Apollo 16 Lunar Surface Journal Banner

 

Return to the LM EVA-3 Closeout

 

Station 10 Prime

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.

 

[As shown in Figure 6-13 in the Preliminary Science Report, John has parked about 30 meters north of the ALSEP Central Station and 10 meters north of the 2-meter boulder. The Rover is pointed south.]
MP3 Audio Clip ( 0 min 30 sec )

169:17:18 Duke: Okay. And I'm starting out with frame count 80 (on) magazine Foxtrot. Now, you want me to get a pan, Tony?

169:17:25 England: Yeah...

169:17:26 Duke: (Lost under Tony)

169:17:29 England: ...And after that, we'll go on with a rake soil at this site.

169:17:35 Duke: You want a double core? (Stops to listen)

169:17:40 Young: Charlie, where is the Earth? Should be right straight up.

169:17:44 Duke: Nope, not quite. That's better. (Pause)

MP3 Audio Clip ( 0 min 18 sec )

169:17:54 Duke: Let's see. No, you've got to go right some, John. More.

169:18:01 Young: There we go.

169:18:04 Duke: Okay. That ought to be in the site.

MP3 Audio Clip ( 11 min 40 sec )

169:18:19 Duke: Right. Now down a little bit. That ought to be it. (Static fades)

169:18:25 Young: That's it.

169:18:26 Duke: That's (a LCRU signal strength of) 4.35.

169:18:28 England: Okay.

169:18:30 Duke: See it (meaning the Earth) in the sight?

169:18:31 Young: Yeah. Man, is it...

169:18:33 Duke: Okay. (Pause)

[TV on. The camera is pointed more or less northwest and Charlie crosses the field-of-view from right to left as he gets into position to take the pan.]
Video Clip ( 2 min 55 sec 0.7 Mb RealVideo or 26 Mb MPEG )

169:18:37 England: Okay. And when you're on the console (6 Mb) there, could you tap that Amp-Hour meter and see if you can get that lower one to come up some?

169:18:50 Duke: I banged the control panel hard, Tony, and none of the meters changed.

[The TV image jiggles, perhaps as John tries to free the dustbrush from its holder on the front of the Rover. A detail from training photo KSC-71PC-777 shows the stowed dustbrush.]
169:18:56 Young: Uh-oh.

169:18:57 England: (Responding to Charlie) Okay.

[Apparently, John has dropped the dust brush.]
169:19:00 Duke: What happened, John? (Pause) Let me get the brush ...(Static)
[TV off. As Charlie implies at 169:19:22, John has probably bumped against the high-gain antenna, knocking it out of alignment.]

[I do not believe that Charlie comes over to help John at this point. As he says in a moment, he is taking his pan.]

169:19:12 Young: (Do) you believe that?

169:19:14 Duke: The one in training never would stay on.

169:19:21 Young: Agh. Okay.

169:19:22 Duke: Okay, you moved the (high-gain) antenna, John. (Pause)

169:19:30 England: All right. We lost our picture.

169:19:34 Young: (Garbled)

169:19:42 Duke: Okay. Just a minute. I'm halfway through a pan here. It'll take me 2 seconds. (Pause)

Charlie's Station 10 Prime Pan ( frames AS16-117- 18801 to 18823 )

[Journal Contributor Jim Murray has combined frames 18816 and 18818 and has largely removed the effects of sunlight reflected in the lens to produce a striking up-Sun view of John at the Rover with the LM in the background.]

[Journal Contributor Dominique Caudron notes that Charlie caught Venus just over the eastern horizon in 18815, 16, and 17. Journal Contributor Yuri Krasilnikov has created an animation from details from the three frames. At the time Charlie took the pan, about 1914 GMT/UTC on 23 April 1972, the Sun's azimuth and elevation were 77.8 and 47.2 degress, respectively and Venus's were 84.4 and 2.9 degrees. Venus's apparent magnitude was -4.4. A vertical slice thru the photo shows shadow orientations in the foreground. Venus rose at the Descartes site at about 164:05, about an hour and a half before the start of EVA-3. However, Charlie's Station 10 Prime Pan is the first sequence of EVA-3 photos in which Venus is not hidden by the LM or high ground on the eastern horizon. Venus was also captured in a number of images taken by Al Shepard during Apollo 14.

169:19:56 Duke: Okay. Here I come. No, you've got it pointed up too straight. (Pause) Okay. It needs to come left; left; more left; more, more; okay. (Static fades) Now down just a skosh. That's it...Now left.

169:20:23 Young: That's beautiful.

169:20:24 Duke: Okay.

169:20:26 Young: It (meaning the image of Earth in the sighting scope)'s very dim 'til it gets near the center.

[TV on. The TV camera is now pointed north-northeast, over the left-rear Rover wheel. John may have moved the camera when he was re-aligning the antenna.]
169:20:33 Young: (I'm) such a shrimp, I can't get my head up in there.

169:20:35 Duke: Tony, a double core here, too?

169:20:37 England: Right. We'll need a double core.

[Fendell pans right and, almost immediately, the LM comes into view. We see a darkened trail leading toward the LM, a trail that Charlie made when he ran from Station 10 to the LM at the end of EVA-2 at 149:20:40.]
169:20:42 Duke: You cut out. Say again?

169:20:44 England: Yes, we would like a double core...

169:20:48 Young: (Lost under Tony)

169:20:48 England: The rake soil is first priority and then the double core.

169:20:52 Duke: Okay.

169:20:59 Young: (To Houston) (I'll) get your eyeball there.

