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Wake-up for EVA-1 Back in the Briar Patch

 

Preparations for EVA-1

Corrected Transcript and Commentary Copyright © 1996 by Eric M. Jones.
All rights reserved.
Scan credits in the Image Library.
Video credits in the Video Library.
Except where noted, audio clips by Roland Speth.
Last revised 13 September 2014.

 

116:52:05 Young: (Unaware that he has a hot mike) Okay. (EVA-1) cuff checklist. Where's that at?

[Comm Break, which includes several more brief pieces of conversation, most of them unintelligible out of context. The drink bags are mentioned at one point, as per the bottom of the left-hand column on 3-8.]

[Duke - "We were in there talking to ourselves. We were getting suited up at this point, and a lot of it was just talking to ourselves. You know, 'where are we going to put this?' and those kind of things. We had things all over and we had to keep things together and try to get 'em stowed in the right place so we could track 'em down when we got ready to use 'em. So (during) a lot of this, we were not hot miked. We did a lot of talking between ourselves as we were suiting up that wasn't on the air until we went hot mike."]

[Readers should note that, for some reason, John forgets to install his drink bag.]

[Young, from the 1972 Technical Debrief - "On the first one, I forgot to put the drink bag in until after I got my suit on. And you cannot put the drink bag in with the suit on. Charlie put it in (at some point after 117:36:04), and I helped him stuff it down; and it wasn't good enough."]

[Duke, from the 1972 Technical Debrief - "Well, it went in; but you couldn't drink out of it."]

[Young, from the 1972 Technical Debrief - "I turned my head while we were outside, pulled the valve over, got it down in here somewhere and never could get the valve. I had it down in my neckring somewhere. I mean, I tried. I was down in the suit (that is, bending his neck as much as possible to get his mouth partway into the neckring) scrounging around for it, but I could never get there."]

116:54:26 Young: (To Houston) You should see me hold up this 50-pound pressure suit with one hand while Charlie is unzipping it with one hand. That's really neat.

116:54:38 England: Right. You should bring some of that one-sixth g back here. (Pause)

116:54:51 Young: Yeah. You Earth people don't know how nice this is. (Long Pause)

116:55:27 Young: (Unintentional key) You got it. (Pause) Where're we going to stow them? (Pause) (Garbled) get 'em loose.

[Comm Break that includes unintelligible comm.]

[They are now at the top of the right-hand column on 3-8. John's "where're we going to stow them" may be a reference to the LCG plug and the PGA (Pressure Garment Assembly) Electrical Connector Cap which he will stow in a Beta-cloth bag, called the "purse" which is hanging below Panel 5, directly in front of John.]

116:58:29 England: Charlie, Houston.

116:58:36 Young: Charlie is putting on his suit. I'll talk to you.

116:58:38 England: Okay. If it's not too late on Charlie's helmet there, the suit people just want to make sure that he washes it out with water to get that orange juice out before he puts that anti-fogging stuff in there (as per checklist page 2-5).

116:58:55 Young: It's never too late to do something like that. We'll do it.

116:58:58 England: Okay.

116:59:02 Young: (Unintentional key) We could've done it last night, you assholes! (To Charlie) They want you to wash it off with water before you put the anti-fog in there. Did you wash it?

116:59:10 Duke: Huh? (Long Pause)

[John's unintentional transmission was originally transcribed as "You could've done it last night, you asshole" and, indeed, that is what it sounded like to me until I listened very carefully to the tape while preparing this commentary. Thanks, in part, to the original transcription, at the time of my mission review with Charlie, I was under the impression that John was cursing at him and, consequently, I approached the subject with more circumspection than was necessary in light of what I now believe is the correct transcription.]

[Jones - "One of the things that Jack commented on - Jack and Gene both - is that, in normal conversation between them, things tended to be fairly earthy; but, when the mikes were on, almost subconsciously, the word choices..."]

[Duke - "You clean it up. We had the same problem. Lot of times...Well, not a lot of times but this happened to us two or three times - at least three I can remember, and one especially in lunar orbit while we were waiting to go down, we had this orange juice problem and John started getting a lot of gas and, you know, it was really stinking up the whole place. He was farting like crazy and he starts bitching about this orange juice and I think it was printed, verbatim, in Aviation Week! And we were just laughing and giggling about it all, and all of that was going down to Houston. So this is just another situation where that happened. You know, you think you're talking to yourself and you just get, like you say, a little earthy. But we tried not to do that when we were hot-miked but it slipped up on us a couple of times."]

[Jones - "Somebody reading this, who didn't know all of you, might think that John's 'you asshole' would be a pretty..."]

