Sharp Crater

Surveyor Crater and Surveyor III

 

Halo Crater

Corrected Transcript and Commentary Copyright © 1995 by Eric M. Jones.
All rights reserved.
MP3 audio clips by Ken Glover.
Scan credits in the Image Library
Last revised 7 April 2018.

RealAudio Clip (37 min 42 sec)

MP3 Audio Clip ( 36 min 54 sec )

MP3 Audio Clip recorded at Honeysuckle Creek ( 35 min 17 sec )

[This clip is an extract from reel-to-reel, 4-track audio tapes recorded from the audio feed at Honeysuckle Creek by Bernie Scrivener. The tapes were digitized by Mike Dinn in 2007 and now form part of the Apollo 12 Flight Journal, edited by David Woods and Lennox J. Waugh.]

133:09:45 Conrad: Sounds like a pretty good vector. That also says that we are running right into the Sun. Does that agree with you?

133:09:51 Gibson: That's affirmative. You will be running right into the Sun. And (when you get near Halo) directly at your 9 o'clock position, you will see the LM. And then a couple of more steps and you'll be right there.

133:10:01 Conrad: I've got the LM in sight. It's at my 10 o'clock. (Pause) You know what I feel like, Al?

133:10:11 Bean: What?

133:10:12 Conrad: (Chuckling) Did you ever see those pictures of giraffes running in slow motion?

133:10:16 Bean: That's about right.

133:10:17 Conrad: That's exactly what I feel like. (Giggles)

[Bean - "You don't ever want to run up-Sun - or drive up-Sun, as they found out (on the Rover missions) - 'cause you can't see if you're getting ready to step in a hole..."]

[Conrad - "Everything gets flat."]

[Bean - "It's so bright. So you kind of have to tack - or whatever you call it in sailing - 'cause you can never put your eyes up-Sun. You always look to the side, because it's too damn bright. And a good (terrestrial) example, I think, is when you get up on the beach in the morning on the East coast and look out as the Sun comes out. You can not look in that direction, 'cause it's just too intense. Hurts your eyes. And that's the way it is there in this low Sun angle, even though it's much higher than when the Sun comes up on Earth. And that's why I think we're doing what it shows on the map (Figure 3-17 in the Mission report)." Al is referring to the fact that the map shows they did not run in a straight line up-Sun. Figure redrawn by Thomas Schwagmeier.]

[We then discussed the sun visors that were added for later missions. See, also, the discussion at 114:49:00.]

[Bean - "That would shield you like in your car. And then, maybe you could run or drive in the Sun. But they didn't like to drive up-Sun, either. And they had higher Sun than we had right here."]

133:10:32 Conrad: Oh, it's much firmer here. We don't sink in anywheres near as much. Now I'm crossing some of my own tracks.

[They have been on the move for less than a minute and, consequently, are no more than 100 meters east of Sharp. They are crossing the tracks they made in going from Bench to Sharp. Al remembers that he was behind Pete and south, to the right.]

[Figure 10-1 from the Apollo 12 Preliminary Science Report shows the traverse. Prior to August 2014, we linked to NASA image S69-59538, a preliminary representation of the traverse. Thomas Schawgmeier calls attention to the fact that Halo is mislabeled in that map and has provided a revised version.]

133:10:52 Gibson: Roger. Thank you, Al.

133:10:53 Bean: ...kick off on your toe. Every time he lands he sends little particles spraying out ahead of him and beside him and everywhere else. They go out to distances maybe 2 feet to 3 feet around him.

[There is some very good TV of this phenomenon taken during Apollo 17, especially at the end of the Shorty Crater stop when Gene is running back to the Rover from the east rim of the crater.]

133:11:30 Gibson: Okay. Now, if you'll just go directly to the east of the center of Bench Crater and then continue directly east right into the Sun; and then at 9 o'clock, you'll see the LM, and a couple of more steps and you'll be there.

133:11:45 Conrad: (A little out of breath when talking) Okay. (Pause) I've got the decided feeling I'm going to sleep tonight. (Long Pause)

133:12:21 Gibson: Pete, the crater you're looking for, Halo Crater, is just about the same size as Sharp Crater and should resemble it.

133:12:31 Conrad: (Breathing heavily) I think I have it in sight, but I'm not sure. There's a couple of them up...I'll tell you what I'm going to do, Houston. I'm going to take an EMU break. How you doing, Al?

133:12:44 Bean: Okay. (Pause)

[Jones - "(To Pete) Although it is you that is calling for an EMU break in this instance, I've been told that, when you were working hard and Houston asked for an EMU check, what they really meant was 'take a break'."]

[Conrad - "It is. We had sort of a code. They didn't want to say 'you guys look tired' and then the whole world says 'they're fucking fainting on the Moon.' We'd stop and take a sample."]

[They have been breathing fairly heavily during this run. They left Sharp Crater at about 133:09:25 and have been running for 3 minutes 20 seconds. The best post-mission estimates of their current location is about 60 meters east of the center of Bench Crater, having run about 220 meters on a non-straight course. Their average speed, therefore, has been about 4.0 km/hr. With a more flexible suit - re-designed with an added waist convolute (bellows) so that they could sit on the Rover - the J-mission crews could run faster, with less effort, and a well-documented Apollo 17 run of 5.4 km/hr by Jack Schmitt was typical. As another indication of how much more effort was required to run in the Apollo 12 suit, as they stop at this moment to take a break, both Pete and Al have reached heart rates near 160 beats per minute. In comparison, Jack Schmitt's peak heart rate during a run of comparable length was 130 beats per minute. And, instead of hearing heavy breathing, listeners on Earth were treated to a rendition of "I was strolling on the Moon one day," sung with relative ease.]

[Until much later I thought that Pete called this break because they were getting winded and, indeed, Al thought so, too, during our 1991 mission review.]

[Bean - (Laughing) "I'm saying, 'I feel great, let's run 500 yards more!' and I'm probably about to drop over. You got to know that works. You wait for the other guy to break so you can act like it's no sweat. So the Earth thinks something's wrong with the other guy, and really, you're dragging it."]

[However, a few moments earlier in the review, Pete mentioned that "Sometimes he was in front of me. Like off at 2 o'clock. Because, somewhere in here, Al's suit coughs". As mentioned previously with regard to the secret photographic timer, I sometimes missed potential pearls like this one because I was thinking ahead and was trusting the tape recorder too much. Fortunately, Pete also mentioned the incident to fellow Apollo researcher Andrew Chaikin and, in August 1993, Andrew and I worked out the story. The following suppositions have been checked with Pete and Al and they agree that it is a plausible account.]

[At 133:10:53 Al is running behind Pete, flying at about Pete's 4 or 5 o'clock position. We believe this because of Al's comments about the dust Pete is kicking every time he lands. By 12:32, Al has caught up and has passed Pete - as per Pete's recollection that Al was in front when his suit coughed - and then, just as Pete says "There's a couple of them up...", Al hears or feels a sudden pressure change and stops to check his cuff gauge. Pete sees this and tells Houston, "I'll tell you what I'm going to do, Houston. I'm going to take an EMU break. How are you doing, Al?" Al replies "Okay", but neither of them makes any report of pressures, oxygen quantities, or flag status as would be normal in an EMU break. Chaikin and I suspect that Pete is standing by while Al watches his pressure gauge and then, once he is satisfied that everything is normal, they do some sampling and picture taking, and then return to the problem of finding Halo Crater.]