[John dusts the TV lens.]
169:21:01 Duke: (Puzzled as to what John meant) Huh? (Laughing) Oh!

169:21:05 Young: Okay. The Velcro on the side...The glue on the Velcro on the (TV) sunshield is...Whatever it does. It's probably the same glue you used on the padded bags, because they came loose, too.

169:21:20 England: Okay.

[Fendell continues the clockwise pan.]

[Charlie captured the sunshield in a number of traverse photos, such as AS16-106-17381, taken during the approach to Station 13 and, more clearly, in a detail from AS16-117-18752, taken during the drive onward to Station 10-Prime. A close-up photo from the right front of the publically-displayed Qualification Unit at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum shows attachment Velcro on the top of the barrel and surrounding the lens ( 1.6 Mb or 0.4 Mb ). A photo from above gives a second view ( 0.6 Mb or 0.3 Mb ). In both photos, note the control tabs for 'IRIS' and 'ZOOM'. In 17381 (linked above), the 'ZOOM' tab is clearly visible. Photos courtesy Allan Needell, Air and Space Museum. A detail from a photograph of a Training Unit on public display at Space Center Houston shows an attached sunshield from the top. A Velcro strap is attached to the top of the sunshield and then to the top of the lens barrel. Photo by Mike Gentry, NASA Johnson, who has also provided a second view.]

[Finally, Ulli Lotzmann has provided a relevant extract from the NASA document "AP16 Problem and Discrepancy List", dated 26 June 1972: "The sun shade is secured in place by Velcro hooks on the sun shade and Velcro pile on the camera. The Velcro pile is sewn in place on the television blanket. The Velcro hooks are held to the sun shade with an adhesive. A discrepancy report was written during qualification testing of the sun shade because the adhesive would not hold during pull test. Lunar surface photographs verified separation occurred between the sunshade and Velcro cemented to the sunshade. For Apollo 17 it is directed that stiching or brads be added to prevent this occurence"]

169:21:21 Young: You want this sunshield on there, or do you want us to take it off and throw it away?

169:21:25 England: Well, if it's doing any good at all, let's just leave it on. It doesn't seem to be in the picture.

169:21:32 Young: Okay. (Long Pause) Okay, I'm gonna put the dustbrush under my seat. I don't want to go through that again.

[John doesn't tell us if he actually removed the sunshield and saw that the Velcro adhesive had failed or if the sunshield was merely loose. The fact that Charlie dropped the sunshield into the dust at 120:18:19, just prior to installing it on the camera, may be relevant. This incident is not discussed in the Apollo 16 Mission Report.]

[After John parks the Rover at the VIP site, at 170:30:52 Tony asks him to remove the sunshield and throw it away.]

[The ALSEP Central Station comes into view. Stone Mountain is in the background.]

169:21:58 Duke: Oh, rats! I dropped the (gnomon)...

169:22:02 Young: I'll come help you, Charlie.

169:22:03 Duke: Dropped the gnomon right where I wanted to sample. (Pause) There we go. (Doing his W.C. Fields voice) Ah, the big eye is looking the wrong way.

[Fendell is now centered on the 2-meter boulder. Note the foreground Rover track. Here, we can see the edges on the shallow impression made by the Rover wheels.]
169:22:18 Duke: Okay. Boy, I just can't see anything when I get this camera in my shadow.
[Charlie is trying to read his camera settings to take "before" photos of the rake site but, because he is already in position to take a down-Sun and is facing west, the camera is in his own shadow.]
169:22:24 Young: That's a good place (to sample), Charlie.

169:22:29 Duke: There's the "down-Sun".

[During the following transmission, Charlie changes his camera settings because, after taking the down-Sun, he is about to take a cross-Sun "locator" of the Rover. As shown in the "Standard Sampling Photos" part of Figure 3.3-1 in the Apollo 16 Final Lunar Surface Procedures, the down-Suns were taken at f/11 and the cross-Suns were taken at f/8.]
169:22:31 Duke: f/4; f/8 for the cross-Sun.
[Charlie's down-Sun is AS16-117- 18824.]

[John's cross-Sun stereopair from the south is AS16-116- 18681and 18682.]

[Charlie's "locator" of the Rover is AS16-117- 18825, which is also an excellent picture of John.]

Video Clip ( 2 min 55 sec 0.7 Mb RealVideo or 26 Mb MPEG )

169:22:36 Duke: How long is this stop, Tony?

169:22:38 England: Okay. This is a 30-minute stop.

169:22:43 Duke: Okay. (Pause) Home again, home again! (Pause) Look at that regolith. (Pause)

[As Fendell continues to pan, John and Charlie come into view northwest of the Rover. John has his back to us and is undoubtedly holding a sample bag open. Charlie is standing north of him and has the rake head up at waist height. He is examining the fruits of his first swath.]
169:22:11 Duke: We've got some glass-coated frags here, Tony...

169:23:13 England: Okay.

169:23:14 Duke: ...in the rake. I don't see anything that looks like (basalt)...

169:23:19 Young: Get another...

169:23:20 Duke: Okay. That was about a half a bagful (in) one scoop (meaning one rake swath). (Pause)

[Charlie pours the samples into the bag. Fendell continues the TV pan.]
169:23:30 Young: Bag's full. All right.

169:23:33 Duke: Uh-oh! Uh-oh! (To Houston) Okay, Tony. Out of that scoop, we lost the two biggest rocks. I poured too fast.

169:23:46 Young: I didn't bag fast enough, Charlie. (Pause)

169:23:53 Duke: They just don't stop in this gravity field once they get moving. Okay. There we go, John.

169:24:01 Young: (Will you) hold the bags for a second?