[Duke - "He wasn't talking to me."]

[Jones - "He was talking to himself?"]

[Duke - "No, what he was really talking about was, you know, the people could have told us to do that last night, you see? So he was really referring to the ground when he said that."]

116:59:27 England: (Letting John know that he has a hot mike) Roger, John. We copy that.

116:59:36 Young: What did I say? (Pause)

116:59:47 England: Roger. We're just noting your hot mike.

116:59:57 Duke: Are we on mike?

117:00:01 England: Yes, you sure are. (Long Pause)

[Despite Tony's veiled suggestion that they turn off the Vox, they do not do so immediately. We hear them talking, but the microphone does not pick up enough for the conversation to be intelligible.]
117:00:52 Young: (Garbled) push to (garbled) lock mechanism's sure sticky. (Pause)

117:01:08 Duke: (Garbled). Won't move. (Long Pause)

117:01:26 Young: (To Houston) Do you all want to be in Down Voice, or do you want to go Normal voice?

117:01:32 England: Stand by one.

[Long Comm Break]
117:05:09 Young: Charlie's PRD (Personal Radiation Dosimeter) reads 21111; (that is), 2 and four l's.

117:05:20 England: Okay; 2 and four l's.

[Comm Break]
117:07:08 England: Orion, Houston.

117:07:16 Duke: Go ahead.

117:07:19 England: Verify Aft omni.

117:07:24 Young: Aft omni, Charlie.

117:07:28 Duke: We're on Aft omni.

117:07:30 England: Okay.

[Long Comm Break]
117:12:39 Duke: ... Break it, because there's no way for a human being to get the crinkle out of there because he ain't got three hands. Four hands would do a good job. Two to hold - one to pull on the zipper and two to hold the crinkle ...
[Duke - "We'd had a problem, going out (to the Moon), with my zipper. I couldn't get it zipped. We attributed that to the fact that I'd stretched out a little bit in zero gravity. And I'd had the suit fitted so tight that I just couldn't get the zipper closed. You know, it's like stuffing a zippered suitcase so full you can't get it (closed). Same deal. And also, at this point, there was a crinkle back in the back of it - across the back - so that the zipper, instead of laying straight like that, it was like this?"]

[Like many Southerners, Charlie tends to turn statements - like the last sentence of the previous paragraph - into a question, basically asking if I was understanding him.]

[Jones - "Bent a little bit, like a finger crooked."]

[Duke - "Yeah. And you couldn't get it around there. So you had to hold it closed, then you needed another hand to pull the zipper, then you needed another hand to straighten the crook."]

[Jones - "So, did the two of you..."]

[Duke - "Yeah, we did. I've forgotten how we did that, but John finally got it done."]

117:13:04 England: Orion, Houston.

117:13:09 Duke: Go ahead.

117:13:10 England: At your convenience, we'd like you to switch (ECS) LiOH canisters and jettison the used one.

117:13:22 Duke: Okay.

[Had they landed on time and done the first EVA before having a rest period, they would have waited until EVA-2 wake-up to replace the ECS primary cartridge with a fresh one stowed behind the ascent engine cover. (See a detail from an Apollo 16 LM-close-out picture. Because of the landing delay and the decision to postpone EVA-1 till after the first rest period, it is now time to make the rpelacement. They will bring up another primary canister before the end of the EVA and will make another change after EVA-2 wake-up.]
117:13:24 Young: You want to switch the LiOH canisters and jettison the used ones.

117:13:28 England: And we have some changes to your Surface Checklist and your EVA Cue Cards.

117:13:38 Duke: No, but they go in.

117:13:41 Young: Report, Charlie...

117:13:44 Young: Go ahead.

117:13:47 England: And leave the brackets for the LiOH canister.

117:13:52 Young: Understand, leave the brackets for the LiOH canister.

117:13:55 England: That's affirmative.

117:14:00 Young: Okay.

117:14:06 Duke: Okay, go ahead with the changes.

117:14:11 England: Okay, on your EVA-1 Cue Card.

117:14:18 Duke: Go ahead.

[Rather than use the Lunar Surface Checklist in book form, they have mounted two large cue cards on the instrument panel that has the steps listed on both sides. By using the cards, they won't have to turn pages as often. The second card includes post-EVA procedures. They have a pair of cards for each of the EVAs and one for the contingency of a One-Man EVA in the case that one of the PLSSs is inoperable.]
117:14:19 Young: Plug in your water, Charlie.

117:14:21 England: On the right...

117:14:22 Young: Now, don't give me that ...

117:14:24 England: Okay, on EVA-1 Prep (side 1), right-hand column, third line. It says "Comm: Modulate - FM."

