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Preparations for EVA-3 Geology Station 6

 

Traverse to Station 6

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 163:33:35 ( 21 min 39 sec )

163:33:44 Cernan: I guess the next thing is to open the hatch, huh?

163:33:46 Schmitt: Yup. (Pause)

163:33:53 Cernan: I've got to get down out of 5 (psi suit pressure), too, here before I can turn too well and open the hatch. I'm going to let it come down a little bit this time so I don't get down there unnecessarily.

[Cernan - "At five psi you might just as well have been in a block of concrete. Going down to 3.7 or 3.8 gave me a lot of flexibility that I didn't have at 5 to get down and open the hatch. When you went down to open the hatch, you're literally straining against the suit. So I didn't want to get down until my suit was down. And, also, there was no point in getting down to get it until the cabin was down enough that you could open it."]

[The pressure (above atmospheric) in a toy balloon is typically 1.5 psi.]

163:34:03 Schmitt: Yeah. It's got a ways to go yet. (Pause) About point three now. (Pause) Point two.

163:34:41 Cernan: I've got a tone and it's (a) water tone (because he hasn't yet turned on his PLSS feedwater). Okay, I'm going to go after that hatch. (Pause) Can you slip to the right as far as you can? (Pause)

163:35:04 Schmitt: Got it.

163:35:06 Cernan: Got to hold it (open) until the pressure decreases.

163:35:10 Schmitt: (looking out his window) All sorts of junk going out there. Ice. (Pause)

[Schmitt - "One of the big issues for any kind of permanent lunar habitat is going to be dust control. And it just occurred to me that the design of the air/dust lock ought to be such that, when you depress to go out on an EVA, the air currents remove the dust you brought in the last time. Never thought of that before, and I've been dealing with this - along with a lot of other people - for a long time. I ought to patent that idea."]
163:35:19 Cernan: Okay, now. Okay. It's partially open.
[Cernan - "Once I was able to open the hatch against whatever residual pressure there was, if I didn't hold it open the pressure would slam it shut again. So I had to hold it open until the cabin relieved totally."]
163:35:21 Schmitt: Okay, get your (sublimator feed)water if you can.

163:35:26 Parker: Okay, Jack. We'd like you to close Reg(ulator) A, please.

163:35:34 Schmitt: Oh, close Reg A, huh?

163:35:38 Parker: That's affirm.

[The regulators are normally set in the Egress position during EVA's. Evidently, Houston is having second thoughts about this regulator, which was the one that experienced the slow leak before the rest period.]
163:35:39 Schmitt: Okay, stand by. That's not an easy task (because the valve's behind me). (Long Pause) Reg A is Closed. Gene, can you get my (PLSS feed)water?

163:35:45 Cernan: Yeah. (Long Pause)

163:36:15 Schmitt: Did you get in there?

163:36:19 Cernan: Okay, it's Open.

163:36:20 Schmitt: Okay. LMP's water is Open. You got yours?

163:36:22 Cernan: Yeah, I got mine.

163:36:24 Schmitt: (Burps) Excuse me.

163:36:25 Cernan: Well, let's see.

163:36:27 Schmitt: Okay, you got it open, so I need to turn around. See if I can back in and (get) out of the way of the door.

163:36:36 Cernan: Say, Bob. What did you see in Reg A?

163:36:40 Parker: Stand by, Gene. We're seeing high suit pressures, stand by.

163:36:47 Schmitt: High suit pressure?

[Bob meant to say "high suit-loop pressures" and, hence, the confusion.]
163:36:50 Parker: Okay, and...

163:36:51 Cernan: Yeah, I'm seeing about...

163:36:52 Parker: Challenger, Gene, you're Go to go out, and once you get out, maybe Jack can turn around and work on those a bit better. We're seeing, I guess, the suit loop's a little high in pressure.

163:37:02 Schmitt: Okay.

163:37:05 Cernan: Okay, I'm looking at about 4.7 on the suit loop right now.

163:37:10 Parker: Okay; we copy that.

163:37:11 Cernan: Okay, Jack. (Pause)

[Gene is starting to turn around so that he can get down, put his feet out through the hatch and back out of the spacecraft.]
163:37:16 Schmitt: There you go. (Long Pause) (Garbled). (Pause) Okay, turn. (Long Pause)

163:38:01 Cernan: Okay. What does it look like to you?

163:38:03 Schmitt: Well, you're doing great; keep down. Just a little hang-up on the DSKY.

163:38:11 Cernan: I gotta get my arm down there.

163:38:13 Schmitt: You need to go to your left a little to clear the purse and your harness. There we go.

[Schmitt - "There was a little bag called the 'purse' where we stowed the purge valves between EVA's."]

[The purse is hanging under Panel 5, directly in front of where Gene stands.]

163:38:25 Cernan: Jack, you see this? This is one of those cards that...

163:38:27 Schmitt: Yeah, I saw that, Gene.

163:38:30 Cernan: I'll put it right there. (Garbled).

163:38:33 Schmitt: Can you come forward just a little?

163:38:35 Cernan: Forward?

163:38:36 Schmitt: That clip got away. Come towards...(Come back) in the cabin just a little. There.

163:38:42 Cernan: Okay?

163:38:43 Schmitt: Wait a minute. Okay. I got it. (Pause) Okay, you're in good shape. (Pause)

163:39:03 Cernan: Okay, I'm on the porch. Whoo! I'm still at 4.3!

[Cernan - "It was a strain getting out. It was easier for Jack because there was only one person and his suit's had longer to come down. I'm still at 4.3, here, with a very stiff suit."]
163:39:04 Parker: Roger. We agree on that.

163:39:05 Cernan: Okay, I'm on the porch, Bob.

163:39:06 Parker: Copy that.

163:39:07 Schmitt: (To Bob) Okay, what do you want? What can I do for you, Bob?

[Here, Jack is not talking louder to Bob than he is to Gene.]
163:39:11 Parker: Standby Jack. We'll get a word to you in one minute. (Pause)

163:39:18 Cernan: Okay, Jack, in the...Well, I guess I ought to wait. (Pause) Get my L. E. C. ready for you. Okay. And everything looks normal on me, right now. Wait 'til I get pressure down a little bit. (Pause) Everything's normal, except a part of my nose itches I can't get to.

[Schmitt - "We had a piece of Velcro put on the inside of the helmet that we reached over and scratched our nose on. Everybody seemed to agree that you needed that. Also, the mention of the LEC reminds me of a lot of work we did - probably pre-Apollo 11 and probably Jack Small and myself, mostly - trying to devise some kind of a conveyor system to get stuff in and out of the cabin. There was some concern that it would be too difficult to carry stuff up and, at one point, we were actually trying to devise a loop one could use as a conveyor: attach something to it and then take it through a pulley. We got it so that you could do it but, in the final analysis, it was more trouble than it was worth."]

[The conveyor was actually used on Apollos 11 to 15.]

163:39:56 Schmitt: I'll give you the jett(ison) bag anyway, Geno, while they're thinking.

163:40:00 Cernan: I guess that's part of R&D (Research and Development). (Pause) Oh, yes, the jett bag. Santa Claus' bag again.

163:40:11 Parker: Okay, Jack. We'd like to have you stay in just a minute or so longer. We're trying to keep track here of the suit circuit pressure and see if it stabilizes or starts to drop. The one reg(ulator) has just has been intermittently leaking. We still haven't isolated it. And we think we've got it shut off, but we're still watching it. So bear with us just a minute or so.

163:40:33 Schmitt: I'm bearing, Bob.

[Before the rest period, Houston had run a series of checks on the Demand Regulators to see if one or the other of them had a slow leak that would explain a slow but steady rise in the cabin pressure. During the tests, the pressure build up stopped and, as Joe Allen told the crew at 150:46:46, apparently the leak had been cured by cycling the regulators.]
163:40:35 Cernan: Hey, what else...

163:40:36 Schmitt: I thought you isolated it last night. (To Gene) Okay. Let me give you the ETB.

163:40:42 Cernan: Yeah. (Pause) Give me that and I'll be on my way, working on the TGE (the traverse gravimeter). Okay, got it.

[Gene is on cuff checklist page CDR-4. After starting a gravimeter reading, he will change the LCRU battery, getting the new battery from under his seat, where he stowed it at the start of EVA-2.]
163:40:53 Parker: Okay, Jack, and how about taking the Suit Circuit Relief Valve, cycle it just to Open and then back to Auto. (Pause)

163:41:06 Schmitt: Okay, Bob, stand by. (Pause) Suit Circuit Relief going Open, then Auto. (Pause) That's done.

163:41:23 Parker: Okay, we'll watch it for a minute here and let you know.

163:41:29 Cernan: Okay, Bob. I'm going down the ladder.

163:41:31 Parker: Roger, Geno. (Long Pause)

[Jack is probably verifying the circuit breakers and performing his other tasks on LMP-4.]
163:41:46 Cernan: Yup, still there, Jack. "Godspeed the crew of Apollo 17."

163:41:52 Schmitt: Good.

163:41:53 Parker: Amen there, Gene. Amen.

[Cernan - "It had become a little prayer at the start of those EVA's. I just shouted to the world, "God, bless us. Give us a shot at it." I'm beginning to think that there wasn't anything printed or written anywhere on that ladder. And if Jack doesn't recall it, it wasn't there. I think I just decided to say that when we started every EVA. Sort of like blessing the shrimp fleet."]

[The only sure way of knowing if the message was on the ladder or strut is to visit the expended Descent Stage at Taurus-Littrow. Gene first "reads" the message at the end of EVA-1 at 124:00:08. At the start of this EVA, Jack will take a color picture of the front of the LM and we have examined blow-ups of the hatch and ladder area. The blow-ups are quite grainy but there is nothing visible that looks anything like a note. A white spot just below the hatch is part of the normal LM hardware. At the end of this third day, Jack will take some pictures of Gene and the Apollo plaque, one of which shows considerable detail on the ladder and strut up as high as the second step below the porch. We have been unable to find anything that might be a message. The mystery remains.]

163:41:58 Cernan: Okay, Bob, I'm on the (foot)pad. And it's about 4:30 (on) a Wednesday afternoon, as I step out on to the plains of Taurus-Littrow. Beautiful valley. The first thing I'll do is I'll turn the TGE (Traverse Gravimeter) on, and I'll give you a reading.

163:42:18 Parker: Okay; we're ready.

163:42:20 Cernan: And I'm very much interested in my Rover battery (temperature).

163:42:24 Parker: And, Jack, you're Go for exit and looks like we've got it taken care of.

163:42:31 Schmitt: Okay, and I'm checking the circuit breakers. (Pause)

163:42:44 Cernan: It (the TGE)'s on and (I'm pushing the) Read (button). Bob, it reads 222, 262, 207; 222, 262, 207.

163:42:56 Parker: Okay, I copy that, Geno. (Pause)

163:43:07 Cernan: (To himself) Okay, get the visor down, Geno. Get the visor down...Holy Smoley. Think it'd be better to leave it up. Beautiful out here today, Bob! We can look to the east for a change - a little bit, anyway.

163:43:26 Parker: Okay, copy that, Gene.

163:43:28 Cernan: (Because of) the higher Sun angle. (Pause) Okay, I'll get the LCRU battery changed out.

163:43:36 Parker: Okay. And as you walk by there, if you walk by in the right side of the Rover, how about giving us a SEP temperature readout, please. (Pause)

163:43:51 Cernan: SEP temperature is 103 degrees.

163:43:56 Parker: Copy, 103.

163:43:58 Cernan: 103, and the mirror is still clean.