169:24:03 Duke: Yeah. I got bags on my camera here we could have used. (Pause)

[They have been having trouble with the sample bag holders on the cameras and John has been holding a pack in his hand. Here, he needs to seal the rake-sample bag and needs to have Charlie hold the unused bags.]

[Fendell reaches the clockwise pan limit and reverses direction.]

169:24:10 Young: (To Houston) Okay. That's in bag number 347.

169:24:13 England: Okay. Bag 347. (Pause)

[At this point, John is probably putting the rake sample in Charlie's SCB.]
169:24:20 Duke: Okay. (Will you) get an "after", John?

169:24:23 Young: Yeah, I'll get it.

169:24:25 Duke: Okay. (Pause)

169:24:30 Young: Okay. 7 (foot focus). "After."

169:24:37 Duke: Old "after"!

[Fendell finds Charlie as he backs up to get his shadow off the sample area. John takes a cross-Sun "after" from the south, AS16-116- 18683.]
169:24:38 England: Right. We're going to want a rake soil, over in the area of the old (meaning "first" or "original") Station 10, also. So it's up to you whether it's easiest to go get it now or to get the double core now. (Pause) After you're through with this one (meaning the soil sample at this rake site).
[As shown in Figure 6-13 in the Preliminary Science Report, John and Charlie did Station 10 about 30 meters east of the 2-meter boulder.]
169:24:51 Young: Let's get the soil, Charlie.

169:24:52 Duke: We'll get the soil.

[Charlie has been holding a pack of sample bags in his right hand. He comes over to John and gives him the bags.]
169:24:54 Duke: Okay, I think it would be easier to go get it, John, because I've got to take...
[Charlie twists the rake so he can drag the solid, side portion through the soil to get the soil sample.]
169:24:58 Duke: To do the double core...

169:25:00 Young: Right; I agree with you.

169:25:01 Duke: ...I got to take this thing apart. We could...(Pause)

[Charlie raises the rake and pours the soil sample into a bag John is holding.]
169:25:09 England: That's a good idea, Charlie. Then you won't need the rake anymore.

169:25:14 Duke: Yeah.

[The rake is mounted on the extension handle, which Charlie will need to do the double core. As Judy Allton indicates in Table 6 of her "Catalog of Apollo Lunar Surface Geological Sampling Tools and Containers", John and Charlie have two extension handles. The scoop is currently attached to the other handle and is probably mounted on the back of the Rover at the present moment. Charlie could use either extension handle to do the double core, but the point is that, to get a soil sample he will need the rake and there is no point in doing the double core before he finishes with the rake.]
169:25:16 Duke: Okay. There's a two...
[Charlie steps toward John and takes the unused bags so John can seal the soil sample.]
169:25:21 Young: Okay, and that's going into bag 348. (Bag) 348, Houston.

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

169:25:25 England: Okay; 348. (Pause)

[After spinning the bag closed, John steps to Charlie's right side and puts the soil sample in his SCB.]
169:25:38 Duke: (Pointing past the Rover) That (meaning the first Station 10)'s just right over the ridge there about 50 meters, isn't it?

169:25:41 England: Yeah, it should be.

169:25:42 Young: What's that, Charlie?

169:25:43 Duke: That old Station 10.

169:25:44 Young: Yeah. (Pause)

169:25:50 Duke: Ah, the old (French pronounciation) orange (drink). Okay, get an "after" of that, John...(of the) scoop.

[John's cross-Sun "after" of the soil sample is AS16-116-18684, taken from the south.]
169:25:56 Duke: How about swapping; I'll bag, and you rake.

169:25:59 Young: Yeah. Let's do that.

[John takes the rake.]
169:26:01 Duke: Okay, I'll get the gnomon.
[Charlie gets into position to bob down to get the gnomon.]
169:26:04 Young: Why don't you let me get the gnomon. I'll drop it over there, because I can get down a lot easier.

169:26:06 Duke: Okay, go ahead. (Pause)

[Charlie backs away from the gnomon. Recall that the gnomon staff came off earlier in the mission and, in order to retrieve the gnomon, he would have to get down to within a few inches of the ground and grab the legs. Throughout the mission, John has had a much easier time getting low to the ground and is confident that he can retrieve the gnomon and then place it at the double core site wherever he wants. See the discussion following 119:24:37.]
169:26:12 Young: (Unsure that he's got it) No.

169:26:13 Duke: (You) got it.

[John bobs down and grabs the gnomon easily with his right hand.]
169:26:14 Young: It didn't...(Pause)

169:26:18 Duke: The old Station 10 ...

[Charlie goes off-camera to the right and John goes off to the left. Fendell decides to pan left.]
169:26:19 England: You got that down smooth, John.

169:26:21 Duke: That was...(Stops to listen) Yeah.

[In Houston, Flight is being told that telemetry is indicating that roll indicator on the ALSEP mortar package is off-scale. Experiments wants the crew to make sure the mortar package is actually level.]
169:26:29 Young: See these neat little craters? You just run right through them. (Pause) There's a lot of tracks around there, Charlie. That must be the old Station 10 right there.

169:26:47 Duke: It's right over here. It is, yeah. Here's where we took the double...You want it where we had the double core, Tony?

169:26:55 England: Say again, Charlie? The double core will be at this rake site, but while you've got the rake out there...

169:27:01 Duke: You want it...(Stops to listen)

169:27:02 England: ...we might as well get the rake at the old double core.

169:27:05 Duke: No, I meant...(Stops to listen) That's what I'm saying. This is the old double core site; we'll rake here.