[There is one final mystery. Pete and Al both remember that they said something to Houston at the time of the incident. However, there is nothing like that on the PAO tape provided to me by NASA in 1989, nor in the audio recorded in real-time from the downlink at Honeysuckle Creek by Bernie Scrivener. If Pete or Al had said something to Houston at this time, Ed Gibson would have responded. Instead, his transmissions here all concern the problem of finding Halo Crater. At some point - and it may have been after they got back to Earth, Pete and Al did report the incident, because it is discussed in the Mission Report. Thanks to Journal Contributors Phil Karn and Colin Mackellar for their help in removing some of the uncertainty in our understanding of this incident.]

[From the Apollo 12 Mission Report, Section 14.3.8 Suit Pressure Pulses - "During the second extravehicular period, the Lunar Module Pilot indicated that he felt something that could have been two pressure pulses in the pressure garment assembly, but he could not determine whether the pulses were increases or decreases in pressure. During the first pressure pulse, the cuff gauge indication for the pressure garment assembly was normal. The mission time for the reported pressure pulse, based on a sharp rise in the Lunar Module Pilot's heart rate, was determined to be between 133:09:00 and 133:12:00. (Readers will note that the person who wrote this account was unaware, apparently, of any specific statement in the transcript about a pressure pulse or that Al's heart rate was up during this 3 minute interval - as was Pete's - because he was running.) Although suit data were reviewed throughout both extravehicular periods, there was no evidence of a pressure pulse. In particular, data from 133:06:16 until 133:12:19 showed that the pressure garment assembly pressure remained constant at 3.86 psi. (Readers will note that this interval does include the moment when we think the incident happened.) A sudden pressure increase must come from the pressure regulator in the portable life support system. The increased pressure would remain high until the suit pressure returned to normal, but at a slow rate which would not exceed 0.3 psi/min. For a measurable pulse increase of 0.1 psi, this decay would take 20 seconds and would be detectable in telemetry data. A sudden pressure decrease indicates a momentary leak in the system. For a measurable decrease of 0.1 psi, the portable life support system maximum makeup rate at the given conditions would take 1.7 seconds and would also be detectable in the data. Considering the slow makeup capability of the portable life support system, the slow pressure decay rate of the pressure garment assembly, and the capability to detect, in the data, pressure changes greater than 0.04 psi which last for more than 1 second, there is no evidence that indicates a system malfunction. The crewman had a stuffy head condition during this time period. "Popping" the ears was ruled out, but some other effect internal to the ear may have created the sensation. This anomaly is closed."]

[The following came up much later in the 1991 mission review, but is another statement by Pete and Al that they said something to Houston at the time of the suit "cough".]

[Conrad - "On the long run (between Sharp and Halo), all of a sudden you said...you asked Houston to look at your suit."]

[Bean - "That's exactly...And I stopped and then they told me it looked okay. It's not on the tape. I'm sure we did it, though."]

[Jones - "Now this is a PAO (Public Affairs Office) tape and it's possible that they edited it out before they sent it out on the net. There are other examples (such as a brief exchange in German between Dave Scott and Joe Allen at one of the Apollo 15 wake-up calls)."]

[Bean - "It's possible to do that. That's the kind of thing they might edit out, because someone might be worried about the suit. I was worried about the suit."]

[Conrad - "Yeah. I know that you talked to me and I know you talked to the ground."]

[Bean - "Where do you think it was?"]

[Conrad - "Between Sharp and Halo, on the long run. We were loping across there and, all of a sudden you said, 'Something funny happened to my suit'."]

[Bean - "Sure did. I remember that."]

[Conrad - "Or pressure. You said something. And, you know, I'm looking. I didn't want to see you disappear like a balloon."]

[Bean - "(Laughing) You wanted to say good-bye."]

133:13:03 Conrad: Okay. Well, Halo...I wonder if I'm standing...You suppose this is it, Al?

133:13:09 Bean: Well, it doesn't have any halo around it.

133:13:13 Conrad: Yeah, I know. But you never can tell from here (that is, from the surface).

133:13:17 Bean: You can look at the map when you get here.

133:13:20 Conrad: Tell you one thing I'd go for is a good drink of ice water.

[For the later missions, the astronauts wore a drink bag suspended just inside the neckring. The bag had a short straw attached and, if the astronaut needed a drink, he could reach over and take a sip. Journal Contributor John Pfannerstill points out that "during the fateful 'last' TV broadcast from Apollo 13, which concluded just minutes before the oxygen tank blew," Fred Haise demonstrated the drink bag for the audience on Earth. See, also, pages 92 and 94 in the Apollo 13 Press Kit ( 6Mb PDF ).]

133:13:30 Conrad: Okay.

[Bean - "I'd forgotten that Pete said that. That might have been one of the things that triggered them to start putting drinks in the suits. Plus, they're going to be out longer. And here we are, already thirsty. And I think we would have done better, on our EVAs, if we could have rehydrated. I'm sure the doctors said ' look at the water those guys have lost and they're not performing as good as they could if they had been drinking water.' They don't even know it, but a lot of times you're debilitating yourself. You don't know it, because you don't have a reference."]

[This may be a veiled suggestion that they take a break. The Flight Surgeon has probably been getting a little concerned about their heart rates. On the other hand, Houston may also want pressure and oxygen readouts, not having had one yet during this EVA.]

133:13:48 Conrad: Okay. I know where we are.

[For just a moment, Pete does not sound his usual, confident self.]

133:13:57 Conrad: Mine reads 55 (percent) O2 also, Houston.

133:14:00 Gibson: Copy. Fifty-five both.

133:14:02 Conrad: (Garbled) beautiful. (Here's a) round glass ball they got to have, Al. Quarter of an inch. (Pause) Let me have a sample bag.

133:14:16 Bean: Coming. Coming.

133:14:19 Conrad: Look at that. (Pause)

133:14:24 Bean: Okay; just a second.

133:14:30 Conrad: First time I've worked up a heart rate, I think.

133:14:33 Bean: Okay. This is sample bag 11D.

133:14:37 Conrad: I didn't take a picture. I just wanted to...

133:14:39 Bean: Okay. Watch that crater behind you. Don't step back. (Pause)

133:14:48 Conrad: Wait a minute. This is glass beads.

133:14:52 Bean: I know. I was thinking of this. We got a total of about 5 pounds of rocks.

133:14:56 Conrad: Okay.

133:14:57 Bean: I'd hate to have us get back to the LM and then have to fill it up around there again.

133:15:02 Conrad: Ah, we're going to the Surveyor Crater.

133:15:05 Bean: Okay.

133:15:06 Conrad: I think we can get to the bottom of that baby.

133:15:08 Bean: Why don't you take a rest here?

133:15:09 Conrad: Yeah.

133:15:10 Bean: Funny. Do your hands get hot holding that shovel?

133:15:14 Conrad: My hands just get hot, period. I don't know whether it is the shovel or what.

133:15:18 Bean: You know, as long as it...Like now, mine are cool. But the minute I start carrying this tool carrier, they start warming up. Wouldn't think the thing would be that hot.

[Bean - "Maybe it isn't that the tool is hot. When you grip your hand around there, then the air can't flow in your hand area any more. So your hands don't have the air circulation they normally do. Before, they were just kind of floating in the middle and the air's being blown around. But once you grip, then the air can't get down in there. Or, maybe it's a combination of both."]

133:15:32 Bean: Okay. I'll get you; you're right there by a crater.