163:44:00 Parker: Copy that. (Pause)

[The SEP temperature was 112 degrees Fahrenheit (44 Celsius) when Gene turned the unit off at 147:18:35.]
163:44:06 Cernan: Well, let's see if I can change this little baby now. Supposed to be simple. (Pause) Bob, we have no use for the old (LCRU) battery, right?
[Gene is asking if he can have some fun and see how far he can throw the battery.]
163:44:25 Parker: That's affirm. (Long Pause)
[Schmitt - "During Apollo, the answer to Gene's question was very simple: you weren't going to go back there any time soon. But at a lunar base, any used material will have to be inventoried, catalogued, and stored in some kind of recoverable way because the value of practically any material will, because of transportation costs, be very, very high - at least until the Moon is self-sufficient and is producing it's own stuff. And that won't be for a long time. You're just never going to know when you're going to want to get something and, with a good inventory system, you can always ask 'Do I have that or something like it for refurbishment or reuse.'"]

[There is some light static for a few minutes which ends when Gene turns on the LCRU.]

163:44:52 Schmitt: Okay. I'm on the porch and the hatch is closed.

163:45:03 Cernan: (To himself) Oh! Don't bump into that.

163:45:08 Schmitt: Are you talking to me or you?

163:45:10 Cernan: I'm talking to me. (Long Pause)

163:45:37 Schmitt: Okay, that sounds familiar and looks familiar - the old plains.

163:45:45 Cernan: The valley of the Taurus-Littrow.

163:45:53 Schmitt: Want me to get your antenna?

163:45:54 Cernan: Yes, let me get that...

163:45:56 Schmitt: I'll come over there.

163:45:57 Cernan: I'll get the TV on. I've already got the battery changed. (Pause)

163:46:16 Cernan: (Static ends) (Checking that the high-gain antenna is pointed at Earth There's the Earth right in the middle of the antenna (sighting scope). Okay, verify (LCRU) Mode 3; I am in Mode 3; LCRU blankets are open 100 percent, battery covers I'm closing, the battery...Let me close it. Yeah, you can come and get my (PLSS/OPS) antenna.

163:46:33 Schmitt: Wait a minute. Let me set this down.

[TV on. Jack has probably brought the ETB over from the ladder. As per CDR-4, Gene probably left it hanging from the LEC.]
163:46:35 Cernan: Yeah, okay. (Pause)

Video Clip ( 3 min 24 sec 0.9 Mb RealVideo or 33 Mb MPEG )

163:46:46 Schmitt: Okay, stay there.

163:46:49 Cernan: I was just trying to.

163:46:55 Schmitt: Okay. (Long Pause) Okay, your antenna's up. Wait a minute. (Garbled) snap the snap.

[Fendell briefly picks up Jack at the gate, then pans clockwise.]
163:47:22 Cernan: Okay. (Pause)

163:47:37 Schmitt: Didn't mean to do that.

163:47:38 Cernan: (Chuckling) That's all right. I can't get close enough to you. There you are. (Pause) Lean a little more. (Pause) Antenna's up. Let me get the snap.

163:47:55 Parker: And, 17, if you guys are interested, your shadows will be 8 feet long tonight.

163:48:04 Schmitt: How many meters is that, Bob?

163:48:07 Cernan: I'll draw it out...I'll step it out for ya. You can measure it. (Laughter)

163:48:11 Schmitt: Well, I don't know. Should I take my gloves off? I mean my cover gloves.

163:48:16 Cernan: Why don't you leave them on for a while and see where we're going. See what the boulder field looks like up there (at Station 6).

163:48:21 Schmitt: Well, I know what it's going to look like.

163:48:24 Cernan: No, you don't.

163:48:25 Schmitt: The point is: my hands will be much better off without them.

[The cover gloves add bulk to the hands, lessen flexibility, and hasten fatigue.]
163:48:27 Cernan: Take them off, then. (Long Pause) Okay, battery covers are closed and tight. High-gain is already oriented. Oh, they've even got TV, I guess.

163:48:48 Parker: That's affirm.

[Gene can see the TV camera move as Fendell does his pan.]
163:48:52 Schmitt: (Garbled)
[Fendell finds Gene leaning across his seat, pushing in the circuit breakers on the instrument panel. Gene is at the bottom of CDR-4 and Jack is taking care of the tasks on LMP-5.]
163:48:54 Parker: And, Geno, when you push the Rover circuit breakers in, how about giving us a battery temperature reading on the Rover bats.

163:49:00 Cernan: Tell them what my batteries are reading if I can.

163:49:03 Schmitt: Well, let me see if I can do something else while I'm waiting.

163:49:05 Cernan: No, I'm done, Jack. (Pause)

163:49:12 Schmitt: I'll get the old SEP receiver.

[Jack goes to the SEP, behind his seat; Fendell follows him.]
163:49:14 Cernan: Well, Bob, battery 1 is 95 degrees and battery 2 is reading zero. So we got a gauge failure. In fact, it's not reading zero; it's off scale low.
[Jack reaches back for his cooling control without having to do the double wave.]
163:49:34 Parker: Okay, copy that. That's a real cool-down, isn't it? Okay, Jack, if you're going to worry about the SEP, standby and don't do the SEP until after you worry with the ETB, and we'll get to you on that. When you get the ETB to the (CDR) seat, I'll talk to you about it.
[Gene goes to the gravimeter, which is on the ground near the LM ladder. Jack goes around the back of the Rover to Gene's seat.]
163:49:51 Schmitt: Okay, 102 is the temperature.

Video Clip ( 3 min 10 sec 0.9 Mb RealVideo or 31 Mb MPEG )

163:49:56 Parker: Okay; copy that.

[The temperature at the end of EVA-2 close-out - at 147:18:35 - was 112ºF. The unit turns itself off when the temperature is over 108ºF, so they will get a little data on the traverse to Station 6 before the unit heats up again.]
163:49:57 Cernan: Okay, Bob. Mark.

163:50:00 Parker: Mark.

163:50:02 Cernan: Mark gravimeter; it's flashing.

163:50:04 Parker: Copy that.

[Gene is now on CDR-5.]
163:50:09 Cernan: Okay, we'll take the big bag. I hope we can keep it on (the gate). (Pause)

163:50:18 Schmitt: Did you say (garbled under Bob)...

163:50:18 Parker: Okay. A couple of things on that, Geno. You might try tapping the thing (meaning the bag latch) to see if that loosens the dust. There's also the hook business on the inside of the pallet that you could hook it (the big bag) on. Caution: if you open the pallet, be careful not to knock the clamps off the fender. But you can also reach over the pallet to put the big bag on.

[Gene arrives at the Rover carrying both the dustbrush and the big bag. The big bag has the same top cross-section as an SCB but is about twice as long and can be seen in AS17-143- 21924, taken at about 169:13. Usually, Gene opens and closes only the gate, leaving the geopallet - to which the gate is attached - fixed in place. Apparently, there is a place to mount a bag on the forward surface of the geopallet, far enough inboard that Gene can't reach it from the side of the Rover. Instead, Bob is suggesting that Gene open the pallet. Because the pallet pivots on the geopost at the right rear, Bob is urging that they watch to make sure the pallet assembly doesn't hit the replacement fender or the clamps holding it in place.]
163:50:42 Cernan: Okay, Bob. I brushed it and tapped it (the bag latch) yesterday. I'm not sure we're going to have much luck with them.
[Gene is referring to the bag latches on the back of the Rover gate.]
163:50:48 Parker: Say again there, Gene.

163:50:52 Cernan: (Trying to hang the big bag on the gate) I brushed them and tapped them yesterday.

163:50:56 Parker: Okay; copy that. You might want to put the big bag on the inside of the pallet there, if you can't operate them.

163:51:03 Cernan: Okay.

[Gene goes out of the TV picture toward the front of the Rover.]
163:51:08 Schmitt: Okay, mag Kilo goes on the 500; is that correct?

163:51:13 Parker: That's affirm.

[Fendell pans clockwise to Jack at Gene's seat; he is putting film magazines in the seatpan, taking them from the ETB.]
163:51:20 Schmitt: Okay, I've got Mary and Franny and Nancy (pause) and Donna (pause) and Bobbie and...

163:51:42 Cernan: (Now standing at Jack's right) Jack, I'm also going to keep this (the dustbrush) in there (under the seat).

163:51:45 Schmitt: ...Karen.

[The magazines are marked with letters - MM, FF, and so on. At times through the mission - beginning at 118:15:29 - Jack has used girls names such as Franny for the magazines rather than the standard communications code words like Foxtrot. Bob has followed his lead but Gene won't join in the game until the end of Station 6.]
163:51:46 Cernan: Because it's too hard to get (the dustbrush off the front end). We'll find a place for that in there.
[Gene is having trouble getting the brush in and out of the bracket on the top of the LCRU.]
163:51:52 Schmitt: (Not convinced that this is a good thing to do) Well...Okay.
[Schmitt - "I may have been thinking that we didn't want any more dust under the seat."]
163:51:54 Cernan: It's just too hard to get off the front end. Okay, let's see. "Big bag to gate, dustbrush to (LCRU)..." Let me get that big bag on the inside of the gate if I can. Inside the gate or the pallet, Bob?

163:52:07 Parker: Inside the pallet. My fault there.

163:52:11 Schmitt: (Showing Cernan his checklist) That says the pallet.

163:52:13 Cernan: (Going to the gate) Yeah.

163:52:14 Parker: And if you open the pallet, be careful of the (fender) clamp. Probably, if it's feasible, we suggest you reach across in front of the pallet. Reach across the pallet to do it instead of opening it because of the clamps on the fender.

163:52:32 Cernan: It's not feasible. It's not feasible to do that. I got to open it, plus our hook is over center. Let me get something to work on that with. (Pause) You know, Bob, how that pallet locking hook can be out of the little C-shaped release in there? It is.

163:52:58 Parker: Oh, boy.

Video Clip ( 3 min 12 sec 0.9 Mb RealVideo or 32 Mb MPEG )

163:53:02 Cernan: I noticed that yesterday. (Pause)

163:53:15 Parker: Jack. When you get done with the ETB, then you might save the grey tape out. We're going to use a little bit of that on the SEP when you get done. (Pause)

[Fendell takes a close-up look of Jack working in Gene's seatpan. In the background, Gene swings the geopallet open.]
163:53:44 Schmitt: When are you going to do that?

163:53:47 Parker: We'll turn the...

163:53:48 Schmitt: What am I supposed to do, stand...Well...

163:53:49 Parker: We'll turn both switches on when you're out at the SEP transmitter.

163:53:56 Schmitt: Well, the tape is in the CDR's seat, and it'll still be there.

163:53:59 Parker: No, we'd like to take the tape from the CDR's seat and use it on the SEP, right now.

163:54:06 Schmitt: Okay. (Pause) You want me to do it or Gene to do it?

[Jack removes the roll of tape and lowers Gene's seat.]
163:54:13 Parker: Why don't you do it since the tape is there. No, let's let Gene do it. Doesn't really matter. Whoever wants to.
[Jack takes the ETB to the MESA. Fendell follows him.]
163:54:25 Cernan: Okay, we'll get it. (Pause) Okay, Bob, the big bag is on the inside of the pallet.

163:54:41 Parker: Okay; we copy that.

163:54:42 Cernan: I want it...Ooh! The...(Talking to himself) And I know why. (Pause)

[Gene goes to Jack's seat; Jack goes from the MESA to the gate. The next task listed on his checklist is a pan taken 30 feet out in front of the ladder.]
163:55:01 Cernan: This is the thing that's in the way, Jack. (To himself; discarding a thin, two-foot-long object) Get rid of this thing. We don't need it anyway. (To Bob) Okay, opening and closing of the pallet didn't interfere at all with those fenders.

163:55:12 Parker: Okay; copy that.

163:55:15 Schmitt: (To Gene) These aren't clamped now. Here's your tape.

163:55:18 Cernan: (Going to the gate) Okay. The big bag is on the inside (of the geopallet), though.

163:55:25 Schmitt: Yeah, but it's also in the way. Okay, I got it.

163:55:28 Cernan: Sure is. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Don't close it.

163:55:31 Schmitt: Want me to get out of the way?

163:55:33 Cernan: I'll open it. See? It drags over that locking device.