169:27:13 England: That's exactly what we want.

[Fendell finds John and Charlie, who are about 30 meters from the Rover.]
169:27:17 Duke: Okay. We're within 3 meters of it.

169:27:22 Young: Be a good place.

[John puts the gnomon on the ground.]
169:27:23 Duke: Yeah. I think any of these places is a good place around here.
[Fendell zooms in as Charlie gets into position to take a down-Sun "before" and John gets ready to take a cross-Sun from the south.]
169:27:30 Duke: (Looking toward the Rover) Ah, the old...Man, that's a beautiful vehicle. (Pause) "Down-sun".

169:27:44 Young: (Cross-)Sun. (Pause)

[Charlie's down-Sun is AS16-117- 18826. In a detail, note the dirt John kicked forward as he took a step with his right foot. Most of the particles have moved out the same distance from his boot. In the wider view, note the rougher texture of the surface where John and Charlie have walked. John's watch is set on Houston time and reads 1:20 or 1:21. A transcript time of 169:27:30 corresponds to 1:21:30 on 23 April 1972. Transcript times are known to have absolute uncertainties of a minute or more, so the agreement is quite satisfactory. In the distance, just under the corner of John's PLSS, we see the warning flag on the mortar pack.]

[John's cross-Sun stereopair is AS16-116- 18685 and 18686. John steps to his left between the frames.]

[Charlie goes around behind John and goes off-camera to the right.]

169:27:51 Young: Okay, you "locating" it, Charlie?

169:27:53 Duke: Yeah. Old Orion. (Pause)

[Charlie takes a "locator" of John and the rake site, with the LM in the background, AS16-117- 18827. After taking the picture, Charlie comes back into view and gets a bag ready while John does a swath with the rake and then shakes the soil out.]
Video Clip ( 3 min 24 sec 0.9 Mb RealVideo or 30 Mb MPEG )

169:28:07 Duke: Okay, we're sacking into 349.

169:28:10 England: Okay, bag 349. (Pause)

[Even in the TV picture it is evident that John has not gotten many rocks. He starts a second swath.]
169:28:20 Duke: Not...John's got two rakes full.
[John shakes the soil out of the rake.]
169:28:25 Duke: Not nearly as productive over here.
[Charlie steps toward John, who raises the rake to make the pour.]
169:28:29 England: Okay. You're probably on a different part of the ray, then. That's good.

169:28:36 Young: (Pouring) It is, huh? (Laughs)

169:28:39 Duke: Two scoops and we got three little frags. One of them just dropped out.

169:28:44 Young: Three is all we got?

169:28:46 Duke: Two! One of them dropped out.

169:28:49 Young: Oh. That ain't very good.

169:28:53 Duke: Tells them something. (Pause)

[John does a third swath and shakes the dirt out.]

[The difference in fragment abundance between Station 10 and Station 10 Prime may be a result of Station 10 Prime being on a ray and Station 10 being off it. Alternatively, it could be a result of very different local cratering histories.]

169:29:04 Duke: There's a couple more. (Pause)
[John pours the fragments into the bag.]
169:29:14 Duke: Okay?

169:29:16 Young: Okay, let me get one more (swath), Charlie.

169:29:17 Duke: Okay. (Long Pause)

[John does a fourth swath and shakes the dirt out.]
MP3 Audio Clip ( 4 min 47 sec )

169:29:35 Young: (Charlie laughs heartily) (Garbled)

[John raises the rake to do the pour.]
169:29:36 Duke: He had about 20 pounds of soil, Tony, and he came up with one little frag. And it...We just dropped it.
[As the fragment fell out of the rake, it missed the bag opening. Charlie swiped at it with the bag to try to catch it, but missed.]
169:29:44 Young: And Charlie dropped it.

169:29:45 Duke: That's enough.

169:29:46 Young: Yeah.

169:29:47 England: Yeah, let's just call that our rake sample.

169:29:48 Duke: Okay, we got about 4 frags in 349...(Stops to listen) Okay. It's 349.

169:29:54 England: Okay.

[While Charlie spins the bag to seal it, John goes around to the south side of the gnomon to take an "after", AS16-116- 18687.]
169:29:57 Duke: Okay, we need a soil sample, John.

169:29:59 Young: Okay. (Long Pause)

[John gets on the downside of a moderate slope so that his feet are hidden from us by an intervening high spot. He bends his right knee, leans to his right, and uses the edge of the rake to get a soil sample. Charlie gets a bag ready. Note that he is still holding bag 349 that contains the rake sample. John raises the rake carefully and pours.]
169:30:25 Duke: That's great.

169:30:26 Young: Okay. Let me get one more scoopful ...

169:30:28 Duke: Okay. (Pause)

[John gets a second batch of soil. For some reason, Charlie kicks his left foot vigorously to the side and sends a shower of dust flying. He had backed up slightly a moment before and it is possible that he had stepped on a rock and is getting it out of the way.]

[John pours.]

169:30:38 Young: Okay.

169:30:39 Duke: Okay. Okay, how about...

169:30:42 Young: Get a little "after" here. (Pause)

[John backs up and takes an "after", AS16-116- 18688.]
169:30:51 Duke: Hold that one (meaning bag 349) and put it in my bag while I "zee" this one up. (Pause)
[Charlie turns to his left to present his SCB. While John stows bag 349, Charlie spins the soil sample bag to seal it. Once it is sealed, he hands it to John, who stows it in Charlie's SCB.]
169:31:05 Duke: Okay. I think we got about 10 bags left, and that's it.