[Pete's tourist picture of Al is AS12-49- 7281. A detail from AS12-49-7281 shows Al's checklist open to pages 12 and 13 in his EVA-2 checklist. Ulli Lotzmann has provided a photograph of the same two pages taken in Alan's Houston studio.]

[A second detail shows the lettering at the lower right (from our perspective) of the RCU.]

133:15:36 Bean: Right in the background. (You) look great. There you go. (Pause)

[Al's tourist picture of Pete is AS12-48- 7071. Note that Pete's checklist is open to one of the pages on which the backup crew pasted a Playboy Playmate picture. Note, also, the LM in the background. Journal Contributor Ken Glover notes that the playmate pictures in both checklists were taken from the 1970 Playboy Playmate Calendar. Doug Bennett notes that the two Playmates in Pete's checklist are Angela Dorian (born Victoria Vetri), Miss September 1967, and Reagan Wilson, Miss October 1967, who is seen in Al's picture of Pete. The two Playmates in Al's checklist are Cynthia Myers, Miss December 1968, and Leslie Bianchini, Miss January 1969.]

133:15:51 Bean: (Garbled under Pete)

133:15:52 Conrad: ...at a slower pace. I know where we're going now. I think this is Halo Crater right up here in front of us. (Pause)

133:16:11 Bean: Hey, Ed, you might tell Fred Haise (Apollo 13 LMP) he ought to quit working on running and start working on holding things in his hands for long periods. My legs don't get a bit tired, but your hands get tired carrying these tools, particularly the Hand Tool Carrier.

133:16:29 Gibson: Roger, Al. Sure will. I'm sure he is listening.

133:16:31 Bean: Yeah, you wouldn't (think) ...(Stops to listen to Gibson) I think that's funny; you wouldn't think it that way. (Pause)

133:16:40 Conrad: Tell Jim Lovell (the Apollo 13 Commander) to practice digging. (Laughs)

[Bean, from the 1969 Technical Debrief - "The only physical thing I noticed on the second EVA was that my hands were more tired than on the first EVA. I would definitely work on the hands (in pre-flight physical training) a lot more the next time."]

[Conrad, from the 1969 Technical Debrief - "I didn't notice that my hands got tired as much as I noticed that they got sore. When you work for 4 hours and use your hands, you have a tendency to press the end of your fingertips into the end of the gloves. Although my hands never got stiff or tired, they were quite sore the next day when we started the second EVA. As soon as you got working again, you forget it. It wasn't until we got back in the Command Module that we noticed our hands were sore again. But this was because we did almost 8 straight hours of EVA work (that is, two four-hour EVAs completed in a 20-hour period), which we had never really done before; and I think in one g you don't have the tendency to thrust your hands as far down to the bottom of the gloves as you do in one-sixth g. You really ought to hang onto something up there. It's not as apparent when you're working up there that you are pressing you fingers as far out in the gloves."]

[The J-mission crews (Apollos 15, 16, and 17) each did three 7-hour EVAs and experienced not only fatigue and soreness in the hands and forearms but also varying degrees of abrasion and damage, particularly to the ends of the fingers and to the fingernails. Jack Schmitt and others, for example, had their fingernails lift off the quick as a result of repeated contact with the inside of the gloves as he pushed his fingers forward.]

133:16:52 Conrad: You're right.

133:16:53 Bean: Look at all...Lookit here. We got all sorts of...

133:16:54 Conrad: This is Halo.

[Thanks to the pictures they took, some of which show the LM, we know that they are still about 70 meters northwest of Halo Crater.]

133:17:11 Conrad: Yeah. Why don't you come up here...

133:17:13 Bean: Okay.

133:17:14 Conrad: ...and we will take a couple of good dirt bag samples of this stuff.

133:17:16 Bean: Okay.

[Al takes two pictures from the northeast, AS12-48- 7072 and 7073.]

[Meanwhile, Pete takes a cross-Sun stereopair from the north, AS12-49- 7282 and 7283.]

133:17:20 Bean: It's interesting. You know, I think this looks like that material that we talked about the first day in front of the LM. Maybe it runs past the LM down into this area. But it's sure different than where we've been. It looks almost (like) it's more...The material is more cohesive and forms clumps, instead of being so nice and smooth.

[During the 1991 mission review, Pete and Al speculated that this phenomenon could be due to the LM engine.]

[Conrad - "From here to there (at the LM) ain't all that far. Things went out radially. Again, from the Sun, you wouldn't necessarily see some of the stuff that was out in front of the LM."]

[Bean - "That is possible. Because, you're right; we never crossed this stuff anywhere but here. And maybe that's what the engine did. 'Cause it isn't all that far."]

[At this point, Al remembered something Pete had said about the final moments of landing, at 110:38:39: "That (dust) went a long way. That stuff was going to the horizon."]

[Bean - "So, if those little pebbles are going horizontally out to the horizon, well, this is sure closer than the horizon."]

[Conrad - (Laughing) "Well, you know that stuff can go a long way!"]

[Bean - "Hell, yeah. You can kick it a long way. So, imagine what that rocket engine did. And if you're looking down there and seeing it going out to the horizon, that's quite conceivable that's blowing all those little ridges, just like you said."]

133:17:28 Conrad: I was waiting for the gnomon to damp out, but...(Pause)

[Because of the weak lunar gravity, the gnomon's oscillation frequency is quite low. The free swinging rod is about 45 cm long and, therefore, has a period of about 3 seconds. Without interference, the motion damps quite slowly. There is some good TV of an oscillating gnomon at Station 2 on Apollo 15. Apollo 12 training photo S69-55368 shows Pete (right) and Al practicing sample collection in the Crew Training Building at the Cape. Pete has evidently just placed the gnomon because the vertical rod is well off vertical and, undoubtedly, is swinging.]

133:17:58 Conrad: I wanted to get my footprints in it too, so they can see that.

133:18:02 Bean: Okay. (Pause)

[Pete's picture of his footprints is AS12-49- 7284.]

133:18:10 Bean: Okay, I think I will take some a little further away. Back up a little, and shoot a 15-foot (focus) one if it's okay.

[Al's takes three pictures at 15-feet, AS12-48- 7074 to 7076.]

133:18:22 Bean: All right. I will be back to collect it in just a second; let me get this 15 footer.

133:18:27 Conrad: (To Houston) Is Halo Crater slightly big(ger than Sharp)...Yeah. (Not true)

133:18:33 Bean: Okay, I'm shooting about four here. (Pause) Okay. (It's) real interesting that this...

[Al only gets three frames and the difference may be the first indication we have that his handle-mounted trigger is beginning to malfunction.]

133:18:44 Bean: Okay, Pete.

133:18:45 Conrad: ...scoop this stuff.

133:18:46 Bean: Okay. Let me...

133:18:47 Conrad: Boy, it sure is fine; it's kind of like over at the other...at Sharp Crater.

133:18:55 Bean: Yeah. Looks the same, except on the surface it just seems...

133:18:58 Conrad: Except it looks almost finer.

133:19:00 Bean: Uh-huh.

133:19:01 Conrad: Wait a minute and I'll get you another bag full.

133:19:02 Bean: It's funny though. If you saw this on Earth, you would think it was a real soft dirt that it had just been rained on recently. Not hard rain, but just a sprinkle, so that the droplets (garbled under Pete)

[Other crews found the raindrop pattern almost everywhere they went. It is probably the result of micrometeorite bombardment and/or ejecta spray.]

133:19:15 Bean: Now, that's a good sample bag full. That's 12D, Houston, the sample bag number...