[Jack works on the open pallet.]
163:55:40 Cernan: Okay, let me just see what we got to do here. (Pause) Okay. (Reading CDR-5) Big bag, dustbrush. (Pause) SCB-7 to gate, mount 20-bag dispenser on commander's camera, 20-bag dispenser to the LMP, core cap dispenser to the gate.
[Gene goes to Jack's seat.]
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163:56:11 Parker: Okay. And, Jack, are you going out to take the pan now?

163:56:16 Schmitt: Well, as soon as I finish up here, I'll do that.

[Gene mounts a map on the holder to the right of the instrument panel. As per LMP-5, Jack put the map on the seat when he was unloading the ETB.]
163:56:20 Parker: Okay. And after you take the pan, we'd like you to retrieve the cosmic ray experiment. They're expecting a little solar storm, and before the rain gets on the cosmic ray experiment, they'd like to retrieve it. We'll leave it in the ETB during the traverse.
[If the solar flare is weak enough that the ETB offers adequate protection, the exposures experienced by the suited astronauts will be minimal.]
163:56:40 Schmitt: Okay, (I'll do it) after the pan. All right.

163:56:42 Parker: Roger. It will just be a nominal retrieval.

163:56:44 Schmitt: Okay, the gate's locked.

163:56:44 Parker: ...and we'll put it in the ETB. Copied the gate.

163:56:50 Schmitt: Okay. (Long Pause)

[Gene finishes mounting the map; Fendell pans clockwise to follow. Off-camera, Jack will take a 12 o'clock color pan with Gene's camera. These frames are AS17-140- 21359 to 21380.]

[Frame 21362, shows darkened Rover tracks in the direction of the ALSEP.]

[Frame 21368 is a good picture of Gene at the Rover. A detail shows the curl that has developed on the rear corners of the replacement fender.]

[In frames 21370, 21371, and 21372, note the jettison bags under the descent stage.]

[Frame 21374, is a view toward Poppie, showing the footprints Gene made when he walked to the crater early in EVA-1.]

[The f-stop settings used relative to the direction of the Sun are shown on decals mounted on the tops of the film magazines. 'HBW' is High-Speed Black-and-White. Smithsonian Institution photo by Jim Remar; courtesy Allan Needell.]

163:57:02 Cernan: Okay. (Long Pause) SCB-7; 20-bag dispenser goes on my camera when it gets back. Short can under the LMP's seat. Okay. Jack, I'll just go ahead and mount some of these bags on your camera while I'm here.

MP3 Audio Clip ( 12 min 02 sec )

163:57:45 Schmitt: Okay. Thank you. (Pause)

[Fendell pans to Gene, who is mounting sample bags on Jack's camera.]
163:57:58 Parker: Okay. And, Gene, if you got time there with the camera...when you get done with the camera...how about getting some grey tape and we'll put you to work on SEP for about a minute.

163:58:12 Cernan: The SEP receiver?

163:58:13 Parker: That's affirm. (Pause) And if you get...

163:58:17 Cernan: Stand by. Let me finish with SCB-7 here.

[Gene reaches into Jack's seat pan for a core-cap dispenser.]
163:58:20 Parker: Okay. And did you get Jack's camera fixed last night? I didn't hear.

163:58:25 Cernan: (Going to the gate with the core cap dispenser) Yeah, we did. (Pause; returning to Jack's seat with the core caps) Okay, there is already one (core-cap dispenser) on the gate. Leave that one there (in Jack's seat pan). Okay, (reading quickly) SCB-7 to gate; 20-bag dispenser on commander's camera. We'll do it when he (Jack) gets back (with the camera); 20 bags on the LMP's camera; core cap dispenser to gate. There's one there (on the gate), there's one under the (LMP) seat. Short can's under the LMP's seat. (Pause, turning to CDR-6) Okay, I got to put that cap dispenser on him; I got to give him a rammer, a hammer. Hey, Bob, what bag do you want on the LMP? Do we have 8 here?

[Gene's checklist indicates that they had planned to put SCB-8 on Jack's PLSS at this point but, because of the mix up during the EVA-2 Geoprep, Jack wore SCB-8 during that EVA.]
163:59:12 Parker: Stand by. I think 8 went in (to the cabin after EVA-2 with SCB-6). Either 4 or 6. No, excuse me; either 5 or 4.
[Gene goes to the gate; Jack goes to the cosmic ray experiment, which is hanging beyond the ladder.]
163:59:23 Cernan: Okay. We'll put either 4 or 5 on there. Okay. I'll have to wait until he gets back. What do you want? Or let me give you TGE reading and get that out of the way and then I'll work on your SEP.
[Gene goes to the TGE at the LM ladder.]
163:59:34 Parker: Okay; copy that. (Pause)

163:59:47 Cernan: Okay. 670, 027, 001; that's 670, 027, 001.

163:59:57 Parker: Okay; copy that, Gene. Thank you. (Long Pause)

[Gene takes the TGE to the Rover and mounts it at the right rear, behind the SEP.]
164:00:16 Cernan: Fender wrinkled up in the Sun a little bit last night.

RealVideo Clip by Mick Hyde (10 min 54 sec)

164:00:19 Schmitt: Okay, Mark it. The cosmic ray (experiment) is terminated.

164:00:22 Parker: Copy that.

Video Clip ( 3 min 38 sec 0.9 Mb RealVideo or 36 Mb MPEG )

164:00:27 Schmitt: And, Bob, I took two 5-foot stereopairs of the (cosmic ray) configuration.

[These are AS17-21381 to 21384. The first two show the "Sun" component of the detector and the other two show the "Shade" component.]
164:00:35 Parker: Copy. And we'll stick it in the ETB and just hang it there.

164:00:44 Schmitt: Yep. And in case you're wondering, and so you don't confuse it with a rock, it's in (sample) bag 106.

164:00:54 Parker: Copy that.

[Jack goes to the MESA; Gene to the SEP receiver.]
164:00:57 Cernan: Okay. What do you want done to the SEP?

164:01:01 Parker: Okay. Take some grey tape over to the receiver, Gene. And with reference to the fact that there is some Velcro missing on the front there which hold the covers down, we'd like to tape the two covers together in the middle there - you know, where the two sides overlap in the middle of the box. Tape those two together. A short piece about an inch long should do it if they are clean.

[Fendell examines the LM.]
164:01:28 Cernan: Well, I doubt if the tape will stick because it doesn't (stick) on dust, but I might be able to go over it with one piece to clean it and another piece to tape it.
[Schmitt - "You could dust the SEP mirrors, but you really couldn't get the dust out of the cover. So the tape wouldn't stick to the cover to hold it closed."]
164:01:35 Parker: Okay. And the question beyond that: is there Velcro to hold one of those flaps down or not?

164:01:43 Cernan: No.

164:01:45 Parker: Okay, so the Velcro is missing from both flaps, I take it.

164:01:50 Cernan: Yes.

164:01:51 Schmitt: Bob, what happened was that the tape (means "adhesive") that held the lower Velcro on there apparently came loose, and it stuck to the upper Velcro.

164:02:00 Parker: Okay. I understand that. In that case, we'd like to take a piece of tape and tape the cover down to keep it closed when it's supposed to be closed. The feeling is that if the cover flaps partly open, you may get specular reflection off the inside of the Mylar down onto the mirrors causing it to heat up during the drive when it's supposed to be closed.

164:02:23 Cernan: Okay, we'll give it a try.

[Fendell finds Gene at the SEP.]
164:02:25 Parker: Okay; thank you. (Pause) And, Jack, if you're done, you might go rescue EP number 5 from the (LM) footpad, and we'll put it under the LMP's seat.

164:02:44 Schmitt: Well, there are a lot of other things under there. Okay. I'll rescue it; we'll see where the best place to put it is.

164:02:50 Parker: Okay.

164:02:52 Schmitt: (At the gate, to Gene) Hey, I got bags on you. I got bags on your camera, Geno.

164:02:57 Cernan: Okay; thank you. (Pause)

164:03:05 Schmitt: Okay, we're going to put those two bags on the rear there on our PLSSs?

[Jack leaves the gate; Fendell pans up to find Earth.]
164:03:11 Parker: One of them will go...

164:03:12 Cernan: (Garbled) those two on.

164:03:13 Schmitt: Okay.

164:03:14 Parker: The one under the LMP's seat will go on the CDR, it's the one with all the stuff in it.

164:03:20 Cernan: Yeah, I got core tubes in 7 here, Jack. We'll put either one of those...

164:03:23 Schmitt: Okay. So I can put the charge under my seat.

164:03:30 Parker: That's affirm, I think, Jack; once you get SCB-7 out of there.

164:03:34 Schmitt: Yep.

164:03:38 Cernan: (Taping the SEP) I feel like a kid stuck in taffy. (Long Pause)

[Journal Contributor Brian Lawrence notes that the British term for "taffy" is "toffee"]
164:04:00 Schmitt: Sure is strange not to see some fine-grained rocks out here. Seen a couple, but certainly not very many.

164:04:07 Parker: Copy that. (Pause)

Video Clip ( 3 min 12 sec 0.9 RealVideo or 32 Mb MPEG )

164:04:18 Schmitt: That rock that you picked up at ra(ndom)...

[Schmitt - "I was thinking of the fine-grained, vesicular rock that Gene picked up at Shorty."]
164:04:23 Schmitt: (Noticing the TV pointing into the sky) What are you doing up there?

164:04:26 Schmitt: (Realizing that the TV is pointed at Earth) Okay.

164:04:30 Cernan: Bob, that'll hold it down. I hope it solves the problem.

164:04:34 Parker: Roger. And so does Dr. Strangelove. (Long Pause)

[Schmitt - "The SEP P.I.'s name was really (David) Strangway, but Bob called him 'Strangelove' (after the title character of the 1964 Stanley Kubrick film 'Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb')"]

[Fendell pans down; Gene goes his seat.]

164:04:58 Cernan: Well, probably not any more than we would like to see it solved.
[Gene removes his right cover glove.]

[Unseen by the TV camera, Gene puts his cover gloves in a pocket on his left thigh so that he can bring them back to Earth. At this writing in early 1994, they are on display at the Kansas Cosmosphere in Hutchinson, Kansas.]

[Cernan - "They were pretty badly abraded, but not cut or torn."]

164:05:05 Schmitt: Bob...(Changing his mind) Nothing. (Pause) Gene, your bag's going to have two lowers and one upper (drive tube).
[Fendell pans up to find Earth again.]
164:05:17 Parker: Did you re-sort things there, Jack?

164:05:23 Schmitt: What's that?

164:05:24 Parker: Did you re-sort things in SCB-7? I was told...

164:05:26 Schmitt: Bag 7's got...(Stops to listen) Bob, I...(Pause) Go ahead.

164:05:39 Parker: Okay. Our understanding was there were two uppers and one lower in bag 7, and two lowers under the LMP seat. Did you re-sort things there?

164:05:48 Schmitt: How do you want them?

164:05:51 Parker: It doesn't matter to us. I just wanted to make sure that we know what you are so we don't let you get away too far (from the Rover) with two uppers and a lower. Two lowers and an upper is certainly better than two uppers and a lower. As long as we know what it is.

[The lower drive tubes have a reinforced tip for driving into the ground. An extra upper would be far less useful than an extra lower, because a lower could be used to get a single core sample while an upper can only be used with a lower in getting a double core sample. The core tubes are marked with prominent L's and U's on the tops.]
164:06:04 Schmitt: Okay. It's two lowers and an upper.

164:06:05 Parker: Got that.

164:06:08 Schmitt: Two lowers and an upper.

164:06:10 Cernan: Man, I'm confused. (To Jack) Okay. When you're ready, I'll configure you.

164:06:13 Schmitt: Okay, here, let me get this on you first since I got...

164:06:15 Cernan: Okay.

[Fendell pans down to find Gene and Jack still at the left side of the Rover. Gene is on CDR-6 and Jack is on LMP-7.]
164:06:20 Schmitt: And I'm going to ask you to turn a 180 degrees because you're up on a hill. I'll never be able to do it.
[Gene turns to face the Rover; Jack attaches SCB-7 to the left side of his PLSS.]
164:06:27 Cernan: How's that? I'm down in a hole now.