Video Clip ( 2 min 32 sec 0.7 Mb RealVideo or 23 Mb MPEG )

169:31:13 England: Okay. Was that bag 350? We didn't get a number.

[Fendell pans right. At maximum zoom, the camera appears to be moving faster than normal, but isn't. Apparently, Houston has decided to try to look at the mortar package with the TV so that they won't have to bother John and Charlie with that task.]
169:31:22 Duke: Yeah; 350, Tony. It was.

169:31:24 England: Okay.

169:31:30 Duke: (To John) What are you supposed to be doing while I do the double core?

169:31:32 Young: I'm supposed to be sampling.

[Fendell stops the TV just as the Central Station antenna comes into view. The stop is so precise, in azimuth, it appears that he knew exactly where he was going to find it. Fendell pans down slightly to get the Central Station centered.]
169:31:34 England: Right. Be looking around for exotics...

169:31:37 Young: (Lost under Tony) the double core.

169:31:38 Duke: Yeah, I know.

169:31:39 England: ...especially things like that vesicular basalt you described.

169:31:45 Duke: That's why I'm whacking on this one.

[Fendell pans right in small increments, looking for the mortar package. After the second movement, he is centered on the RTG. The eastern edge of the 2-meter boulder is at the lower right edge of the TV picture. A copper-colored ribbon cable runs off screen to the right toward the magnetometer. As can be seen in Figure 6-13 in the Preliminary Science Report, Fendell is panning the wrong way. From Station 10 Prime, the mortar package - MPA in the figure - is to the left of the Central Station and in the foreground.]

[At about this point, John takes an up-Sun stereopair, AS16-116- 18689 and 18690.]

169:31:48 Young: (Garbled), Charlie.

169:31:50 Duke: That is a hard rock right there, John. (Pause)

169:31:59 Young: Now, Charlie. (Pause) (Garbled) Okay. (Pause)

[Fendell reverses direction and pans a short way to the left. However, after a few seconds, he pans right again and, after two short movements, is looking over the top of the 2-meter boulder. The magnetometer is visible past the left side. Note the bright, white blanket of South Ray ejecta visible in the far distance over the top of the boulder]
169:32:11 Young: Let me get it. Let me get it. Just move...

169:32:13 Duke: I got it with the rake. You want to...I got to go get...Why don't you take that and put it in my sack, and I'll go over and get the double core.

169:32:23 Young: Why don't you carry this one (meaning the sample) over there (to the Rover) and throw it in the big bag.

169:32:26 Duke: Okay, I'll do it. Okay, Tony, I just whacked off one that I thought it was basaltic looking, but it turns out it's glassy with the white matrix in it.

[John takes "after" photographs AS16-116- 18691, 18692, and 18693. In 691, the sample appears to have been taken from the lower right corner. This sample is 60018, a 1.5 kg breccia which is shown in Figure 7C in the Apollo 16 Professional Paper.]

[Fendell pans farther right and gets the magnetometer at the left edge of the TV picture. Realizing that he isn't going to find the mortar package at maximum zoom, he pulls back. Meanwhile, Backroom spokesman Jim Lovell tells Flight that, if the mortar package can't be located with the TV, the crew will have to delete the double core and go look at it.]

169:32: Duke: John, I need that (rake extension handle)...(Changing his mind) I can use the (extension handle currently attached to the) scoop.

169:32:49 Young: Charlie, here you go.

169:32:50 Duke: Okay. (Long Pause)

[John may have given Charlie the rake to take back to the Rover.]

[Fendell pans left and stops with the Central Station at right center. The mortar package is the white object left of center. The question is: does anyone in Houston recognize it? Flight asks Lovell if the Backroom really wants to delete the double core and Lovell says that they would rather not but that it may be necessary if they "can't satisfy ALSEP with the TV camera." Tony chimes in and points out that, while Charlie does the double core, John can go over to examine the mortar package, particularly since he was the one who deployed it. Of all the people in Houston, Tony and backup Commander Fred Haise probably understand the situation and the possibilities better than anyone.]

169:33:13 Duke: Hey, John?

169:33:14 Young: Yeah.

169:33:15 Duke: Hey, come...Here's another one of those glass balls.

169:33:22 Young: Yeah, that's a big one.

169:33:23 Duke: See it right there.

169:33:24 Young: Yeah.

MP3 Audio Clip ( 0 min 13 sec )

[Comm Break]

[One of the astronauts, possibly Charlie, passes in front of the TV, crossing the field-of-view from left to right.]

[John takes a cross-Sun stereopair of "before" photos of the glass ball. These are AS16-116- 18694 and 18695. In 694, the glass ball is above and to the right of the gnomon leg with the gray scale on it. John then takes a "locator" to the Rover. This is 18696, which shows Charlie at the Rover. This sample is 60135, a 138 gram, round, solid, glass-coated breccia, which is shown in Figure 14B in the Professional Paper.]

[In Houston, someone realizes that the white object left of center in the TV picture is the mortar package and Fendell zooms in. As he does so, the mortar package antenna becomes obvious. After just a moment, we hear, "Flight, (this is) ALSEP. We're happy. We've had a transducer failure." This is one of several instances during the J missions when the TV was successfully used as a mission tool beyond its intended role as a means of gathering geologic information and documentation. A sensor on the mortar package was telling the experimenters that the package was rolled 12 degrees away from vertical - enough to jeopardize the experiment - but the TV clearly indicates that the package is still sitting level the way John left it.]

[Fendell now pulls back on the zoom and pans right, looking for the crew.]

[The following dialog suggests that, as soon as John collects the glass ball, he joins Charlie at the back of the Rover.]