133:19:20 Conrad: Is Halo Crater...

133:19:21 Gibson: Copy, 12B (sic).

133:19:21 Conrad: ...a shallow crater, Houston? With a couple or three dimple craters in the south side of it?

133:19:31 Gibson: Stand by, Pete.

133:19:34 Conrad: Okay.

133:19:35 Bean: We can collect a rock while we wait, Pete.

133:19:38 Conrad: Yeah. Well, look; I think this is Halo Crater right here.

133:19:41 Bean: All right. Let's ease over there...

133:19:42 Conrad: ...And let's go get some rocks from it and everything. We're seeing it right...We've actually got the soil sample from part of it.

133:19:49 Bean: Okay. (Long Pause)

133:20:09 Conrad: But this isn't 20 feet in diameter. Is it right on the rim of the Surveyor crater, Houston?

133:20:15 Gibson: That's affirmative; and, from your comments on the three dimples, we show that you're there.

[Houston is mistaken.]

133:20:26 Gibson: We'd like to get the pan and the double core tube.

133:20:27 Conrad: (Garbled)

133:20:33 Bean: I can't believe we're at the right place.

133:20:35 Conrad: I'm not sure we're at the right place, either. Let me look at the top of this hill here.

133:20:39 Bean: This is Surveyor Crater. Let me look at the chart. There's a nice rock right there.

133:20:45 Conrad: Here's Surveyor.

133:20:49 Bean: Let me look at the map. Not even hardly a crater worth looking at where we are. (Pause) Okay.

133:20:59 Gibson: Okay, Pete. It's your call there. You're the local experts. If you see a better location for that double core tube, go ahead.

133:21:10 Conrad: Yeah. We're trying to find the right crater, Houston.

[According to the detailed traverse map published in the Apollo 12 Preliminary Science Report (Figure 10-1), they have been sampling at a spot about 50 to 60 meters northwest of Halo Crater.]

[Conrad - "Well, here's where we did the double core tube sample, and this is Halo crater. So we went all the way around it. We never did find it."]

[During the next few minutes, they will move south, away from Surveyor Crater, looking for Halo. They will pass near its west rim and finally stop to take the double core tube about 30 to 40 meters south of it.]

133:21:24 Conrad: Okay.

133:21:25 Bean: So we can just go over there and...

133:21:27 Conrad: Which one's Halo? This one right here?

133:21:29 Bean: No; it's right...You see where I'm pointing!

133:21:31 Conrad: No.

133:21:32 Bean: As I see it, it's that one right over there.

133:21:34 Conrad: Okay. Let's go.

133:21:36 Bean: Okay.

133:21:37 Conrad: I have the double core tube.

133:21:38 Bean: All right.

133:21:39 Conrad: And you want what, Houston, a partial pan?

133:21:44 Gibson: That's affirmative. (Pause) We'd like a full pan at that point, Pete.

133:21:50 Conrad: I just (garbled)...

133:21:51 Gibson: And also, Al, if you could give us some sort of an estimate of how hard it is to get the core tube in. That is, what the force history is; how many pounds and how much force.

133:22:01 Bean: Sure will.

133:22:02 Conrad: Hey, look at this little neat-o crater right here. (Pause) It's a good place to sample. (Pause) Oh, look at all the glass in the bottom of that baby.

133:22:19 Bean: Got a lot of that (in sample bags), though.

133:22:20 Conrad: Huh?

133:22:21 Bean: Got a lot of glass. Now, there...

133:22:23 Conrad: Yeah.

133:22:24 Bean: I think that's Halo right there.

133:22:25 Conrad: Which one?

133:22:26 Bean: (Garbled).

133:22:27 Conrad: (Garbled) looking at.

133:22:28 Bean: Right over (garbled) that one right there.

133:22:29 Conrad: Too big.

133:22:30 Bean: Too big, huh?

133:22:31 Conrad: Let's take this one right here.

133:22:34 Bean: All right. That's good. (Pause) Lots of glass down in the bottom of this baby...

[Bean - "I'll bet you did see Halo and we decided it was too big. Dumb thinking."]

[Conrad - "Listen, we worked hard finding those things."]

[Bean - "Yeah, but Halo Crater was pretty much an arbitrary choice on their part. I mean, they're making an estimate from Earth that it's going to be a very interesting geological point. And it may or it may not be. And the one we got may have been better or it may have been worse."]

133:22:46 Bean: Sure could. Just a second. (You can) see mine probably, Pete.

133:22:51 Conrad: You'd better take all these pictures. I'm running out.

133:22:53 Bean: Well, I'd better change cameras because...

[Al will do most of the photography of the Surveyor and needs to have enough film left to do that task.]

133:22:56 Bean: Let's see. You've got 110. You've got plenty to go.

133:22:59 Conrad: Hey, you know what's happened?

133:23:01 Bean: Uh-uh.

133:23:02 Conrad: This thing hasn't been taking every picture.

133:23:03 Bean: Take a picture and let's see.

133:23:04 Conrad: I just caught it. I mean, it's been doing it intermittently.

[As they will discover in a few minutes, the trigger/handle assemblies on both cameras have come loose. See the discussion at 133:29:22.]

133:23:17 Gibson: Pete, we copy 60 and 110 on the film.

133:23:23 Conrad: That's affirm.

133:23:24 Bean: Here, look at the chart a minute, Pete, while (garbled)...

133:23:26 Conrad: Yeah. Okay.

133:23:28 Bean: (Garbled). Be careful. (Garbled) (Long Pause)

133:23:55 Gibson: Pete and Al, we'd like you to go ahead and get the pans taken on the LMP's camera. You can either have Al do the pans or switch cameras. Your choice.

133:24:10 Conrad: Okay. Roger-Roger. (Pause)

[Houston has decided that Al has enough film left to do both the pan and the Surveyor photography.]

133:24:27 Conrad: Okay.

[They are assembling the double core tube. Pete is probably pulling the pip pin in the section they will use for the bottom half of the double; and, then, is unscrewing the bit from the section that they will use as the upper half.]

[I asked about the relative difficulty of doing these tasks with the gloves on.]

[Conrad - "It's just the same old business of it being difficult because of our moving around. It's tough being able to move our hands and hold things in the proper position - to get the right (correct) angle because you just can't do these kinds of things any old way. So I think any slow downs were suit restrictions. All that gear worked once we got our hands on it the right way."]

133:24:34 Bean: Okay. (Pause) Hey, good show!

133:24:41 Conrad: Okay. (Pause) Double core tube. You can drive it.

133:24:47 Bean: (I'll) give it a go.

133:24:48 Conrad: I'm going to hand you the hammer.

133:24:50 Bean: I'm not sure that double core tube screws on as far as it should. Try it again.

[Gibson is talking with Gordon and, once again, Jack Schmitt takes over the comm briefly.]

133:25:05 Bean: Okay. The lower core tube is number 3, I think.

133:25:07 Conrad: Yeah.

133:25:09 Bean: Three?

133:25:10 Conrad: Three, and the upper one's 1.

133:25:12 Bean: Okay. Ready to pound it.

133:25:14 Conrad: Where are you going to drive it?

133:25:16 Bean: Where would you recommend?

133:25:17 Conrad: Well, let's go over to this crater right here.

133:25:19 Bean: Okay. (Pause) Boy, it's soft around those little craters. (Pause) How about right here?

133:25:31 Conrad: Yeah.

133:25:33 Bean: Want to take a picture?