164:06:29 Schmitt: That's beautiful. (Pause) Okay, just a minute. Can't get this fixed. (Long Pause) Tallest man on the Moon right now.

[Schmitt - "Gene is several inches taller than I am and reaching up to that level was tough in the suit."]

[An alternate interpretation is that, with Gene in a hole and Jack on a little rise, Jack is above Gene slightly and is laying claim to the title. Certainly, this would be in character. The TV camera angle makes this a difficult call.]

164:07:08 Schmitt: Okay, that's done.

164:07:09 Cernan: Okay?

164:07:11 Schmitt: Just a second. Let me close the cover. (Pause) Not a very good cover. Okay.

[Gene goes to the gate; Jack follows and presents his right side.]
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164:07:18 Cernan: Okay, Bob, I'm going to put SCB-4 on Jack. (Pause)

164:07:26 Schmitt: Go ahead.

164:07:28 Parker: Say again there, Gene. SCB-6? (Gets corrected by somebody in Houston) SCB-4; copy.

164:07:35 Cernan: SCB-4 will go on Jack. Okay, Jack, I got to get these PLSS straps, too. Did you get mine?

164:07:42 Schmitt: Uh...

164:07:43 Cernan: The harness release straps?

164:07:45 Schmitt: Oh, no. Let's do that. I saw them as you got out, and then I forget about them.

164:07:48 Cernan: Yeah. Okay, yours is on over here. Probably a better time to do them, anyway, rather than when we go out. Okay, let me get the bag. I'll get the other one when I configure your other side. (Pause) Okay, you're on. Okay, want to get my PLSS straps? Then I'll be cleaned up, and then I finish your other side. (Pause)

[They are behind the gate; Jack is working on the right side of Gene's PLSS.]

[Schmitt - "All the equipment was on the back of the Rover, so that's where we stood. And, unfortunately, that meant that we did most of this Geoprep work out of sight. It's too bad we didn't think about that."]

164:08:29 Schmitt: Let me get the other one. (Pause) Warmer out here today. (Pause) Heat treatment on the hands. Okay.
[They are thirty-six minutes into the EVA.]
164:08:45 Cernan: Okay, stay right where you are so I can get this. (Long Pause)
[Gene gets the rammer from the gate; Jack presents his left side.]
164:09:11 Cernan: Okay. Now come over here, and I'll get you a core-cap dispenser, which I left here. (Pause)
[They go to Jack's seat; Gene gets the core caps and stows them in a pocket on Jack's SCB.]
164:09:29 Cernan: Okay, (reading CDR-6) you got SCB-4; you got the cap; you got the rammer; I'll take the hammer. You got the...That's all you need. TGE is on the LRV. Okay, what charge you got there, Jack?

164:09:44 Schmitt: (At his seat) (Seismic charge number) 5's under my seat.

164:09:45 Cernan: Five, okay. You got 5 there; we got (charges) 2 and 3 on the Rover; LCRU blankets are open 100 percent; battery covers are closed. I want to...(To Jack) Push that battery cover over there down just to make sure it goes down.

164:10:01 Schmitt: The warning flag is up.

[This is a flat, metal warning flag - painted with diagonal white and red stripes - which pops up when one of the battery temperatures exceeds 125ºF or one of the drive motors exceeds 400ºF. The flag can be reset by pushing it down and will not pop up again unless the other battery (or one of the drive motors) exceeds it's temperature threshold. Previously, the crew was told that Rover engineers at the NASA Space Flight Center concluded that the batteries would be no reason for concern at battery temperatures less than 140ºF.]
164:10:03 Cernan: Yep. It's probably that...Already, huh? Push it (the battery cover) on down over there.

164:10:07 Schmitt: Rover warning was up.

164:10:10 Cernan: Get one right there.

164:10:12 Schmitt: It (the battery cover)'s down.

164:10:13 Cernan: I'll take a look at that gauge again, but the gauge on the high battery looked like it may have failed. Okay, LCRU blankets are open, battery covers are closed and pushed closed, dust LCRU...

164:10:26 Schmitt: (Carrying the scoop) I'm going to the SEP (transmitter).

164:10:27 Parker: Okay, Jack.

164:10:28 Cernan: Wait a minute before you do. You got a second? Just come over here by the left front wheel. (Pause)

[Gene wants to take Jack's picture with the U.S. flag in the background and then have Jack return the favor. Jack returns to the Rover; Fendell pans counter-clockwise toward the SEP transmitter site.]
164:10:41 Cernan: I know you got a second. Just a little bit closer to the left front wheel, towards me. Ah; that's good, anywhere in there. (Pause, taking Jack's picture) Wait a minute.
[Gene's pictures of Jack are AS17-140- 21385, 21386, and 21387. Frame 21386 is the best of the three and shows Jack's checklist, sample bags, and his LRV Sampler. Journal Contributor Yuri Krasilnikov notes that, as can be seen in a detail from 21386, Earth can be seen reflected in Jack's visor in all three of these photos and in the four of the similar photos of Gene.]
MP3 Audio Clip ( 12 min 29 sec )

RealAudio Clip ( 7 min 8 sec )

164:11:07 Cernan: Can you do that likewise (and take my picture)? Or can you hold it with that other camera? It's already set at 30 (feet focus).

[TV off. Gene is handing Jack the CDR camera so that the picture will be in color. He is asking if Jack can use the CDR camera while wearing his own.]
164:11:16 Schmitt: Okay.

164:11:18 Cernan: And you might want to take a couple...(Long Pause; static, even over Bob)

[Jack's pictures of Gene are AS17-140- 21388 to 21391. They show Gene's RCU, the "red apple" at the end of his purge valve release cable, his right thigh pocket, and his left calf pocket. A detail from 21391 shows the OPS activator on the left side (from our perspective), the label at the lower right for the push-to-talk switch, and the camera mount attachment hardware at left center.]
164:11:48 Parker: 17, Houston. We think somebody lost their comm. Jack, it's probably Gene going to zero. (Pause)

164:12:01 Schmitt: (Static clears) You read us, Bob?

164:12:02 Parker: Roger. Read you now.

164:12:06 Schmitt: Bob, do you read Gene?

164:12:08 Parker: (Making a mis-identification) Reading you, Jack. I haven't heard Gene yet.

164:12:14 Schmitt: Well, Gene's calling you.

164:12:17 Parker: You read me?

164:12:18 Cernan: How do you read me, Bob?

164:12:19 Parker: Okay, read you now.

164:12:23 Cernan: Okay, I didn't do anything. I just jiggled my Mode switch here. Okay, (reading CDR-6 again) we got 2 and 3 on the EP's (that is, EP's number 2 and 3), plus one under Jack's seat. LCRU blankets are opened 100 percent; battery covers are closed; dustbrush, I've got; TGE, I've got; mags and polarization filter is taken care of; and I'm ready to traverse to the SEP.

164:12:44 Parker: Roger. We understand TV stowed and you're taken care of in the comm. And you might give us a Rover readout either now or when you get to the SEP.

164:12:55 Cernan: Okay; we'll see which is convenient.

[Gene is now on CDR-7. Jack has left for the SEP transmitter. He is on LMP-7.]
164:12:57 Parker: Yeah. (At the) SEP is probably more convenient while you're sitting there waiting for the Nav to warm up or initialize - waiting for us to give you the reading.

164:13:08 Cernan: Okay, taking your TV. (Pause) Mode switch is 1.

164:13:26 Schmitt: Hey, Bob, are you watching LMP?

164:13:29 Cernan: Not any more he (meaning Ed Fendell) isn't. I took the TV.

164:13:30 Schmitt: Okay. (Pause)

[Schmitt - "My guess is that I wanted them to record or time my running motion as I was going out to the SEP transmitter."]
164:13:37 Cernan: Bob, you still read?

164:13:38 Parker: Roger. Read you loud and clear. We aren't watching the LMP.

164:13:43 Cernan: Okay, I just wondered because I just took the TV. I just want to make sure we got comm here.

164:13:48 Parker: Yeah, we're reading you in Mode 1.

[At the end of EVA-2 at 147:42:11, Gene turned the LCRU off and lost comm with Houston. The problem was Houston's and, here, Gene is just making sure.]
164:13:53 Cernan: And, for your information, we've both got our cover gloves off.

164:13:59 Parker: Copy that. (Pause)

[Jack removed his cover gloves at about 163:48:27 and Gene took his off, on-camera, at 164:04:58.]
164:14:08 Cernan: Okay, that's in, that's in, that's in. Should have dusted my checklist on the Rover. I can't read down there.
[Gene is trying to read a decal affixed to the console. It has a list of Rover start-up procedures.]
164:14:15 Schmitt: Bob, the old tape fix on the SEP (solar panel)'s still working.

164:14:19 Parker: Beautiful.

164:14:20 Schmitt: Both mirrors (means solar panels) have a little angular displacement, but not more than 5 degrees.

164:14:31 Parker: Sounds like that's the least of the SEP's problem, but we have hope. (Long Pause)

[During the SEP transmitter deployment at the end of EVA-1, Jack had found that the wire springs that normally hold the two side solar panels open and flat weren't going to do their job. He and Gene then used grey duct tape on the backs of the panels to hold them open. Here, Jack is reporting that, while the side panels aren't lying perfectly flat, the loss in electrical power will be negligible. Jack takes a stereopair of the transmitter, AS17-141-21510 and 21511. Note the tape along the upper edge with both ends of the tape not adhering, probably because of dust picked up from Jack's glove fingers as he held the tape.]
164:15:01 Schmitt: (To Gene, who is orienting the Rover for a Navigation initialization) Okay, you're going to be over there, huh? (Pause) (To himself) I'll go over here. (Pause)
[Training photo 72-H-1410 shows Jack at the SEP transmitter.]
164:15:13 Cernan: (To himself) I don't believe this.

164:15:14 Schmitt: What's the problem?

164:15:16 Cernan: Oh, nothing. That roll indicator isn't worth a ding-dong. (It) says I'm rolled 10 degrees.

[Cernan - "It was pretty obvious to me that I wasn't rolled ten degrees, and I just ignored it, I guess."]
164:15:19 Cernan: Okay. (To Bob) Roll zero, pitch is zero; heading is 291; distance, 001; range, 000; amps hours are 90 and 85; volts are 65 (and) 65; Sun shaft device, by the way, is 0.

164:15:45 Parker: Copy that.

[The "Sun shaft device" is the Sun-shadow instrument mounted on the console. With the shadow falling on the zero mark, Gene has the Rover pointed directly away from the Sun and, because the Sun's position at this moment is accurately known, Bob can give him an accurate heading so that he can correct any drift in the Nav system. Note that Gene hasn't initialized the Nav system since the start of EVA-2.]
164:15:46 Cernan: Batteries are 100 and off-scale low, and motors are all off-scale low. (Pause)

164:15:56 Parker: Okay, and, Gene, we'd like to torque (the heading indicator) to two-eight-seven. Two-eight-seven.

164:16:06 Cernan: Okay; in work. Let's see, 287. That's the heading from Cross City to Tyndall (Air Force Base). Okay, 27, 28; 287 right on the money.

164:16:21 Parker: Copy that, Geno. And...

[Cernan - "Cross City was a VOR station west of Gainesville Florida. Tyndall is near Panama City. We flew that way from Cape all the time. Patrick (Air Force Base near the Cape), Cross City, Tyndall, and whatever to Ellington (Air Force Base in Houston). That's why I remembered the heading. I used to have that flight plan engraved in my brain."]
164:16:24 Schmitt: Bob, 45...(Hears Bob)

164:16:26 Parker: Go.

164:16:29 Schmitt: Bob, 45 Yankee is a sample from near the SEP. (Pause)

164:16:41 Cernan: Boy, I tell you, Jack. That (transmission) was all cut out.

164:16:47 Schmitt: Oh, well. I got the sample anyway.