MP3 Audio Clip ( 7 min 25 sec )

Video Clip ( 2 min 32 sec 0.7 Mb RealVideo or 25 Mb MPEG )

169:34:31 Young: Where are your bags, Charlie?

169:34:32 Duke: Right here on my camera.

169:34:35 Young: How about letting me have them.

169:34:36 Duke: Okay. Well. Here's a couple that are torn off, you could use. One and...

169:34:46 Young: That son of a gun (meaning the glass ball) must be solid. That's...

169:34:48 Duke: There you go.

169:34:51 Young: Houston, this glass ball that I've got doesn't have any give to it.

169:34:58 England: Okay.

169:35:02 Young: Going into bag 380.

169:35:08 England: Okay, 380.

[Fendell finds Charlie at the LMP seat and we see him screw the two core sections together.]
169:35:10 Duke: Okay; double core's assembled. Give me the...(Stops to listen)
[Charlie goes around the back of the Rover to get the rake handle from John. He goes off-camera to the right.]
169:35:14 Young: (Examining the glass ball) In fact...Well, it's smooth on one side and has impact pits on the other. What do you need, Charlie?

169:35:21 Duke: The scoop. I mean the rake. (Brief Pause) Pardon me.

169:35:27 England: Okay, and you've got about 17 minutes left here.

169:35:32 Young: (Responding to Tony) Now, you're talking. (Pause)

[John likes to hear that they have time left for more sampling before they have to go back to the LM to start closeout.]

[Fendell pans right to the clockwise limit. John is at the CDR seat at the right edge of the picture. Charlie goes to the back of the Rover with the double core in his right hand and the rake in his left. He pushes the rake extension handle into the mounting hardware. He then takes the rake off the extension handle.]

169:35:47 Duke: (Making sure) You through with the rake, John?

169:35:48 Young: Yes, sir!

[Charlie goes off-camera to the left.]
169:35:50 Duke: Tony, we through with the rake?

169:35:52 England: Yeah, we sure are.

[Fendell pans left and finds John at the LMP seat. Charlie is off-camera, farther left, and is getting ready to throw the rake head.]
169:35:58 Duke: Okay. Here it goes! Agh! (Pause) Look at that beauty go. (Long Pause)
[Charlie goes to the back of the Rover and attaches the rake extension handle to the double core.]
Video Clip ( 3 min 36 sec 0.9 Mb RealVideo or 32 Mb MPEG )

169:36:20 Duke: Okay. Hammer, hammer. There's the hammer.

[Charlie will push the double core as far into the ground as he can by hand and then will hammer it in to full depth. Charlie goes off-camera to the left and John goes around the back of the Rover to the CDR seat, carrying two fist-sized rocks.]

[For a moment, Fendell follows John but then pans left to find Charlie.]

169:36:25 Young: Okay, I'm gonna take these two big rocks and put them in the big rock bag, Charlie.

169:36:29 Duke: Okay, does that...Muley's got to go in there, too.

169:36:33 Young: Okay. (Long Pause)

169:36:46 Duke: Well, this (spot) looks like as good as any. (Pause) Okay, Tony. I pushed it in almost three-quarters of the way on the bottom core.

169:36:58 England: Okay.

169:37:00 Young: Now, I'd like to hammer that one, Charlie.

[Fendell finds Charlie northwest of the Rover as he reaches down with his left hand to get the hammer out of his shin pocket.]
169:37:02 Duke: John, could you...

169:37:04 Young: What do you need?

169:37:05 Duke: Take a picture of that for me? I don't have my...

169:37:07 Young: Okay.

169:37:08 Duke: ...camera.

[Charlie stands and rests while John, who is off-camera near the front of the Rover, turns and takes AS16-116- 18697. John then comes over closer and, still off-camera, takes 18698.]

[In Houston, the spokesman for the Backroom, Jim Lovell, tells Flight that their top sampling priority is what Charlie described, at the start of EVA-1, as a piece of basalt near the LM. Lovell tells Flight that it is in the crater behind the LM.]

169:37:13 England: And, John, while you're looking around there, our number 1 priority is a vesicular basalt.

169:37:21 Young: Yeah. Understand. (Pause) I bet we ain't gonna find one. (Long Pause)

[In Houston, Lovell protests to Flight that the basalt was near the LM and not here. Tony England explains his transmission by pointing out that Charlie had said that the rock was under the engine bell and, therefore, was inaccessible. In the dialog, Charlie indicated this both at 119:17:36 when he first described the rock during the Rover deployment and, later, at 128:21:18 during the EVA-1 debrief.]

[Charlie steps up to the double core and hits it three times, left-handed. The hammer turns in his hand and he stops to adjust his grip. He then hits it seven more times before having to adjust his grip once again. After starting again, on the second stroke, the hammer glances off the extension handle, apparently because Charlie has run into resistance at depth. He then grabs the hammer in both hands and starts pounding. NASA photo S72-33898 shows Charlie driving a double core during training at the Kennedy Space Center on 22 March 1972.]

169:37:45 Duke: Grrr! Go in.

169:37:50 England: You're doing real good there, Charlie.

[John crosses the TV field-of-view from left to right, momentarily blocking our view of Charlie. When we see Charlie again, he is still delivering short, sharp, two-handed blows and, after a total of about 20 blows, stops hammering.]
169:37:52 Duke: This is the most frustrating job. (Pause) You'd never make a living as a carpenter wearing a pressure suit, I'll tell you. Okay. John, how about spinning (that is, turn to face Charlie) and taking one more picture of that in the ground. Could you?

169:38:11 Young: (Garbled) film setting.