[Each side of each card has three columns of procedures. Card 1 Side 1 has Equipment Preparation in column 1 and the first part of EVA-1 Preps in the other two columns. Card 1 Side 2 continues with three more columns of EVA-1 Preps. Card 2 Side 1 has two final columns of EVA-1 preps on the left and the first part of EVA-1 post in the column on the right. Card 2 Side 2 completes the listing of post-eva procedures.]
117:14:37 Duke: EVA-1 prep, right-hand column. Okay. "Modulate - FM."

117:14:47 England: Okay.

117:14:48 Duke: What did you want to change it to?

117:14:49 England: Right. We want to delete the "Modulate - FM" and delete "Power Amplifier - Primary."

117:14:59 Duke: Okay.

117:15:00 England: Okay, about halfway down that column under comm, it says "Telemetry Biomed, Off."

117:15:13 Duke: Yep. Yep.

117:15:16 England: Okay, delete that "Telemetry Biomed, Off," and two lines later, it says "Recorder, On." Delete that line also.

117:15:24 Duke: Okay. What else?

117:15:34 England: Okay, stand by a second.

117:15:44 Young: ... water. Yeah.

117:16:04 Duke: Yeah, that's right.

117:16:06 Young: It's hard to beat.

117:16:07 Duke: ...?

117:16:11 Young: No, they want to do it now. Okay, Houston, we're in secondary. On that LiOH canister, Charlie's changing now.

[Before Charlie removes the used Primary cartridge, they switch the ECS canister selector from Primary to Secondary, directing airflow into the smaller cartridge. Once the new Primary cartridge was been installed, they will switch back to Primary.]
117:16:28 England: Oh, okay.

117:16:31 Young: You do that, Charlie. It'd be so much easier.

117:16:34 Duke: What CDR comm have you got?

117:16:56 England: Okay, John, on the back side of that EVA-1 and the EVA Post (card).

[Tony isn't being very clear, but he is referring to the back of the second card, which contains both EVA-1 Prep and EVA-1 Post procedures on the front and EVA-1 Post procedures on the back.]
117:17:04 Young: Okay.

117:17:06 England: Okay, it's on the bottom half of the card, left-hand column, third line up. It says "Telemetry Biomed, Left."

117:17:17 Young: Okay.

117:17:18 England: Delete that line.

117:17:30 Young: Okay.

117:17:31 England: Okay, go to your (LM) Surface Checklist, page 3-4.

117:17:39 Young: Okay, Surface Checklist, page 3-4.

117:17:51 Young: Go ahead.

117:17:54 England: Stand by 1. Okay, left-hand column, near the bottom of the page, it says "On Houston cue: Telemetry PCM, Low." Delete that line. And delete - and delete the next line, "S-Band Voice - Down Voice Backup." Delete that also.

[John's next transmission suggests that, while John is marking the checklist changes, he is also watching and/or helping Charlie change the LiOH canister on the ECS.]
117:18:20 Young: (To Charlie) I wasn't going to stick it in there until you got that thing and it's shut, Charlie.

117:18:25 Duke: Okay.

117:18:26 England: Okay, John. We've got very poor comm; we're going to drop the link for a minute here. We'll be back in a minute.

117:18:34 Young: Okay, I missed all you said about that page 3-4. You read me?

117:18:43 England: Roger. I do now. I'll come back to you in a minute, and we'll do 3-4 again.

117:18:49 Young: Okay. Philosophically speaking, I would like to get all these changes in before one or the other of us puts on a pressure suit because...because the...We're in an energy conservation mode of operation, and I'd like to keep it that way.

117:19:04 England: Right. I sure do agree with you, John.

[Duke - "What he's really talking about is 'Get everything done, you guys, before we start suiting up."]
117:19:56 Young: Okay. Okay, Houston, the LiOH canister is changed, and we're back on primary.

117:20:07 England: Okay, we copy.

117:20:19 Young: ... Charlie? Okay, Charlie's got his suit on and he's all laced up, and he's got a shot of water.

117:20:33 England: Very good.

117:20:35 Young: Yeah, it was terrific; how I know it. Want to go ahead with the checklist changes or you want me to don my suit?

117:20:46 England: I'm trying to get an answer here.

117:21:53 Duke: Got it in? ... around here.

117:21:57 Young: Roger.

117:22:05 Duke: Yeah, ... over with my suit.

117:22:10 Young: Okay.

117:22:58 England: Okay, John, on the checklist.

117:23:06 Young: Go ahead.

117:23:08 England: Okay. On page 3-4, the bottom left-hand two lines. "Telemetry PCM, Low" and "S-Band Down Voice Backup."