164:16:50 Parker: We copied 45 Yankee near the SEP. That's all we have. If you give us a frame count when you get done, and give us an approximate location for the Rover, at least crosswise from the Y (meaning from the intersection of the SEP transmitter wires), we'd appreciate it. And we also need SEP receiver power and DSEA both on. And we'd like the (SEP receiver) cover taped down when you get done, Jack. (Pause)

[Next, Gene will re-orient the Rover so that he is headed north and is within 5 meters of the north arm and 10 meters of the transmitter. He seems to have been west of the array when he did the Nav initialization. If so, then he will be driving into the Sun as he approaches the transmitter and will have some trouble seeing.]
164:17:22 Cernan: Okay, Jack, keep me honest on those reels.
[These are the cable reels for the SEP transmitter antenna wires. During deployment of the antenna array, Gene and Jack dropped the reels at the ends of the arms to serve as markers.]
164:17:26 Schmitt: Okay, you're okay now. Let me get over on the reel.

164:17:29 Cernan: I don't see...

164:17:32 Schmitt: See me? Come on. You're good.

164:17:35 Cernan: Oh, there's the SEP. Wait. Did I miss this other reel?

164:17:38 Schmitt: Yeah. There's the...I'm on the antenna.

164:17:43 Cernan: What about the one coming west?

164:17:45 Schmitt: That's what I...No, you're okay on the one west. You're way away from it.

164:17:49 Cernan: Okay. Going to look back. (Pause)

[Cernan - "I had to physically look back. The mirror wouldn't have given me that kind of view."]

[The two ways of looking back are to turn the Rover or to raise up in the seat and turn the suit enough to be able to see. Gene doesn't think he turned the Rover at this point but, rather, raised himself up to look.]

164:17:57 Schmitt: You want to...Head towards the SEP. You're okay.

164:18:01 Cernan: Oh, I see it now. Okay.

164:18:02 Schmitt: Head towards it and then make your turn (to the north).

164:18:04 Cernan: I see it. I'll go over to it.

164:18:05 Schmitt: Matter of fact, turn on these tracks.

164:18:06 Cernan: Yeah. I'm in good shape. I see it. I see it. (Pause)

164:18:17 Schmitt: Bob, that 45 Yankee (sample) was a fine-grained basalt, I think. One of the few around here. That's why I picked it up.

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164:18:27 Parker: Copy that. (Pause)

[The bag actually contains two samples: 70290 and 70295. The latter rock is, by far, the larger and, in the Preliminary Science Report, is described as a "dark matrix breccia".]

[Schmitt - "You would expect to see fine-grained basalts at the top of the subfloor because of the higher cooling rates; and the paucity of fine-grained samples probably was the result of our being in a cluster of fairly large craters - enough of them that the majority of material thrown out of them was the coarser-grained material from the interior of the presumably thick flow where the cooling was slow. We ultimately found a few, but there just weren't very many. So, not only was the top of the flow the first to be pulverized (which, if all the fragments were ground down into regolith, would contribute to the lack of fine-grained samples), but they were further diluted by the excavation of these large craters that some people think were part of a ray from Tycho."]

164:18:37 Schmitt: (To Gene) Okay, you stopped?

164:18:38 Cernan: I'm stopped and I'm ready to go. (To Bob) I'm 2 meters to the west of the north line.

164:18:45 Parker: Copy that.

[Cernan - "This is a particularly good example of me talking louder to Bob than to Jack. It was a habit I had the entire time on the lunar surface. It was almost as if, because they were further away, I almost had to shout - that Earth was so far away that I wanted to make sure they could hear me. They probably didn't even need a radio to hear me."]

[Now that Gene is parked, he is zeroing the distance and range counters while Jack takes a picture of the transmitter and the Rover for use by the experimenters.]

[Jack's photos are AS17-141- 21512 to 21517.]

[Cernan - " 21513, is an impressive picture to me. You've got the antennas pointed low over the South Massif to give you an idea how low to the horizon the Earth was. And I guess what really impresses me is that the Rover is so big in the forefront and yet, unless you have an appreciation for how big the LM is, you have no sense of how far away it is. You've got the SEP and the LM in the picture and, frankly, unless you know what you're looking at, you can't judge sizes very well. There are some boulders in the picture that appear to be farther away than the LM, so they must be really big."]

[Schmitt - "This picture is a pretty good illustration of how, even just this far behind the LM, the material kicked up by our feet is almost the same albedo as the undisturbed soil. This contrasts with what you can see ahead and to the left of the LM, which is an area which was significantly lightened. "]

164:18:49 Cernan: And I guess I'm certainly within 5 meters of the transmitter.

164:18:51 Schmitt: Yep. You're in good shape.

164:18:51 Parker: Okay, we'll get that in the photos. And Gene, how's the low-gain oriented?

164:19:05 Cernan: It (the low-gain antenna)'s oriented 355 and my (Rover) heading is 352.

[The low-gain antenna has a pointing indicator which, when it matches the Rover heading, indicates that the antenna is pointed at Earth.]
164:19:09 Parker: Okay, copy that. (Pause)

164:19:16 Schmitt: Okay, you want the (SEP) receiver on...

164:19:20 Parker: Roger. Both...

164:19:21 Schmitt: ...and taped down again, huh?

164:19:22 Cernan: Yeah, (garbled).

164:19:22 Parker: Roger. Both the receiver and the recorder on, both switches on and then tape the cover down.

164:19:32 Schmitt: Okay, good luck. (Pause) I don't know if that tape is going to hold. Okay, On and On. (Pause) Okay, it's taped down more or less.

164:19:54 Parker: Thank you.

164:19:55 Schmitt: And then I guess I'm supposed to get on, huh?

164:19:57 Parker: Roger on that.

164:20:05 Cernan: Okay, Bob, Nav Reset is now Off and I'm all zeroed up.

164:20:08 Parker: Okay. Copy that. And we're ready for you guys to roll.

164:20:17 Cernan: (To Bob) Okay, what's the first range and bearing to the Rover sample, past Jones?

[A sketch traverse map is shown (identically) on LMP-8 and CDR-8. As with the prior traverses, Gene and Jack have identical checklist pages. The feature named "Jones" is a cluster of small craters about one kilometer south of the large crater Henry and slightly west. Jack named it for John-Paul Jones, the Scottish-born naval hero of the American Revolution. Unlike other features names which are typed in the checklist maps, this one is written in by hand, although not by Jack.]
164:20:24 Parker: Okay, it will be 185 (on the heading) and 1.5 on the range.

164:20:32 Cernan: Okay, 185 and 1.5. 185 and one-and-a-half. Okay. (Pause)

[Note that this sample location is not indicated on the checklist map. It is, however, listed in the traverse text on LMP/CDR-9. The location relative to the planned landing spot is 192/1.6 and the 7 degree difference in bearing is a result of Houston's estimate that SEP transmitter is 200 meters east of the planned location. The actual distance is 260 meters.]
164:20:44 Schmitt: Excuse me, Gene.

164:20:45 Cernan: No problem. (Pause)

[Cernan (laughing as he thinks about it) - "This was probably the first time Jack said "Excuse me" since we got assigned to the crew! Record that for posterity. Obviously, old Twinkletoes, when he jumped on the Rover, probably almost knocked me out (of the Rover). I'm sure that's what happened. But I got even. When I drove on the sides of hills, I always put him on the bottom side. Always! On every hairpin turn, we went around with him on the bottom side."]
164:20:54 Schmitt: Well, shoot. (Pause) I've forgotten how (to get on the Rover).

164:21:03 Cernan: Boy, that Challenger looks pretty from here, you know it.

164:21:04 Schmitt: Yep. (Pause) Okay, I'm on.

164:21:12 Cernan: Okay.

164:21:13 Schmitt: Did I want a charge? No.

164:21:15 Cernan: Nope.

164:21:16 Parker: No charge, Jack; no charge.

164:21:19 Schmitt: Okay. Got it. Got it.

164:21:22 Cernan: Okay. 185 and 1.5 and I'm going to head on about 012. We ought to go right through Jones. (Garbled) Jones.

164:21:28 Parker: Okay, and, Gene, remember the driving fairly slow - or fairly well controlled - the first 300 meters, and a "mark" at the end of the antenna. (Pause)

164:21:40 Cernan: Watch that, Jack, watch that antenna lead...Uh-oh. (Pause)

164:21:46 Schmitt: Keep going. (Pause)

164:21:51 Cernan: (What does it) look like to you?

164:21:52 Schmitt: Okay so far; keep going. Okay, let's do that again...

164:21:57 Cernan: Yep. But a little different.

[Cernan - "We were supposed to drive parallel to the antenna lead and I probably got too close to it and it was easy enough to do a 360 (degree turn and go back) and do it again."]
164:22:01 Cernan: I'll pick up that same spot, I can see right where I was. (Pause)

164:22:10 Parker: Okay. Give us another mark when you start up on that side.

164:22:16 Cernan: Okay. We'll give you a hack, Bob. (Pause)

164:22:19 Schmitt: Okay. (Pause) Ahh...You're a little...

164:22:30 Cernan: Yeah, I'm right on the track. Same tracks exactly.

164:22:31 Schmitt: Well, okay.

164:22:32 Cernan: That's exactly...I just came right over. Okay, we're starting Bob. Mark it.

164:22:36 Parker: Copy that. (Long Pause)

164:23:03 Cernan: We can't go too far in this heading. We've got a big hole up here.

164:23:08 Parker: Okay.

[This is the large, unnamed feature north of the SEP.]
164:23:09 Cernan: Like a big one. (Pause) Wonder if that's Rudolph?
[Gene is referring to a Poppie-sized crater on the northwest rim of the unnamed crater. It is not Rudolph.]
164:23:16 Schmitt: Well, let's see, this is east...Looks awf(ul)...It's a double crater but it's much bigger than I thought Rudolph would be.

164:23:24 Parker: No, if you're where you think you are, you're east of Rudolph quite a ways.

MP3 Audio Clip ( 14 min 40 sec )

164:23:35 Cernan: Gee, I think you ought to know where we are by now, Bob.

164:23:37 Parker: Roger that.

[It is a little curious that no one has yet told them that Houston thinks they landed just north of Poppie. Bob will, however, tell them in just a few moments.]
164:23:39 Schmitt: Maybe that's Lewis and Clark.
[Meriwether Lewis and William Clark explored the drainages of the Missouri and Columbia Rivers in the years immediately following the 1803 Louisiana Purchase. The pair of craters named for them is about a kilometer NW of the current Rover position.]
164:23:41 Parker: After you give me a mark there, I'll talk to you about it.

164:23:47 Cernan: I'm sorry, Bob. I guess you didn't hear it. We're passed the end of the antenna and we're headed northeast.

164:23:56 Parker: Okay, I...

164:23:58 Cernan: That screw you up?

164:23:58 Parker: Did you give me a mark when you started or a mark when you passed the antenna?

164:24:03 Cernan: I gave you a mark when I started and it took about 20 seconds to get to the end.

164:24:09 Parker: Okay, copy that.

164:24:13 Cernan: Is that good enough or do you want me to go back?

164:24:15 Parker: No. No. Press on. And, Jack, if you look at your contour map there, we think you are located right now at approximately where the P in SEP is, just below the P in "Poppy". (Note that the map has the crater name mis-spelled.) In which case you're probably driving through that little crater that's just to the northeast there.

164:24:34 Schmitt: Okay.

[Houston now has them accurately located. Bob is referring to the contour map on the back of the 1/25000 traverse map labeled "NE Sheet", meaning the northeast of four maps showing the area around the LM. If he is giving them a LM location, it is quite accurate. The "little crater" is the unnamed, shallow feature north of the actual SEP location.]
164:24:35 Parker: That's probably the one you came upon.