169:38:15 Duke: About f/11 or so.

169:38:16 Young: That's f/11. (Pause)

169:38:20 England: Smile, Charlie.

169:38:21 Young: Got it.

169:38:22 Duke: Okay. (Long Pause)

[John's stereopair of "afters" of the double core is AS16-116- 18699 and 18700. They show Charlie as he stands, resting, with his arms down at his side. Once John takes the pictures, Charlie reaches forward and pulls the core out with some care. He exhales sharply at one point, but doesn't sound like he's straining. He has the core in his right hand and raises the tip, resting it on his up-raised left hand. He then runs toward the back of the Rover.]
169:38:49 Young: Well, (I would say that) I could correctly identify this rock as (being) out of North Ray. No, I can't. (Pause)
[At the back of the Rover, Charlie holds the double core with the tip pointing straight up. He removes the extension handle and stows it.]
169:38:54 Young: It sure looks like that rock that we saw.
[Fendell pans left.]
169:39:10 Duke: Okay, Tony. At the bottom of this core, it looks whitish. And it's pretty coarse-grained. It's not real fine. It's sort of like a crumbly, shocked rock. (Long Pause)

Video Clip ( 2 min 55 sec 0.7 Mb RealVideo or 26 Mb MPEG )

169:39:48 Young: Well, Houston, I'm looking, but I'm not seeing any vesicular basalts.

169:39:52 England: Okay. After you get this core packed up, why don't you drive on back to the LM to the normal closeout position, and we'll let you sample around there. See if you can find one around there. You described something in a crater behind the LM.

169:40:10 Young: Okay. (Long Pause)

[No where in the transcript does Charlie mention any rocks in the crater behind the LM as being vesicular basalts. His mention of a rock he thought might be a vesicular basalt under the engine bell is at 119:17:36.]

[Fendell gets the LM in view and zooms in.]

[In Houston, Lovell tells Flight that they need the core tube numbers from Charlie. Flight acknowledges the request but Tony doesn't pass it up, apparently confident that Charlie will relay the information when he is ready.]

169:40:53 Duke: Okay. The bottom (core section) was 32, Tony. Top is 27.

169:40:57 England: Okay. We copy that.

MP3 Audio Clip ( 0 min 14 sec )

[Comm Break]

[With the TV at maximum zoom, we have an excellent view of the front of the Ascent Stage. Note that the hatch is closed, but not latched.]

MP3 Audio Clip ( 3 min 25 sec )

169:42:07 England: (Making voice contact) Sounds to me like you fellows are going to have your rock quota.

169:42:17 Duke: I think we'll do all right.

169:42:19 England: I sure think so.

169:42:20 Young: Okay, Houston. I just picked up another breccia, but it was interesting because it had some very dark clasts in it, and it was primarily a white matrix.

Video Clip ( 2 min 29 sec 0.6 Mb RealVideo or 22 Mb MPEG )

169:42:37 England: Okay.

169:42:38 Young: The clasts were very dark. (Pause)

[Before collecting the sample, John took a cross-Sun stereopair from the north, AS16-116- 18701 and 18702; then an up-Sun picture, 18703; and, finally, an "after", 18704. The sample is 60019, a 1.89 kilogram breccia which is shown in Figure 8C in the Professional Paper.]
169:42:47 Young: Want this to go in your bag, Charlie?

169:42:49 Duke: Yeah, why don't you...

169:42:50 Young: Or put it in my bag?

169:42:51 Duke: Stick it in mine. I think we got plenty of room in mine.

169:42:56 Young: Okay. Yours is about full.

169:43:01 Duke: (Have) we got any (individual sample) bags left?

169:43:04 Young: No, I don't see any.

169:43:06 Duke: You out of bags, too?

169:43:07 Young: Yeah. That's really bad, isn't it?

169:43:11 Duke: Wait a minute.

169:43:12 Young: I dropped one over here. I'll go back and get it.

169:43:14 Duke: Wait, here's some.

169:43:16 Young: Got some?

169:43:17 Duke: Yeah, here's a whole kit full. (Pause)

169:43:24 Young: Give me one.

169:43:25 Duke: Okay. (Pause) Got it.

169:43:33 Young: Okay.

169:43:36 Duke: Oops.

169:43:38 Young: (To Houston) How much time we got here, Tony?

169:43:42 England: (Making a mis-identification) Say again, Charlie?

[Tony was probably listening to a conversation between Flight and EVA, the people who keep track of the time remaining for the completion of the various activities. Somebody sitting with Tony evidently heard John's question and told Tony.]
169:43:44 England: Roger. You have plenty of time here, but we'd like you to drive on back to the LM.

169:43:46 Young: Okay, how much...(Stops to listen) Okay.

169:43:51 Duke: Okay, I'm gonna run over (to the LM), Tony, and look around and see if I can find what you want.

169:43:56 England: Okay. Fine.

[In the interest of saving time, Flight had asked Fendell if it would be okay for John to drive back to the LM without switching the LCRU off. Fendell said that wouldn't be a problem.]
169:43:58 England: And, John, when you drive over we don't have to reconfigure the LCRU. Just drive it the way it is and then re-align (the high-gain antenna) and brush it (meaning the top of the LCRU) off when you got there.