133:25:34 Conrad: Yep. (Garbled)

133:25:36 Bean: I can shove it in a little. I hope this is a good soft place.

133:25:39 Conrad: Yeah.

[AS12-49- 7285 shows Al shoving the core tube into the ground by hand. In 7286 he has begun to hammer.]

133:25:50 Conrad: Keep augering.

133:26:02 Bean: Hope we got a good spot. I don't really think this is the right place. (Pause) Some of those things aren't so obvious.

133:26:11 Conrad: Got awful solid, didn't it?

[Unlike the core tube sampling at Sharp, we can not hear Al's hammer strokes here at Halo.]

[In his post-Apollo career as an artist, Al uses the hammer, a core tube bit, and a replica of the soles of his lunar boots to texture his paintings. Ulli Lotzmann photographed the hammer (view 1 and view 2) and the bit during a late-2000 visit to Al's studio in Houston.]

133:26:55 Bean: I'm afraid some of the fragments will damage the suit. It's not damaging itself. You know, it's just breaking...Hey, I'm better left handed than right. There goes another fragment. Do you see it, Pete?

133:27:06 Conrad: Yeah, I'm watching.

[Conrad - "The hammer has a coating."]

[Bean - "And probably for thermal reasons. It's probably a steel hammer with an aluminum coating or something. But it sure knocked it off."]

[Conrad - "Yep. You (meaning Al) have the hammer (in your personal collection of memorabilia)."]

[Bean - "Yes, and you can see (where the coating got) knocked off. And you can also see where I knocked into the shaft, just below the head, a number of times."]

[Conrad - "Yeah, you missed (with the head) and hit (with) the shaft."]

[Bean - "And then they made a bigger hammer that was heavier. Ours wasn't heavy enough to smack the core tubes enough. They had a new, heavier hammer (1300 grams rather than 860 grams) with about twice the surface area on the side of the head."]

[Jones - "Had the technique of using the side of the hammer become obvious in training?"]

[Bean - "Well, I don't know."]

[Jones - "I think Buzz used the side of the hammer (as can be seen in Apollo 11 photo AS11-40-5964)."]

[Bean - "I used both. I'd swing around. I'd miss it a few times on the front, change to the side and bang it. It was better if you could hit it on the front, 'cause you had a little more momentum right behind it that way - like an arrow. So I'd miss it a few times and I'd get frustrated and turn it on its side and pound. Then I'd miss a few times that way. It was more just trying to find a good place I could consistently do it, which I never did. I'd miss about every fourth stroke, and it would make me mad, 'cause I'd think I was going to hit myself in the leg. And you lose your balance when that thing swings right by, and you're not balanced too good, anyway. So it was a lot of extra work when you missed it. You needed a bigger one; you just couldn't be that accurate. At least, I couldn't be."]

133:27:17 Conrad: Okay. He's up to the bottom of the handgrip portion of the upper tube. He's really driving that baby.

133:27:24 Bean: Look at that ham(mer). Look at that! Look at that! It looks like it's got a coating over the hammer, Pete, and I'm knocking the coating. Instead of being steel or aluminum hammer, it's...

133:27:34 Conrad: Yeah.

133:27:35 Bean: ...some sort of coated arrangement.

133:27:37 Schmitt: That's affirmative, Al. There is a coating on that hammer and that's probably what you're knocking off. And also, we want to be sure to get the site there documented.

133:27:47 Bean: We'll document it for you.

133:27:50 Conrad: Coming up.

133:27:51 Bean: We almost got it, Houston. Almost

133:27:53 Conrad: Hit something solid there, didn't you?

133:27:56 Bean: No. It's just getting down there, Pete.

133:27:58 Conrad: Hey, that baby is in the ground.

133:28:00 Bean: We've got a double. Now the question is can we pull it out? (Pete laughs)

[Al's last phrase was delivered in a good imitation of Pete's distinctive speech pattern.]

133:28:12 Conrad: I do, too.

133:28:15 Bean: Ought to get some of these rocks nearby here. (Pause) Come on; let's see here. 250, 11.

133:28:24 Conrad: All right. (Pause)

[Al's down-Sun pictures of the core tube at Halo Crater are AS12-48- 7077 and 7078.]

[Pete's cross-Sun's are AS12-49- 7287 and 7288.]

133:28:35 Conrad: You do it. I don't have that much film.

[They have a spare film magazine in the HTC but, not having planned to change magazines during the EVA, they aren't thinking in those terms. This seems to be an instance of training so tightly to the mission plan - a function of having a large number of tasks to accomplish in a short time - that it is difficult to switch gears. This topic will come up again in the context of the secret timer.]

133:28:41 Conrad: All right. (Pause) Hey, would you lift mine off when you're through?

133:28:51 Bean: Sure will.

[Pete is asking Al to lift the CDR camera/bracket assembly off the fitting on the front of Pete's RCU.]

133:28:59 Bean: Now, you hold that one (meaning the LMP camera).

133:29:00 Conrad: Hey, that (meaning the LMP camera assembly)'s about to come apart.

133:29:02 Bean: I'll be darned if it isn't. I'll fix it; hold the handle there. (Garbled)

133:29:07 Conrad: Why don't I...

133:29:09 Bean: Whoa!

133:29:09 Conrad: It did come apart.

133:29:10 Bean: It did come apart. Son of a gun. Well, that kind of bombed out. I tell you what, the only thing we can...(garbled) is it broke!

133:29:19 Conrad: Sure did break.

133:29:22 Bean: Well, I'll tell you what happened, Houston. The nut (the thumbwheel on the LMP trigger/handle assembly) that holds the handle of the camera on broke off. And so, the handle's free, but that's okay. We'll just carry it around.

[The following is taken from the Apollo 12 Mission Report. See, also, Figure 14-45. "During the second extravehicular period, the Commander's camera did not advance and count every time the trigger was squeezed. Shortly afterwards, when both the camera assemblies were being removed from the remote control units (RCU's) in order to exchange them, both assemblies were loose, although they had been well tightened before egress (from the LM). In the process of retightening on the lunar surface, the thumbwheel fell off the Lunar Module Pilot's camera assembly, making reassembly impossible. The empty camera and faulty assembly were then discarded."]

[Thomas Schwagmeier points out that, at 134:01:06, Pete suggests that they throw the LMP camera away, a clear indication that they still have it. Al argues that they might need it if the CDR camera fails. At 134:03:54, they take the LMP camera handle out of the HTC and discard the handle. At 135:17:59, Pete tells Houston "I threw the other (70mm) camera away because it was broken." This suggests that he discarded it sometime after Al got back to the LM with the HTC.]

[Returning to the Mission Report: "The Commander's camera assembly was retightened and performed satisfactorily during the remainder of the extravehicular activity. The intermittency experienced by the Commander in the shutter, counter, and film advance actions was the result of excessive trigger play caused by the loose assembly. The loss of thumbwheel experienced by the Lunar Module Pilot was apparently the result of the improper installation of the thumbwheel set screw. For future missions, the cupped spring washer will be replaced by a star washer to resist rotation and loosening of the assembly screw, and the thumbwheel will be secured to the screw with a roll pin, instead of a set screw."]

[Despite these changes, on Apollo 17 Jack Schmitt's camera handle came loose early in the second EVA. For nearly an hour, while he and Gene Cernan drove to their first geology stop of the EVA, he had to hold the camera tightly to keep it from coming completely apart and suffered considerable forearm fatigue as a result. Once Gene and Jack reached their destination, they were able to retighten the camera handle and proceed without a significant loss of time or capability.]