164:24:39 Cernan: Not very little, though. (Pause)

164:24:50 Schmitt: Okay, Bob. Boy, I wish I could see a little bit better. (Pause) The major boulders still look like the pyroxene gabbro. The surface texture has not changed. There is a granule population, now that I look at it more closely with the shadows. (That is, now that they are driving north, he is noticing the larger granules on the surface because of the shadows they cast.) But I have a feeling that most of those are...They look like they're just very small clods. That should show up in some of the bulk samples we've taken. But, it is remarkable to me...the small number of fine-grain rocks. There's one at about halfway between the SEP and the LM that I'd like to pick up, it's a fairly good sized one. Maybe we can get it when we get back. It looks like a fine-grained basalt. (Pause) I may have sampled one in 45 Yankee there.

[Jack will collect the fine-grained rock between the SEP and the LM at 169:15:01 as they approach the LM at the end of the EVA. This is sample 70215 and, unlike the sample in 45 Yankee, it is a fine-grained basalt. Jack's photos taken during this first part of the traverse are AS17-141-21519 to 21541 ( 22 Mb PDF ).]
RealAudio Clip ( 7 min 36 sec )

164:26:02 Cernan: Well, I tell you, it's not exactly the greatest place to navigate through.

164:26:06 Schmitt: I think you ought to bear left, don't you?

164:26:07 Cernan: Yeah. That's where I'm going here. I just want to get across this...around these boulders.

164:26:12 Schmitt: There's a crater we're just passing at 207/0.4 about 20 meters in diameter, with the pyroxene gabbro blocks on the rim, a few of them. It's not an exceptionally blocky rim crater, but we are in an area where the block population is up to about 5 percent (coverage of the surface), in contrast to most of the area we traversed yesterday.

164:26:43 Cernan: I tell you, going is a little bit rough; there's a population of blocks as Jack said and an awful lot of small craters.

164:26:51 Schmitt: Yeah, I was just going to add that the frequency of craters in the 10-meter size range is quite a bit higher than we were used to yesterday. (Pause) Oops, there's one.

164:27:08 Cernan: Yep.

164:27:09 Schmitt: Snuck up on you. (Pause) (To Bob) And they all - although not exceptionally blocky rim - they all have a slightly, maybe 2 or 3 or 5 percent more blocks in their walls and on their rim than does the normal terrain.

164:27:32 Parker: Roger, Jack. Copy that.

164:27:35 Schmitt: Still no obvious structure within the dark mantling material itself.

164:27:44 Cernan: Bob, you said 185/1.5?

164:27:47 Parker: That's affirm.

[The checklist location of the sample stop is 192/1.6.]
164:27:49 Schmitt: What do you want? For the Rover (sample)?

164:27:51 Cernan: Yeah, for a sample.

164:27:55 Schmitt: Oh, they changed it on us. (Pause) Okay. Still seeing the little pit-bottom craters with the glass in them. I've forgotten the acronym already, Bob, I'm sorry. (Pause)

[Jack is referring to an exchange at 146:03:30 during the inbound drive from Shorty, when Bob invented the acronym GLPBC for the glass-lined, pit-bottom craters.]
164:28:18 Schmitt: And you asked me for an LMP frame count a while back and I believe it was 5. That was at the SEP.

164:28:24 Parker: That was after the SEP photos, right?

164:28:27 Schmitt: That's affirm. (Pause) Negative; that was before the SEP photos.

164:28:38 Parker: Copy that. (Pause)

164:28:43 Schmitt: Okay, Bob, looking up at the North Massif, we see the scattered, strewn field of boulders that generally seem to start, more or less, from a line of large boulders, which might indicate some structure. And those lines are roughly horizontal across the face that we're looking at. The boulder tracks are irregular in shape, obviously downhill, but you'll see in the pictures that they are (pause) curved in places. But they're all - that I see - tend to be aggregates of little craters where the boulder was obviously tumbling and bouncing a little bit. (Pause) We're out in (a) population of fragments now in the immediate area, at...Is that 188?

164:29:54 Cernan: 188/0.9.

[Frame 21533, is a representative photo showing the North Massif. A labeled version shows the dark boulder and the Station 6 boulder. A high-resolution detail focuses on Station 6.]
164:29:57 Schmitt: (The population's) generally about 1 percent between craters. But at the crater rims, it's up to about 5 percent.

164:30:03 Parker: Okay. Copy that, Jack. And how far down the North Massif...

164:30:06 Schmitt: And these craters...

164:30:07 Parker: ...is the line of boulders?

164:30:12 Schmitt: (Listens to Bob) Oh, there are several of them, Bob. What I'm talking about is about 100-meter-long lines where the boulder trains initiate. And there's one (that) looks like about halfway, maybe two-thirds of the way down in perspective. Another one that's probably about halfway. They're just sort of scattered around on the Massif. (Pause) I think we're getting close to...Well, we couldn't be.

164:30:42 Cernan: I've got to move over here a little.

164:30:44 Schmitt: That must be Jones (Crater).

164:30:45 Cernan: Where are you looking?

164:30:46 Schmitt: Off to the right.

164:30:48 Cernan: Yeah, our heading that they're sending us down here, it really should put us to west of Jones. So that's about right. (Pause) A lot of static in the background today.

164:30:58 Parker: Yeah, I think we are talking to you guys through the LM right now; and how about a speed reading?

164:31:06 Cernan: Okay. We're at 12 clicks and we're full bore.

164:31:09 Parker: Copy that. (Long Pause)

164:31:22 Schmitt: Okay.

164:31:24 Cernan: 187/1.1.

164:31:28 Parker: Copy that. (Pause)

164:31:36 Schmitt: Bob, I wish I could give you more on that structure in there (that is, structure in the North Massif), but I think those lines of boulder sources are about all we can see right now. Talked about the lineaments yesterday and they're not nearly as obvious today in the higher Sun. Looking up Wessex Cleft, even with the Sun in the flat area there, it looks darker than the North Massif side. But again, the Sun angle may be fooling us, but I recall it was darker on the (overhead) photos.

164:32:16 Cernan: The old man wrinkled face on the...

164:32:18 Schmitt: Sculptured Hills.

164:32:19 Cernan: ...Sculptured Hills, though, is evident as soon as you come out of the Wessex Cleft.

164:32:22 Schmitt: Yeah. And they look like there are boulders up on the side of Sculptured Hills; except that they aren't nearly as big as those on the North Massif. The areas where the boulder source is look like they're made up of boulders no bigger than a meter maybe; whereas, the North Massif boulders are up to several meters. Those boulder sources all seem to be up within a third of the height of the Sculptured Hills, just east of the Wessex Cleft. Here is a boulder track that crossed the slope. See that, Geno?

164:33:05 Cernan: Yeah. Yeah. I sure do now!

164:33:08 Schmitt: It looks like it goes, rather than perpendicular to the contours, it probably is crossing them in a fairly straight line on an angle of 60 degrees, maybe.

164:33:18 Cernan: Back to the east.

164:33:19 Schmitt: Yeah, to the east. That one may be fairly near...

[The cross-slope track was made by the Station 6 boulder. There will be more discussion at 164:44:11. The Station 6 boulder is visible in AS17-141- 21533. As indicated in a labeled version, it is just above the near horizon about halfway between the center of the image and the righthand edge. They are currently about 2 kilometers from the base of the mountain and, at that distance, the 10-degree separation of fiducials corresponds to 350 meters on the mountain.]
164:33:24 Cernan: Jack, see that big boulder with that big track? It looks like it's an elongated, rolled-up boulder. Look at that.
[This boulder is sometimes called the 'dark' boulder. It was photographed with the 500 mm camera from the LM during EVA-1. The photo is 21991. The dark boulder also appears in 21543, as indicated in a labeled version.]
164:33:30 Schmitt: Yes, it does. Looks like it may be broken now.

164:33:33 Cernan: Okay. Here we are: 1.5 and 185.

RealAudio Clip ( 4 min 23 sec )

164:33:37 Parker: Okay; copy that.

[Cernan - "In listening to Jack's descriptions in here while I'm driving, he's doing an excellent job. For someone who can't remember a great deal about it - about the craters and boulders - it brings a very descriptive picture to my mind. Jack, being the geologist, was better equipped to describe this stuff. But, boy, as you can tell from some of the comments, driving takes your full concentration. Every once in a while I could make a comment about something; but, once you start looking around - and you're moving at 6 or 8 or 10 kilometers per hour - peripherally you don't have the contrast to see obstacles and holes and craters. They don't stand out. They blend into the countryside and you've got to be looking for them or you don't see them. So you learn very quickly that you don't go rubbernecking as you drive. Everywhere you go - and it doesn't just have to be while you're in a boulder field - there's a hole or a pit or a rock or something. And, to some degree that may limit my recall because I was narrowly focused on a path and on a direction and on a destination. Jack, on the other hand, could back off and look at the big picture. And that was a good situation. You had two people, with one looking at the big picture and one getting you there. And it explains why don't I remember Turning Point Rock when I do remember taking the pan at Tracy's Rock (at Station 6, see below). There, I remember how steep that hill was; I remember having to crawl up that hill; and I remember having to watch my footing as I was taking the pan. That, I remember. I was taking in the big picture then. But I don't have any impression of driving up to Turning Point Rock or to Tracy's Rock. I was probably intent on driving and I don't have any recollection about any of this until I got off the Rover. The only exception is that I do recall the boulder tracks because I could drive and take a moment to look at those."]

[The large boulder at Station 6 is known in the scientific literature as Split Boulder. For reasons explained at 165:28:58, others know it as Tracy's Rock.]

164:33:38 Schmitt: Okay, is this a Rover sample?

164:33:40 Cernan: A Rover sample.

164:33:41 Schmitt: Okay...

164:33:42 Cernan: Tell me where you want it.

164:33:43 Schmitt: ...see that little pit right over there about 30 feet ahead.

164:33:44 Cernan: Yeah, I think so.

164:33:48 Schmitt: Okay, I've got two pictures there. (Pause)

[Jack's photos of the approach to the sample area are AS17-141- 21542 and 21543. Training photo 72-H-1227 shows Jack using the sampler from his Rover seat.]

[Jack's two photos of the approach to the sample site are combined in a PDF document ( 8 Mb ) with 21544 to 549, showing the climb to the top of a rise where they get their first look into Henry Crater.]

164:33:55 Cernan: How's that?

164:33:58 Schmitt: That's great. (Pause) Okay, this is a soil sample. (Pause; waiting for Gene to finish taking his "locator", then calling his attention to the waiting sample) Hey, Geno.

[The handle on the LRV Sampler is too long for Jack to conveniently remove the cup so he will swing the cup end around in front of Gene so that Gene can remove the cup, seal it, and drop it in the SCB mounted on the accessory staff in front of them. Gene's "locator" is 21392. Jack's corresponding photo is 21544.]
164:34:17 Cernan: Okay, and I just took a locator (probably a picture of the horizon, in this case); and CDR is on frame 41.

164:34:23 Schmitt: Got it?

164:34:24 Cernan: Ah, not yet.

164:34:25 Parker: Copy that.

164:34:26 Cernan: Got it now. Bag 46 Yankee.

164:34:32 Parker: Copy that. (Pause)

164:34:39 Cernan: Your bag (the SCB on the accessory staff) open?

164:34:40 Schmitt: Yup.

164:34:43 Cernan: Okay, it's in.

164:34:45 Schmitt: We ought to tape that lead down if we can remember it next stop. It's in the way of...It's sticking up.

[Cernan - "We had the low-gain antenna lead velcroed to the staff and that may have come off."]

[Because there is no evidence of a cable in the way of Jack's picture taking, it seems likely that the lead is getting in the way as Gene puts LRV sampler bags in the SCB on the accessory staff. A detail from AS17-135-20760 shows the Velcro loop is loose at Station 1 during EVA-1. They may never have secured the lead to the staff.]

164:34:55 Cernan: Okay, I'll get it. That thing came off that piece of Velcro. I'll get it when I get back.

164:35:00 Schmitt: Okay. And LMP's frame count (pause) is three-five.

164:35:11 Cernan: Okay, Bob, I'd like a bearing and range.

