purge valves.]

124:13:57 Cernan: Cabin pressure is 4. Let me just take a look here at 4.6. Okay. I'm coming down. Suit's coming down. Cabin's up to...Cabin's up to 5, Jack.

[The sound of repressurization ends abruptly.]

124:14:09 Cernan: Okay, it's 5. It shut off.

124:14:10 Schmitt: Okay.

124:14:11 Cernan: Okay, I'm about depressed.

[That is, he has opened the purge valve and his suit is virtually deflated.]