133:29:38 Schmitt: Roger, Al. We got you. We understand that the nut (thumbwheel) broke, but the camera is still usable, right?

133:29:46 Bean: (To Schmitt) Yeah. (To Pete) And your nut's loose too, Pete. Stay there. Let me tighten it up for you. Think they work loose in one-sixth g; we knew that, we should have watched it more carefully. Can you help do that yourself?

133:30:04 Conrad: Yeah.

133:30:05 Bean: Because it's hard for me to do (while Pete's still wearing the CDR camera).

133:30:06 Conrad: Yeah.

133:30:07 Bean: Let me go put the hammer up (on the handtool carrier) and (put) this (LMP) camera somewhere and (I'll) be right back. (Pause) There goes the bracket, but that's okay. Still got the camera. (Pause)

[Because the thumbwheel fell of the LMP handle/trigger assembly, there was nothing to secure the bracket to the camera, so the bracket has fallen off.]

133:30:29 Bean: All right.

133:30:29 Conrad: ...(Garbled) it off

133:30:30 Bean: Okay. There's no need to get it off now.

133:30:35 Conrad: Okay. I'll leave it on. No; I want to give it to you.

133:30:39 Bean: And you're going to use this one?

133:30:42 Conrad: Al, you got to take the Surveyor pictures, so why don't I give you the (CDR) camera?

133:30:46 Bean: Okay. That's good enough.

133:30:49 Conrad: And you've still got 50 pictures or so. So watch it. Make sure it takes a picture each time it turns.

133:30:54 Bean: Okay.

133:30:55 Conrad: And just...Why don't you....Your camera...

133:30:58 Bean: I'll tell you what...

133:30:59 Conrad: Well, here, I'll hold it (meaning the LMP camera) and you take this one off.

133:31:01 Bean: Okay. You got that (LMP) camera. (I'll) take this one (CDR camera) off. (Garbled) take it off and then I'll tighten the nut. (Pause) Okay; now, I'm going to (garbled) it down a little bit.

133:31:12 Conrad: Wait a minute; I'll hold that down.

[Pete is probably holding on to his RCU so that it doesn't move as Al removes the camera/bracket assembly.]

133:31:18 Conrad: I'm trying to.

[The camera bracket comes up and out of the RCU mount and, while Al pulls up on the camera, Pete is pushing down on the RCU, essentially doubling the force they are applying to overcome friction between the bracket and the mount.]

133:31:22 Conrad: Who put it on there?

133:31:23 Bean: Got to push down some more.

133:31:25 Conrad: I can't. There you go.

133:31:27 Bean: Okay, now. (See if) I can tighten this thing. (Pause) Okay, I'm tightening it so it'll get tight. (Pause) Okay. I got enough there; that'll be enough.

[Readers should note that, in the following exchange, it is not at all crystal clear what is being done with the cameras and in what order. See the discussion following 133:32:05.]

133:31:45 Bean: All right.

133:31:46 Conrad: Just drop that one (the LMP camera) in here (into the HTC).

133:31:47 Bean: Well, why don't you...

133:31:48 Conrad: No need to carry it.

133:31:48 Bean: Well, you could carry it.

133:31:50 Bean: Well, that's what I'd do. Carry it or something (in case they need to use the film in magazine 48).

133:31:52 Conrad: But I got too much other stuff (the gnomon and the scoop)

133:31:54 Bean: Let me carry part of it or something. Okay. Let me go pull out the core tube (which is still in the ground)

133:31:58 Conrad: No, I tell you what. We can always take the magazine off this (that is, off the LMP camera) and put it on the other one (the CDR camera).

133:32:01 Bean: That's what we can do, I guess.

133:32:03 Conrad: Yeah. We just drop it in here.

133:32:05 Bean: Okay.

[Al has been using magazine 48 and Pete has been using 49. From here on, Al uses the CDR camera with magazine 49. During the mission review, it took some while to figure out what was going on here, in part because Pete and Al had mis-remembered the incident, thinking that it was Pete's camera that had fallen apart. The following is Al's summation after we got the matter more or less straight in our minds.]

[Bean - "Here's what I think happened. Let's see if you (Pete) agree with this. You mentioned that you don't think your (CDR) camera was taking all the pictures. That's probably because your nut was loose. So we decide to change cameras. When I take my (LMP) camera off to give it to you, it's even looser and the bracket falls off. Then we go over and tighten yours up, because yours is loose and failing to take all pictures. However, your nut is still there. So we tighten your nut up and your camera's starting to work. Mine's out of business because it's fallen apart. So I end up with your (CDR) camera. And my camera was the one that came apart. When I always thought it was your camera that came apart because yours didn't work at first."]

[Jones - "So you wound up with Pete's camera mounted on your RCU."]

[Bean - "My bracket (meaning the part on the camera) came off because my nut probably came completely off - Pete's got loose - and maybe I missed some pictures, too. And I never knew it. And then we go over and tighten Pete's up and put it on me and the other one we stick in the bag. So I'm carrying it around in the bag. Even though, at any moment, we could have pulled it out and taken a picture. But we actually pull it out later and get the magazine off of it. I didn't realize it happened quite that way."]

133:32:09 Bean: Okay. You go get it. And I'll...

133:32:10 Conrad: Take a cap off (the Hand Tool Carrier).

133:32:12 Bean: Take the cap, right here. (Pause) Okay.

133:32:15 Conrad: (Looking at the damage to the top of the tube) Hey, you sure beat on it.

133:32:23 Bean: That's what it took to get it in the ground.

133:32:26 Conrad: It's coming up real easy.

133:32:28 Bean: Good. (Pause)

133:32:31 Conrad: (Straining) I say it's coming up real easy.

133:32:35 Bean: Looked for a minute like you were going down real easy. (Hearty Laughter) The core tube hangs in and your feet just sink down. Okay, hold. (Pause)

133:32:48 Conrad: Hey, we made a tactical error here.

133:32:51 Bean: In what fashion?

133:32:53 Conrad: I think we dropped an end of the tube we shouldn't have dropped.

[When Pete was assembling the double core tube at 133:24:14, he dropped the top of what became the lower core section. The job of finding it again is made a little bit easier by the fact that, in the soft lunar soil, their footprints mark the few places where they have stood on this virgin surface.]

133:32:57 Conrad: Yeah. We got to take them apart. (which means the lower section still needs a top) Remember?

133:33:01 Bean: Okay. Well, what we'll have to do is pick it up, right over there.

133:33:05 Conrad: Where is it?

133:33:06 Bean: It's right over here.

133:33:07 Conrad: Okay. (Pause)

[Conrad - "We couldn't put the double core tube in the box, so we had to go find the top again, and put it back in the lower section."]

[Bean - "We knew we had to put a bottom (cap) on..."]

[Conrad - "Each one had an adapter top. We had three core tubes, each had an adapter top. We took core tube number 3, took the adapter top off, dropped it, screwed it in core tube number 1. And, now, we've got to pull it back out, we('ve) got to put a cap on the bottom, we('ve) got to go find that adapter, put it on the top of this one, put the bottom on that one, and we still got a cap on the top of this one."]

133:33:16 Conrad: It's right back there. It's someplace buried in the dirt. I see it. Ha. Ha. Right here. Wait a minute. I'll get it with the...Here, you hold the core tube.

133:33:24 Bean: Okay. Just a second. Just a second. (Pause) Okay. I've got the core tube. I'll start unscrewing it.