164:35:14 Parker: Okay. Bearing and range for the large block, just beyond...Let's see; it's just beyond the crater Henry. The large block there near the break of the slope, which is our next aiming point. The bearing and range there is 188 and 2.8.

164:35:33 Cernan: 188 and 2.8. Roger.

164:35:36 Parker: Okay. And, Jack, what do you see in the way of boulders coming down the base of the Sculptured Hills, in terms of sampling opportunities at Station 8 and in terms of any boulder tracks that might lead down to boulders that might just possibly be accessible at Station 8?

164:35:54 Schmitt: Watch it, Gene. (To Bob) Boulder tracks are not obvious on Sculptured Hills at all. It looks like there are fragments over there that would have had their sources higher up the slope. I think we can get boulders there.

164:36:12 Parker: Okay; copy that. We'll see...

164:36:13 Schmitt: We'll have to get a little closer, Bob.

164:36:15 Parker: We'll find out in a couple of hours.

164:36:19 Schmitt: Yeah, I will give you a reading on that before long. I wouldn't eliminate Station 8 for the world - or the Moon - whatever's available today.

164:36:29 Cernan: Bob? What did you say? 188 (and) 2 point something.

164:36:32 Parker: 2.8.

164:36:35 Cernan: Okay, thank you. See that big boulder, Jack, with those tracks?

164:36:40 Schmitt: Yeah, it looks like...

164:36:41 Cernan: That's (a) funny looking boulder.

164:36:43 Schmitt: It looks like it may have stopped rolling because it broke up. (Pause) Looks broken to me now. (Pause)

164:36:52 Cernan: Boy, they've got the low-gain right on 'em. But, I tell you, we still got static.

164:36:56 Schmitt: I don't have any, Gene. You may...

164:36:58 Cernan: Well, I sure do.

164:37:01 Schmitt: I don't like the sound of your bounces. Okay, you've got yourself in some holes here. (Pause) You've never...I've read you all along, though, so there's no problem. Okay, there's a big crater. I haven't recognized Jones yet. (Pause) Looks like you're getting up on the rim of Henry here.

164:37:27 Cernan: (Mulling it over) Well...No, Henry should be to...I should be well west of Henry, I think. I wouldn't be surprised if Henry isn't right over that little rise on the right.

[Jack's photos during this part of the traverse are AS17-141-21544 to 21549. They are combined with his two photos of the Rover sample stop in a PDF document ( 8 Mb ).]

[Journal Contributor Doug Bennett points out that, in pre-2009 versions of the Journal, a boulder on the near horizon near the center of 21456 is incorrectly identified as Turning Point Rock (TPR). The next picture to show TPR is AS17-141-21550.]

164:37:37 Schmitt: Bob, the surface structure hasn't changed ...(correcting himself) texture (hasn't changed). We're on a little bit of a rise in here now and still about 1 percent of the surface...

164:37:48 Cernan: Here's Henry right there, Jack.

164:37:49 Schmitt: There's Henry!

[Jack's photo of Henry is 21549. Turning Point Rock is just below the low-gain handle and the Station 6 boulder is above the TV camera. The next frame, 21550, shows Turning Point Rock, the Station 6 boulder, and the dark boulder. See a labeled detail. These two images are part of a PDF document that includes AS17-141-21549-59 ( 11 Mb ).]
164:37:50 Parker: Okay, how about a range and bearing.

MP3 Audio Clip ( 13 min 27 sec )

164:37:51 Schmitt: I thought you were close to Henry.

164:37:52 Cernan: Yeah. (Responding to Bob) 188/1.8.

164:37:56 Schmitt: And we're just southwest of Henry.

164:38:01 Parker: Okay. Copy that.

RealAudio Clip ( 6 min 48 sec )

164:38:03 Schmitt: On the rim. Old Prince Henry the Navigator!

164:38:07 Cernan: (To himself) Watch that foot.

164:38:12 Schmitt: It's called a wheel, I think. (Pause) And Henry looks much like Horatio did. Has boulders on its inner wall (but) not as many. They look light colored: a light-albedo, gabbroic appearance. There may be some right down there, though, that are fine grained; they look a little greyer.

[Gene and Jack talk over each other for the next half dozen lines]
164:38:32 Cernan: Jack, there's our target...There's...Either one of...That's one right down there on (garbled) break in slope.

164:38:37 Schmitt: See the one we've got over has a boulder track. That's the one, that crossed slope.

164:38:41 Cernan: Yeah, if we could get up...

164:38:42 Schmitt: Can we get up there?

164:38:43 Cernan: It's awful high. We'll see.

164:38:45 Schmitt: That's the one. That's Station 6, and that was the...(naming the rock) the turning boulder.

164:38:50 Cernan: Yeah, that's it.

164:38:51 Schmitt: The one right there. (Pause)

164:38:54 Cernan: Station 6: we can probably get up there.

164:38:56 Schmitt: I think we can; it doesn't look too bad. (To Bob) The break in slope, right now, doesn't show anything obvious, except that's where the boulders start.

164:39:07 Parker: Okay, we hope that's fairly obvious.

164:39:12 Schmitt: And on up the hill you have...(Stops to listen to Bob) But as I was saying, Henry just looks like a somewhat more mantled Horatio. (Laughs, then makes an aside) (This dialog is) getting to be ridiculous.

164:39:28 Cernan: Say, Bob, I'm navigating - headed northwest now - to get around the western rim of Henry.

164:39:32 Parker: Okay...

[AS17-141-21551 to 21553 are taken during this westward excursion. They are included in a PDf document that contains AS17-141-21549-59 ( 11 Mb ).]
164:39:34 Schmitt: And on that west rim, we've got about 10 percent boulder cover.

164:39:43 Parker: Okay. And a reminder, Jack, to keep taking your Rover photos.

164:39:48 Schmitt: Yes, sir! And by "boulder", I generally mean "fragment", Bob, in this case. When I say 10 percent, I'm looking at stuff greater than about a centimeter in diameter. (Pause) I'll try to say "fragment" from now on and be more precise. (Pause) Okay. Here's a little area where there's...This is the one part of the rim of Henry I see that has fairly large fragments, or boulders, on them up to 2 or 3 meters. But, again, they all appear to be buried. There are very few - except small ones - sitting out on the surface.

164:40:32 Cernan: And, you know, the fragment population out here only goes out maybe 200 meters, I expect.

[Henry, like Camelot, is about 600 meters across. The blocks extend 200 meters beyond the rim.]
164:40:38 Schmitt: Okay. Now this (particular) concentration of boulders (we are driving past) is because of a 50-meter crater in the rim of Henry.
[AS17-141-21554 to 21556 show this ejecta and the next part of the traverse.]
164:40:45 Parker: Okay, that sounds like Locke (Crater).
[Locke is 100-meter crater on the northwest rim of Henry. At the moment, Gene and Jack are driving by a smaller crater about 200 meters south of Locke and right on the west rim crest of Henry. Jack's size estimate is quite good.]
164:40:47 Schmitt: I think that was one that we...(Hears Bob)

164:40:50 Cernan: Take a picture in here, Jack.

164:40:54 Schmitt: (Responding to Bob) No. Locke, I can see. (To Gene) I'm getting the picture.

[Frame 21557 shows Locke beyond the ejecta of the small crater they are passing. It is included in a PDf document that contains AS17-141-21549-59 ( 11 Mb ).]]
164:40:57 Cernan: Okay, that's not...Locke's right ahead of us.

164:41:00 Schmitt: This is one (of) about 50 meters (diameter) right on the rim crest of Henry, the due-west rim. Now Locke is just ahead of us. It also has boulders in its walls but has relatively few on the rim.

164:41:17 Parker: Okay. Copy that.

164:41:18 Schmitt: Characteristic of both Henry, Locke, and Horatio is essentially no change in the average frequency of boulders on the rim. The increase comes in the wall.

164:41:34 Cernan: We're at 184/2.3. We're just about between Henry and...

164:41:42 Schmitt: Locke.

164:41:44 Cernan: Locke. Yeah; right between them.

[Frames 21558 and 21559 are taken during the drive between Henry and Locke. They are included in a PDf document that contains AS17-141-21549-59 ( 11 Mb ).]]
164:41:46 Parker: Okay. I copy that. And you guys are heading for that big boulder, which must be just dead ahead of you there, about half a kilometer.
[Turning Point Rock is visible in overhead photographs taken from both the Apollo 15 and Apollo 17 Command Modules. It is about 400 meters NNE of Locke. The navigation readout there will give an excellent indication of LM location because of the very well-defined location of the rock and the fact that they haven't driven far enough for there to have been any substantial drift in the navigation system.]
164:41:54 Schmitt: Well, Gene's sort of headed for Station 6 now.

164:41:58 Cernan: I'm going to take a tour around that boulder and give them a fix on it.

164:42:00 Schmitt: Okay. Go ahead.

164:42:02 Parker: Yeah, and that would be a good mark to give us a range and bearing on, since it's a pretty discrete point.

164:42:08 Cernan: Yeah, we are.

164:42:09 Schmitt: Bob, the boulder concentrations in the wall of Henry have their upslope start (that is, upper limit) at about, oh, I would guess an average of 30 meters down from the rim crest. The rim crest of Henry is not very well defined, but it's there. And from that initiation of boulders, they stream down the slope to the break-in-slope down at the floor. Still no obvious change in the dark mantle, as we're just to the east of Locke now. (Pause) There's a 30-meter crater, fairly subdued but still quite deep...(That is, with a) subdued rim. Again, it looks as if it were mantled; (and it) has no significant increase in blocks on its rim. That crater, in any other place, would have been a very blocky-rim crater. It's maybe 30 meters (across) by 5 meters deep. Man, that is a big rock up there! (Pause)

164:43:30 Schmitt: Turning Point Rock is a split rock; (it) has (what) looks like a northwest-southeast overhang, with another block just this side of it, just to the south of that overhang. It's a pyramid shape in cross section - triangular shape in cross section - and it looks like it is pretty well fractured, although not pervasively like the rock at Shorty was.

[Jack's photos taken during the approach to Turning Point Rock are AS17-141- 21560 to 21563.]

[Gene's approach photos are 21393 to 21395.]

164:44:06 Cernan: Okay, Jack, I know I can get up to Station 6.

164:44:08 Schmitt: Yeah.

164:44:09 Cernan: I can drive up there.

164:44:11 Schmitt: Yeah. Now, Bob, Station 6 rock - one of them - is from that boulder track that runs obliquely across the contours.

164:44:19 Parker: Okay. I copy that, Jack. Sounds like good news.

164:44:23 Schmitt: And the pictures ought to pin down at least the (upper) end of the boulder track pretty well.

164:44:32 Cernan: Boy, this is a big rock, Jack. Whew.

164:44:35 Schmitt: As I saw it, the boulder track stopped about halfway up the slope of the North Massif. (To Gene) That (Turning Point Rock) is a big rock.

[Based on the length of it's shadow in the overhead photograph, Turning Point Rock is comparable to the LM in height - 23 feet or 7 meters - in close agreement with Gene's six-meter estimate below. Frame 21564 is taken as they go east of the boulder.]
164:44:42 Cernan: We're at Turning Point Rock. And it looks like it's - I don't know if it's mantled on top, but it's certainly filleted. There's a lot of the dark mantle up and on some of the shallower slopes of the boulder. And it's on a little mound itself, as if much of it might be covered up.

164:44:57 Schmitt: Yup. Okay. It looks like a breccia from here.

164:45:02 Cernan: Can you get a sample of it right here? You see these little chips?

RealAudio Clip ( 6 min 6 sec )

164:45:05 Schmitt: Yeah, I probably can.

164:45:08 Cernan: Okay, Bob. I'm 3 meters from Turning Point Rock on the east side, and I'm reading 186 and 2.8.

164:45:16 Parker: Roger. Copy that. Sensational.

[The checklist location is 192/2.9. Frame 21565 is taken at about this point. See the discussion at 164:47:52.]
164:45:17 Cernan: Ahh! (Garbled) that over.

164:45:21 Schmitt: Okay. Can you drive up...