117:23:20 Young: ...

117:23:22 England: Delete both lines.

117:23:24 Young: Surface Checklist, Charlie.

117:23:32 Duke: We copy.

117:23:33 England: Okay, on the right-hand column of 3-4, the third line from the bottom, it says "Cabin Gas Return (Valve), Auto." Change that to "Open."

117:23:46 Young: ... Flight Data File. ... Flight Data File.

[The data file is located behind John's station, on the leftside bulkhead above the place on the wall where his PLSS is stowed when not in use. LInked photo taken in 2002 by Frank O'Brien of a LM simulator at the Cradle of Aviation Museum. A mock-up of a CDR PLSS is below the data file compartment. The front of the cabin is on the right.]
117:24:00 England: Did you get that, Charlie?

117:24:04 Duke: I copy.

117:24:05 England: Okay, on page 3-6, the fifth line from the bottom in the left-hand column. It says "Cabin Gas Return, Auto." Change that to "Open" also.

117:24:26 Duke: Okay, Tony.

117:24:29 England: Okay, we've got it for now. Later on, we'll have to change the cue cards for EVA-2 and 3 and...But that's the extent of the checklist change. We've got one note here for you. We're going to have a change to the material - the gear - that you bring up during the transfer on the EVA-1, and I'll catch you before you go up and remind you about it.

117:24:54 Duke: Okay, thanks. ... put a ... on it, and we'll ... later.

117:24:59 England: Okay, good show.

[Comm Break]

[They are now getting John into his suit. They are not yet on the Cue Cards.]

117:26:03 Young: ... verify.

117:26:10 Duke: I hope I won't ever have to do that.

117:26:23 Duke: Here's ... center.

117:26:26 Young: Okay.

117:26:27 Duke: Okay, 14 ... Hey?

117:26:33 Young: Yeah.

117:27:13 Young: Okay. It's off first.

117:27:34 Duke: Bigger than me.

117:27:37 Young: You're not as big as I am.

117:27:47 Young: Okay.

117:28:28 Young: Okay, Houston, going off comm.

[Comm Break]
117:30:18 Duke: Tony, ... John ...

117:30:30 England: Charlie, you're very weak. Say again.

117:31:32 Duke: ... it's up.

117:35:26 Duke: ... How do you read? Over.

117:35:37 England: Orion, Houston. Go ahead.

117:35:41 Duke: ... Okay. You guys reading us?

117:35:45 England: You're very weak, Charlie.

117:35:51 Duke: How's that?

117:35:58 England: You're still weak. I think we can copy you, though.

117:36:04 Duke: Okay, look. We're going to probably have some trouble with the comm here, Hank. Are you sure you want to stay in Down Voice Backup or - just exactly what? We're ready to go into the ... on the Lunar Checklist - the Lunar Surface Checklist, and John's got his suit on. And we're gonna put the PLSSs on (as per page 2-6 or, identically, the center column of Card 1 Side 1).

[However, before they don the PLSSs, they have to do the steps on page 2-5 of the LM Lunar Surface Checklist. On several of the missions, the astronauts called the CapCom "Hank", it usually was in retaliation because the CapCom has just used the wrong name. Here, however, it doesn't appear that Tony made a mistake.]

[Journal Contributor David Harland notes that, had they landed on schedule, they wouldn't have needed to don the suits. They started donning the suits at about 116:42:16 and most of the hour's worth of effort since then can be thought of as a secondary cost of the landing delay.]

117:36:35 England: Okay. We think this is the system with the best signal margin; I guess we'll have to stay with it.

117:36:47 Duke: Okay, you'd better think about - on the PLSS comm check. We're thinking maybe we could sort of go with ... you guys when we get out on the surface.

117:36:59 England: Right. How are you copying us, Charlie?

117:37:09 Duke: You're loud and clear, Tony.

117:37:10 England: Okay.

117:37:12 Duke: Have been, all through this procedure.

[Comm Break]
117:38:33 England: And, Charlie, we'd like to remind you to dry out your helmet pretty good before you put that anti-fog on.

117:38:39 Duke: ...

117:38:45 Young: ... Charlie. You want me to check the OPS, right?

[Here, they are checking the tank pressures on the Oxygen Purge Systems (OPSs), the emergency oxygen supplies worn on the top of the PLSSs. This step is 2/3rds of the way down the lefthand column on Card 1 Side 1. As they will soon discover, they have gotten out of sequence. Given the number of changes dictated by the delayed landing, things have gone quite smoothly.]