133:33:33 Conrad: Where's my sample stirrer (the tongs)?

133:33:35 Bean: Right there. You got it, Pete. Ah, you got your hose too. Pull...More...There you go. (Pause) Good show. (Pause)

[In reaching for his tongs, Pete grabbed not only the tongs but also the hose to which the yo-yo is attached.]

133:33:54 Conrad: What?

133:33:55 Bean: Hey, this ain't going to work, gang.

133:33:56 Conrad: Why?

133:33:57 Bean: Well; see the...

133:33:59 Conrad: Here, wait a minute.

133:34:00 Bean: See if you can slide that core tube...Wait. Which goes with...There you go. Beautiful. Right down in there. You got it. You got that one. Okay?

133:34:11 Conrad: Yeah.

133:34:12 Bean: Boy, I drove a nice core tube in there. Well, it doesn't look any different, though, to the eye - halfway down. (That is, looking at the bottom of the upper section, the soil doesn't look different from the surface material) Try...(Pause) Loan me the tweezers (means tongs) a moment. See that cap right there? (Pause) The cap right there. (Pause)

133:34:37 Conrad: Yeah.

133:34:38 Bean: Okay. (Pause)

133:34:41 Conrad: Ohh. Can you haul the camera, Al?

133:34:44 Bean: Sure, I can just (garbled). Why don't I just lift this up? (Pause)

133:34:55 Conrad: Well, there goes the shovel (which has just fallen to the ground), but we can get that in a minute.

133:34:58 Bean: Okay. Help you, there.

133:35:01 Conrad: Wait.

133:35:02 Bean: (I'll stand) just a little closer. (Pause)

133:35:12 Conrad: Now; wait, wait. Hold it right there.

133:35:13 Bean: Okay. (Pause)

133:35:18 Conrad: That a boy. Way to go. Thank you. (Pause)

[In 1985, Artist Bean did one of his best known works, a painting called Helping Hands ( 37k ). It shows him standing shoulder to shoulder with Pete and holding the top core section while Pete - who is to Al's right - removes the extension handle. The painting's only notable historical flaw is that they are both wearing cameras. It is a flaw of minor importance and the painting's popularity is well deserved.]

[In 1996, Marv Hein pointed out that the side sunshields on the LEVAs are also missing in the painting.]

133:35:33 Conrad: Wait.

133:35:34 Bean: Okay, twist it.

133:35:35 Conrad: Okay.

133:35:36 Bean: You got her? (Pause) It's on there tight enough?

133:35:42 Conrad: Yeah.

133:35:43 Bean: Okay. (Pause) Want the shovel back on here (on the extension handle)?

133:35:48 Conrad: I'll get it.

133:35:49 Bean: Okay. Looks good, Pete. (Pause)

133:35:58 Gibson: Pete, we copy that you finished the core tube. Is that affirm?

133:36:02 Conrad: Yes, sir. We got a double core tube, and all put together correctly.

133:36:08 Gibson: Very good. Well done. Have you gotten the panorama?

133:36:15 Conrad: No, I'm going to get Al to do that right now. He's using my camera. His camera's had it. With the handle off it and everything, by the time we got done handling it, we got dirt all over the lens. We run out of film; we happen to have another magazine with us, or we could...

133:36:34 Bean: ...Don't change that; we just took that one off.

133:36:36 Conrad: Well, we could do that or...

133:36:37 Bean: Of course, we don't want to, but if we have to, I guess we can. Okay. Let me start this pan.

133:36:42 Conrad: Seventy-four (feet focus).

133:36:44 Bean: Seventy-four it is. f/11, 250. Okay.

Al's Halo Crater Pan (frames 7289 to 7311)

133:36:50 Conrad: Okay, Houston. What else would you like here?

133:36:55 Gibson: Okay, Pete. You're 2 hours and 7 minutes into the EVA. And we show you leaving Halo at around 2:15. And, now, that's for a 4-hour EVA. We've extended you to 30 minutes for a total EVA of 4 hours. We'd like, before you go on, to have a good EMU check and (figuratively, not literally) sit down and regroup and figure out a plan of attack on the Surveyor. One thing we would like to make sure is that you remain away from directly below the Surveyor as you move up to it. That is, move up to it on one side or the other. Either north or south.

133:37:32 Conrad: Okay. We concurred with that. We were talking about it last night. We're going to approach it from the side.

133:37:42 Gibson: Roger. (Pause)

[See, also, the discussion associated with LSE 7-6G.]

133:38:01 Conrad: Yeah. I think we ought to.

133:38:03 Bean: You want to get this one? Or one (small enough) for a sample bag.

133:38:08 Conrad: Let's sample a couple of these laying right over here.

133:38:10 Bean: Good idea. (Pause) Oh, boy.

133:38:18 Conrad: Oh, wow; my ears just came back down.

[Conrad - "I was stuffy. My inner ears were at 5 psi, and they just came down to three-seven."]

[Jones - "It's been two hours and fifteen minutes since depress."]

133:38:29 Conrad: I shouldn't have done that.

133:38:30 Bean: It's okay.

133:38:32 Conrad: Here, take one quick picture so we can save some film. ...

133:38:35 Bean: All right. Here it goes.

133:38:36 Conrad: ...of where it came from.

133:38:37 Bean: Okay. Just a second. (Long Pause)

[Al's photo is AS12-49- 7312. According to N.G. Bailey and G. E. Ulrich, authors of "Apollo 12 Voice Transcript Pertaining to the Geology of the Landing Site", a 1975 publication of the U.S. Geological Survey's Astrogeology Branch, this sample never made it back to Earth. And, indeed, sample bag 13D (mentioned below) is not among those listed in the Apollo 12 Preliminary Science Report. It is possible that it got dropped during the search for the timer which starts at 134:00:50. Or it may have fallen out at some other point during the traverse.]

133:39:11 Conrad: That a boy.

[The ring-shaped bag holder can be seen on the HTC in AS12-49-7243 and in Figures 78 and 79 in Judy Allton's tool book.]

[Conrad - "Anything you put in the holder and move, it flips right out. We're talking about that little round ring. We tried to use that and it never worked."]

[Bean - "You're supposed to be able to take a Dixie cup and set it in the other ring...but it's so light up there. Hell, you put a piece of dirt in there and the whole thing'd flip out. It was a mess. It was hard enough when you were holding it, much less when you weren't holding it."]

[Conrad - "Again, with gloves on and everything, you're touching it like an elephant."]

[Bean - "It's so light up there that it just can't stay in. It wasn't a useful piece. But they probably didn't take it off 'til later; it was too much trouble."]

[Conrad - "And, you see, the thing is, it probably worked great in 1 g."]

133:39:23 Gibson: Roger, Al.

133:39:26 Conrad: Al, let's move up on the rim of the Surveyor crater and start getting some rocks. (I'll) get gnomon. And we'll move her out. (Long Pause)

[They are south of the Surveyor Crater rim and, on their way north, may pass slightly east of Halo Crater.]

133:40:20 Bean: Sure could. I thought I...Didn't I call out 13D, Houston? I guess I didn't call it out loud enough. I think it was 13D. Let me, then, check the next one and if you...The next time we stop, I will tell you the next one for sure and then you will know what it is.

133:40:33 Gibson: Roger. Thank you, Al. (Pause)

133:40:41 Conrad: Al, look at these rocks; they look a little bit different.

133:40:44 Bean: Let's grab some.