164:45:24 Cernan: Yep.

164:45:25 Schmitt: ...to the...right there. Let's see...No, I can get them. The thing is, I don't know what it is.

164:45:31 Cernan: Well, but it's part of these fragments around here. (Pause) I guess Turning Point Rock is (visual measuring the rock) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6...Six meters high anyway. It's a...Well, I'd say it's a very rough, subrounded type of rock. By the face...Let me get this, Jack. Okay.

[Cernan - "That's big! I'm obviously impressed with how big it is. Jack says 'Gee, that's a big rock;' and all of a sudden I'm counting 'One, two, three...' All of a sudden I'm eighteen feet high! That's a big rock. And I hate to admit it, but I just cannot picture that rock in my mind. Now, the color pictures I took (AS17-140-21396 to 21398) do bring back some memories. And it may be that I remember because we'd stopped to take the pictures."]
164:45:57 Schmitt: There are two fragments in that sample.

164:46:01 Cernan: 47 Yankee.

164:46:02 Schmitt: Plus some dirt. And it (the sample location)'s about 4 meters from Turning Point Rock on the north side.

164:46:15 Parker: Okay. Copy that. And presume you got some good photos of the rock.

164:46:21 Schmitt: Yeah, I got a couple. (Pause) I hope they're good.

164:46:25 Cernan: Well, I'll tell you what I'm going to do here, real quick.

164:46:28 Schmitt: And my locator is...

164:46:29 Cernan: I'm going to do a...

164:46:31 Schmitt: ...(frame) 56.

164:46:32 Parker: Copy that.

[Jack's "locator" to the South Massif is 21566.]
164:46:33 Cernan: Jack, let me spin around this little crater here to the left.

164:46:36 Schmitt: Bob, it's very coarsely vesicular; but, at first glance, it did not look like the pyroxene gabbro - although that rock (another rock nearby) does. It looks like it might be fragmental, although I'm suspicious that I'm looking at zap pits.

[Now, Gene starts to turn the Rover to get a good view of Turning Point Rock.]
164:47:01 Schmitt: Oh, yeah.

164:47:05 Schmitt: (I'm) getting them (that is, the black&white pictures). I got them. (To Gene) Take one (that is, a color picture). That's a nice view.

[Jack's pictures of Turning Point Rock are 21567 and 21568. This is where Gene takes AS17-140- 21396 to 21398.]

Patrick Vantuyne has created a stereo portrait of Turning Point Rock using Jack's photo 21567 and Gene's photo 21396.

164:47:12 Cernan: Man, we're on a little rise looking at this boulder (from the north). That's incredible. (Pause) Okay. We're on the roll, Bob.

164:47:18 Parker: Copy that.

164:47:20 Schmitt: (To Gene) You know that...(To Bob) Bob, my guess is, right now, is that Turning Point Rock is a big piece of subfloor gabbro.

164:47:32 Parker: Okay. I gather you changed your opinion.

164:47:34 Schmitt: What looked like fragments is just big spalls where the zap pits have cleaned off the rock.

[Schmitt - "From my description, it sounds like Turning Point Rock was the same kind of rock as the north half of the Split Boulder (at Station 6). That boulder was two kinds of rock: a vesicular breccia that had intruded a blue-grey breccia. My first instinct here was to call it a vesicular breccia (164:44:57 and 164:46:36), and then I backed off from that."]

[Jack discusses the relationship between Turning Point Rock and the Station 6 boulder in a comment after 165:35:52.]

164:47:52 Parker: Okay. I copy that. And, guys, you might be happy to know that we think we've finally found the LM, because we were calling that for 188 and 2.8, and you got there at 186 and 2.8.

164:48:06 Cernan: That's not bad. (Pause)

164:48:12 Schmitt: Okay.

[Because Turning Point Rock is almost due north of the landing site, the bearing gives a very good east-west position for the SEP transmitter. The two-degree difference in bearing is equivalent to a 100-meter east-west position difference at a 3-km range. In general, if the planned bearing and range at any particular place was Qp and Rp, respectively, and the actual values are Qa and Ra, then the position differences between the planned SEP location and the actual location are

Dx = Ra sin(Qa) - Rp sin(Qp)

and

Dy = Ra cos(Qa) - Rp cos(Qp).

Here, a positive Dx indicates an eastward displacement of the actual SEP site and a positive Dy indicates a northward displacement. The following table (format by Joe O'Dea) lists estimated displacements for the reasonably-well-defined places visited during EVAs 2 and 3.


Location                Rp(km)    Qp    Ra(km)    Qa    Dx(km)    Dy(km)

Hole-in-the-Wall 5.5 80 5.7 81 0.21 -0.06
Station 2 7.2 68 7.6 71 0.51 -0.22
Station 3 5.6 87 6.0 87 0.40 +0.02
Station 4 4.1 101 4.4 102 0.28 -0.13
Victory Crater 2.8 107 3.2 106 0.28 -0.06
Station 5 1.2 88 1.4 86 0.20 +0.06
Turning Point Rock 2.9 192 2.8 186 0.31 +0.05
Station 6 3.2 198 3.1 192 0.34 +0.01
Station 9 2.3 235 2.2 230 0.20 -0.09
Averages 0.30 -0.05

Readers interested in some of the details of the table should note that, while doing the Nav initialization at the start of EVA-2, Gene read a heading of 283. With the sunshaft device properly zeroed, the heading should have been 282. Houston decided that the difference was too small to justify any heading correction. If there was an error of one degree, then all EVA-2 values of Qa would have to be increased by one degree and, for most of the EVA-2 stations, this would produce about a 100 meter increase in Dy and, for the over-all average, an increase of Dy to 10 meters north. However, it is not clear in the transcript whether Gene followed Houston's advice or, rather, torqued to the new heading. Similarly, we can't be certain that the sun-shaft device was perfectly zeroed, etc. If nothing else, these considerations emphasize the potential uncertainties in position measurements made with the Apollo LRV navigation system. For present purposes, I note that the displacement of the actual SEP site from the planned site is 260 meters east and 60 meters north, compared with 300 meters east and 50 meters south for the table averages. These discrepancies are comparable with those observed by the Apollo 15 and 16 crews. As anticipated, the best estimates come from the closest stations: Victory, Station 5, Turning Point Rock, Station 6, and Station 9. The averages for those stations are 0.26 and -0.01. It is a bit surprising that the north-south result isn't a little better. In detail, the planned SEP site was 100 meters east of the planned landing point or 150 meters west and 50 meters north of the center of Poppie. From the overhead picture, we know that the LM is actually 100 meters north of Poppie; and, from images of the LM obtained from the SEP site and from the Rover bearing readouts, we know that the SEP transmitter is about 140 meters east and 60 meters north of the actual landing spot or 140 meters east and 120 meters north of the center of Poppie.]

[Cernan - "260 meters out of 250 thousand miles ain't bad! They ought to give you that much leeway."]

164:48:13 Cernan: It (the Station 6 boulder)'s the split one up there, Jack. I've had my eye on it. (Pause) Get some more pictures (garbled).

164:48:22 Schmitt: I've lost...

164:48:23 Cernan: There's some big boulders down here. Got it.

[Gene's photo is 21399. Station 6 is the apparent pair of boulders beyond the large foreground boulder. Jack takes a similar picture, 21569, at about this time. David Harland has assembled a trio of frames which show Turning Point Rock (left image) and the Station 6 Split Boulder (right image). In the right-hand image, Split Boulder is just above center at the left side of the image. The center image of the trio is centered on Split Boulder.]
164:48:26 Schmitt: I sort of lost track of Station 6.

164:48:34 Cernan: Nah. I got it. I've had my eye on that boulder. You can't see the track from here. I'll bet you can. I can see it now. We'll see it. We'll be looking right up it; looking right up the old boulder track. (Pause) Man, I tell you, this navigating through here is not...

164:48:55 Schmitt: Okay. We're in a region where, really, the general fragment population is no different. We're up off the break in slope, although you wouldn't notice it.

[They are now on the lower slopes of the North Massif, with presumably little or none of the gabbroic lava beneath them.]
164:49:08 Schmitt: But we are, quite a ways. But the fragment population is not much different than out on the plains. The big difference is that there are these scattered blocks that are from a meter to probably 10 meters...(Correcting himself) No, 5 meters in diameter. Hard to say, maybe 8.
[Jack's photos taken during the approach to Station 6 are AS17-141-21570 to 21574. Two of the major fragments of the Station 6 boulder are labeled in frame 21571. See, also, Figure 6-14 from the Apollo 17 Preliminary Science Report, which is a plan view of the Split Boulder.]
164:49:26 Cernan: See that track coming down? We'll be looking right up that track.

164:49:29 Schmitt: Yeah, yeah, you got it. I didn't realize you were (chuckling) that far upslope.

164:49:31 Cernan: Yeah, we're way upslope!

164:49:33 Schmitt: Yeah. You did it.

164:49:36 Cernan: Not very uncomfortable for me on this side. (Laughing) How do you feel?

164:49:38 Schmitt: Oh, I feel fine. I just...Until I looked down here and saw the slope we're on.

164:49:41 Cernan: Yeah, I know it.

[They are angling upslope, with Jack's side down, as usual.]

[Cernan - "Here we have the responsibilities of command, again. Always watching out for your crew. And Jack deserved every minute of it. And I'll tell you one thing, I got myself on the downslope a couple of times and in one-sixth gravity...I won't say it's uncomfortable; but the Rover is so free to move, so free to bounce, that it seemed if you so much leaned an arm out you'd tip over. The slopes got very noticeable. Now, on a 45 degree slope, sometimes, you'd think you were going straight up. I compare it to bombing runs. You could be in a 60 degree run and you'd absolutely know that you were going straight down at 90 degrees. You always tend to overestimate your angle. If you were looking for a 30 degrees bombing run, you might be at 15 and think you were at 30. And it was the same way here. A 15 or 20 degree slope can be awfully steep when you're on it."]

164:49:45 Schmitt: And I can't see any obvious change in albedo, like we could see with the light mantle yesterday. (Pause) (To Gene) You got a...Don't...There you got her: a nice, nice place. Oh, oh, you don't want to go over that way.

164:50:01 Cernan: I can make it. I want to park right...

164:50:03 Schmitt: (Garbled)

164:50:04 Parker: And, 17, you want to park at a heading of 107; we're going to open the battery covers and let them cool at this station. So a heading of 107.

164:50:16 Cernan: (Pause) 107, huh? Okay. I'll get it up here. (Pause)

164:50:22 Schmitt: Hey, that's going to be moderately level right there (on the west side of the boulder).

164:50:24 Cernan: Yeah.

164:50:26 Schmitt: Trouble is, they (Houston)'re looking into the shady side of the block.

164:50:30 Cernan: Well, if I park on the other side, they won't be able to...I can go right upslope a little bit.

164:50:34 Schmitt: That's all right. We can work in there. No, that's all right.

[Schmitt - "I didn't know what I was going to see on the other side of the block at this point, so I told them that we could work in the shade. You got quite a bit of diffuse light, particularly on a down-Sun face because the Sun backscatters directly on it. You can see pretty well, as some of the photos show."]
164:50:35 Cernan: Yeah, I can't go up there. Let me just...This is going to have to be good. I can't go up there. (Pause)

164:50:49 Schmitt: Yeah, I think you're all right.

164:50:50 Cernan: That's not very level, but...

164:50:52 Schmitt: Oh, not too...Not too hard. Watch that turn. (Pause)

164:50:58 Cernan: That's not very level, but we're not going to get much more level than that.

164:51:01 Schmitt: No, that's good.

164:51:03 Cernan: Let me...They wanted 107. (Pause) That's the best I can do. That's not very level for the gravimeter, but...Let me see if I can get comm.

[There has been little apparent degradation of comm during this bit of maneuvering. Evidently, Houston has been reading them through the LM. They have now parked at Station 6.]

 

Preparations for EVA-3 Apollo 17 Journal Geology Station 6