169:44:07 Young: All right, (I) will. (Long Pause)

[Charlie comes into view at the left side of the TV picture. As he gets close to the LM, he angles around the south side of the spacecraft, passing close to the UV camera. If Charlie left the Rover at 169:43:51, he makes his turn to the right 49 seconds later at 169:44:40, he covered about 70 meters at a speed of about 5.1 km/hr. His 48-m run back to the LM from Station 10, starting shortly after 149:20:40, has much more complete TV coverage than this one. The estimated speed for that run is 4.8 km/s. He did both runs using his loping stride and seemed to run with similar ease both times.]
169:44:41 Duke: (Slightly out of breath) You know, that UV's been looking right at me. (Pause)
[Charlie goes off-camera to the right. Fendell moves his aim slightly right and finds Charlie behind the LM, looking for basalt samples.]
Video Clip ( 3 min 36 sec 0.9 Mb RealVideo or 32 Mb MPEG )

169:44:59 Duke: Okay, basalts. Where are you? (Long Pause)

[Charlie goes off-camera to the right. Fendell follows and finds him just as he picks up a sample with the scoop. After a brief examination, Charlie moves farther right, probably having dropped the sample because it was a breccia. After moving several meters, Charlie stops and moves a rock with the scoop, but then moves on again without bothering to pick it up. Clearly, he is having no trouble recognizing breccias once he gets close enough to see the clasts.]
MP3 Audio Clip ( 3 min 16 sec )

169:45:49 Young: Okay, Houston. I just got a spectacular white rock. But it's kind of dust coated. It's so fine grained that I can't see any crystalline structure associated with it. It's sort of covered with zap...You can see plenty of zap pits. That's going in bag one (slight pause)one-three.

169:46:17 England: Okay, was that bag one-one-three?

169:46:22 Young: Thirteen.

169:46:24 England: Okay.

[Comm Break]

[John's sample is 60215, a 386-gram white breccia which is shown in Figures 15A and 15B in the Professional Paper. Prior to sampling, John took three "before" photos, AS16-116- 18705, 18706 and 18707.]

[NASA photo S72-43966 shows a thin-section of 60215. Scan courtesy of Harald Kucharek.]

[Charlie has stopped to examine another rock and, this time, plants the scoop and backs up to take a cross-Sun stereopair from the north, AS16-117- 18828 and 18829. He then gets the scoop, slides it under the sample, and lifts it without difficulty. Finally, after examining the sample, he bags it.]

169:47:29 Duke: Okay, Tony. I just picked up one, that is (now) in bag 15, that has a black matrix - bluish-black matrix - with lath-like either clasts or phenocrysts in it. And it's right behind the LM here. I don't know whether that's what we're looking for or not.

169:47:50 England: Okay. That sounds good, Charlie.

[This sample is 60235, a 70-gram breccia with crystalline clasts, which are the features he described as being "lath-like". In mineralogy, laths are thin, linear structures and are characteristic of some types of rocks which crystallized from a melt and, hence, are called, crystalline.]

[Charlie spins the bag and seals it.]

169:47:51 Duke: There are some of the rocks that I call vesicular basalts around here, but I don't know whether what I really called was correct or not. That might have led y'all astray.

169:48:07 England: That's okay. We've got...(Stops to listen)

169:48:09 Duke: It might have been just the glass coating on the rock.

169:48:12 England: We've got about 10 more minutes of sampling, so why don't you just pick up what looks interesting to you there, and then we'll start closing out.

169:48:23 Duke: Okay. (Pause)

[Charlie looks around and then moves off-camera to the right. As he does, the camera moves abruptly and ends up pointing at the surface near the Rover. After a few seconds, the Rover starts to move and we lose the TV picture.]

[TV off.]

169:48:31 Duke: John, (are) you bringing the machine (meaning the Rover) down here?

169:48:33 Young: Yes, sir.

169:48:34 Duke: I got my hands full of bags and rocks. (Brief Static)

MP3 Audio Clip ( 0 min 07 sec )

169:48:42 Young: I'm gonna take it to the closeout place, Charlie, I'll...

169:48:46 Duke: Yeah; right. I'll come over there.

MP3 Audio Clip ( 0 min 21 sec )

169:48:53 Young: Houston, you still got lock?

169:48:55 England: No, we've lost the picture; ...

169:48:57 Young: Probably not, huh?

169:48:57 England: ...we can hear you, though. (Long Pause)

MP3 Audio Clip ( 0 min 03 sec )

MP3 Audio Clip ( 0 min 42 sec )

169:49:11 Young: Man, if we had landed anywhere but where we did, we might have been in serious trouble. (Chuckles) I can't get over it. I'd have hated to work on any of those slopes. (Pause)

169:49:28 Duke: Okay, Tony. I've picked up a rock here that has a aphanitic matrix with perhaps 30 percent of it whitish millimeter-size clasts or phenocrysts; and it doesn't look glassy to me.

169:49:47 England: Sounds good.

169:49:49 Duke: It's about half-of-a-grapefruit size. (Long Pause, static)

[Charlie took three pictures of this sample, AS16-117- 18830, 18831 and 18832. The sample is 60255, an 871-gram breccia which is shown in Figures 17A and B in the Professional Paper.]
MP3 Audio Clip ( 0 min 18 sec )

MP3 Audio Clip ( 0 min 56 sec )

169:50:40 Duke: Tony, do you read? Over.

169:50:42 England: Sure do, Charlie.

169:50:47 Duke: Okay. Did you copy that about this rock I picked up? A half-grapefruit size?

169:50:51 England: Yeah, we sure did. It sounds very interesting.

169:50:57 Duke: Okay, and it's going in bag 17.

169:50:59 England: Okay. Bag 17.

169:51:05 Young: I don't think we need the gnomon anymore, Charlie.

169:51:07 Duke: No, we sure don't, John.

 

Return to the LM Apollo 16 Journal EVA-3 Closeout