133:40:45 Conrad: Yes, sir. (Pause) Look at that glass in the bottom of that one! (Pause) They look like granites, don't they?

133:41:00 Bean: They do; they look just like granite.

133:41:03 Bean: Here's a beauty over...Here's a beauty!

133:41:05 Conrad: Where?

133:41:06 Bean: Right here. That is a nice rock.

133:41:08 Conrad: Huh?

133:41:09 Bean: Right around here. Let's get this one for sure. Right there.

133:41:13 Conrad: Okay.

[This is sample 12054. In the Preliminary Science Report, it is described as a "Shatter cone with glass splash-dolerite". Shatter cones are produced in impacts and this one has probably been thrown onto this spot by a remote impact, perhaps the big one 4 kilometers to the west.]

[Bean - "...We could have got a lot of rocks there, Pete. Just filled the HTC up with a bunch of rocks. I could have gotten down on my knees, more or less, and just stuck 'em in your (saddle) bag and filled it up. And fill mine up later, somewhere else. Just grab a bunch and stick 'em in there. Wouldn't even have taken two minutes. Just carry them back in those little bags (the saddlebags), inside the spacecraft."]

[Pete didn't have a saddlebag on this EVA, but that fact doesn't detract from Al's point.]

133:41:18 Conrad: Got a big glass splotch on it.

133:41:20 Bean: Yeah. That's a good one. That's a real good rock. I'll get some pictures.

133:41:23 Conrad: Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait.

133:41:24 Bean: Okay.

133:41:25 Conrad: (Get the) gnomon in (the scene). (Pause)

[Al takes a down-Sun, AS12-49- 7313, and two cross-Suns, 7314 and 7315.]

[As mentioned previously, bigger tongs were flown on subsequent mission and could pick up 10-cm rocks. Readers listening to the voice track have probably noticed a tapping sound which, most likely, is due to somebody's microphone bumping against his neckring.]

133:42:19 Bean: Hey, that's beautiful. It's got a lot of...

133:42:23 Conrad: (Guffawing) Don't drop it!

133:42:24 Bean: Nearly dropped it. Tough to hold it.

133:42:27 Conrad: Okay. Now I want some of these granites over here. Or what looks like granite.

133:42:32 Bean: Okay. Let's try that. (Pause)

133:42:36 Conrad: Doesn't that LM look neat, sitting on the other side of that crater?

133:42:39 Bean: (Chuckling) Yeah. It does. We ought to get a shot of that.

133:42:42 Conrad: Yeah. Get a shot of home.

[Al took two pictures of the LM, AS12-49-7316 - which is overexposed - and 7317. Note the disturbed areas inside the crater rim in a detail.]

133:42:50 Conrad: 143.

133:42:55 Bean: 143, okay...

133:42:56 Conrad: You're getting close to the end. We ought to...

133:42:57 Bean: Okay. That's 14D, Houston, is the next sample bag; so the last one was 13D. Let me take a picture quick here.

[The samples in this bag are 12043 and 44 - a piece of basalt with some fines. Bailey and Ulrich claim that these samples are shown in photos AS12-48- 7082 and 7083, but that is not true. Those pictures were taken at the next stop, after they put magazine 48 on Pete's camera for Al's use. Apparently, Al doesn't actually take a picture for another half minute or so.]

133:43:07 Conrad: Ah-uh-ow. (Long Pause)

133:43:17 Conrad: Al, why don't you step across over here?

133:43:19 Bean: All right.

133:43:20 Conrad: Step across over there (and) photograph that rock right there. Wait until I drop the gnomon in...

133:43:24 Bean: Okay.

133:43:25 Conrad: ...and do it in such a manner as to get this crater that it came out of.

133:43:28 Bean: That's a good idea. Let me see if I can. I'll have to back...Let me get a 15-foot shot.

133:43:32 Conrad: Yeah. That's just what I was just thinking.

133:43:34 Gibson: Pete, could we have your present position?

133:43:37 Bean: (Garbled) 15-foot (focus).

[Al may have taken a stereopair, AS12-49- 7318 and 7319, at this point. Ulli Lotzmann has created anaglyphs from the pair.]

[Bean - (Looking at AS12-49-7318) "It's a nice looking place we're working. Look at all those rocks. This must be the granite stuff."]

[Jones - "Because of the extension, it sounds like the time urgency's cut down a little bit at this point."]

[Bean - "And we don't have that many rocks."]

133:43:54 Bean: Okay, Pete.

133:43:55 Gibson: Roger. Copy that. Copy (that) you're right on the rim. We'd like to get a good EMU check and a rest here before you proceed.

133:44:04 Bean: That's a good idea, Houston.

133:44:05 Conrad: Okay, Houston. That's a good idea. What we are going to do is I'm getting this...

MP3 Audio Clip ( 2 min 00 sec )

133:44:09 Bean: Wait. Wait one. Wait, Pete. I've got an idea.

133:44:11 Conrad: What?

133:44:12 Bean: This one might be good for (Apollo) 13. Pete, let me reach back here and grab this (parts bag) strap. (Pause) Okay; now go (down to get the sample). (Pause)

133:44:20 Conrad: Let me roll a little bit over. That a boy. (Pull me) back up!

[Al is grabbing a strap on the Surveyor parts bag that Pete is wearing on the back of the PLSS and is using it to help Pete get low enough to grab sample 12051 in his hand. This way they avoid the juggling act that has often been part of picking rocks up with the scoop. Although the technique seems to have worked fairly well, no one else ever used it, probably because they had bigger tongs and, if necessary could kneel or, at least, lean on rocks or tools while they grabbed rocks off of the surface. Sample 12051 is described in a page from the Lunar Sample Compendium. Thomas Schwagmeier has identified the sample in a comparison before 'before' photo AS12-49-7319 and 'after' photo AS12-49-7320.]

In 2002, Al did a painting titled "Rock 'n' Roll on the Ocean of Storms", which illustrates this episode.]

133:44:34 Conrad: Hey, that...

133:44:35 Bean: It works pretty good. It sure saves time.

133:44:37 Conrad: (Looking at the rock he's just picked up) Look at the sheer-face on that rock, something whistled by it or something.

133:44:43 Bean: It's fractured a bit; it's got some pretty interesting fracture marks on it. It also has got what look like abrasion marks on it. Maybe that's just hard-packed dirt. Boy, there is a lot of flashing crystals in that rock. Crystalline faces. (Pause) It's a good rock.

133:45:01 Conrad: Listen; I'll tell you what I recommend we do while we are taking...

133:45:03 Bean: Okay. Let me get a...

133:45:04 Conrad: ...an EMU break.

133:45:05 Bean: Okay. Let me take the picture of wherever the rock was.

133:45:07 Conrad: Yeah. Right there.

133:45:09 Bean: Okay.

[This picture is AS12-49- 7320.]

133:45:15 Bean: All right. That's a good idea. (Pause) We'll do that next. (Pause) Okay. Why don't I...

133:45:25 Conrad: Okay, I'll get this camera (that is, the LMP camera) out (to get the partially used magazine).

133:45:27 Bean: Stay right there just a second.

133:45:29 Conrad: Shoot a pan, and get the Surveyor. Use up that film.

[They will use up the film on magazine 49 and Al will go back to using Magazine 48, but on the CDR camera.]

[Al gets only four frames, AS12-49- 7321 to 7324, before running out of film. All four frames are up-Sun and only 7322 and 7324 are useful. Dave Byrne has combined them into a micro-pan.]