[Duke, from the 1972 Technical Debrief - "I'd like to say 'attaboy' right now for John Covington coming up with those new procedures. The Lunar Surface checklist, his part of it, was just outstanding. It was reorganized in real time and we never had a feeling that we were pillar-to-post in that checklist. We had to flip pages, but it was all flowing well and, once we got on it, it led us right back to where we were back in sync by the time we got the prep card that we used - the cue card (which is where they are now). He had done a lot. Those things were well organized and I thought those set of procedures for the preps and posts flowed as smooth as glass."]

117:38:53 Duke: ...

117:39:11 Young: Okay, Charlie. You've got 6000 pounds of (OPS) source pressure. ...think it makes any difference.

117:39:30 Young: No matter whose you get out, it's going to be cluttered.

117:39:33 Duke: Right. (Long Pause)

117:39:55 Young: There you go, Charlie.

117:40:07 England: Okay, Orion. We're going to have a site handover; maybe our comm will get a little bit better.

[This statement is a little puzzling in light of the conversation at 115:50:28 which indicated that a site handover - from Australia to Spain - had taken place at about 115:30.]
117:40:14 Young: Okay. Hey, and look what I forgot to do. ...yet.

117:40:44 Young: Charlie, you can...

117:40:47 Duke: Zip?

117:40:48 Young: Yeah.

117:41:39 England: Orion, Houston. We'd like to try the Normal voice; maybe it'll help.

117:42:38 England: Orion, Houston. How do you copy us?

117:42:54 Young: Loud and clear.

117:42:58 England: Now, we can hear you down there, but you are too weak to use there. Stand by 1. We better go back to a Down Voice Backup.

117:43:43 Young: ... have to.

117:43:57 Young: Yep. Okay.

117:44:06 Duke: ...

117:44:07 Young: I think it's all right, Charlie.

117:44:12 Duke: Houston, Orion. Down Voice Backup. How do you read?

117:44:17 England: You're very weak there, Charlie. We'll have to press with it this way.

117:44:46 Young: Okay, Charlie. Why don't you read them up there? ... OPS check for ... values. Yep. ... OPS check ... I don't understand that - pressure.

117:45:19 Young: What are you doing?

117:45:21 Duke: ...

117:45:26 Young: Okay.

117:45:32 Duke: You're out of sync.

117:45:34 Young: Yeah, we're out of sync, but you're supposed to be going back up there.

[John has noticed that they have skipped some of the steps in the left-hand column of Card 1 Side 1.]
117:45:42 Young: My what? Plug it into this thing? Yes.

117:46:07 Young: Okay. There you go. "Unstow your boots, purge valve to purse, stow IV gloves in boot bottom compartment."

117:46:26 Duke: ...

117:46:27 Young: Okay.

117:46:35 Young: Two up. I'm sorry, Charlie. Haste makes waste. (Long Pause)

[Duke - "When we're getting these suits on, it's like the Keystone Kops in there. 'Oh, wait a minute, let me bend this way.' It was terrible. And that's the way it had been when we practiced. We ended up having to help one another and getting frustrated with one another."]

[Jones - "I gather that, with a little bit more floor area, it would have been a piece of cake."]

[Duke - "Yeah."]

117:47:30 Young: Feels like it's on, Charlie. (Pause) Okay. Charlie, you got hold of a foot some way ... in your gear.

117:47:58 Duke: Okay.

[It sounds like they are getting Charlie's EVA boots on.]
117:48:00 Young: There we go.

117:48:40 Young: See what happened, Charlie?

117:48:41 Duke: ... just here?

117:48:42 Young: Yeah.

117:48:44 Duke: The other ...

117:48:57 Young: Yeah? Okay. Got it. Okay. Yeah, I can't believe it. Okay, (near the middle of the lefthand column of the Card 1 Side 1), "Unstow LMP OPS, remove pallet, stow in jett bag."

117:49:26 Duke: Okay. ...

117:49:30 Young: Okay. (Long Pause)

[Jones - "Any theories about why the word 'okay' is the most frequently spoken word on the lunar surface."]

[Duke - (Laughing) "No. In this case, right in here, we're going through everything and, as you do your deals, 'okay, it's working.' You use it like that."]

[In the following, they are probably cleaning the orange juice out of the helmets.]

117:50:08 Young: Okay. Whew. Let's go...Either go on spacecraft hoses or use the water. Let's go on spacecraft hoses, okay? So do I. Why don't we run the water?

117:50:38 Duke: ... have to switch the ... to off.

117:50:42 Young: Yeah. And don't take long. One of them. Okay. Okay. That's good, isn't it? Cool it.

117:51:10 Duke: ...

117:51:18 Young: Okay, that should do it.

117:51:22 Duke: ... Oh, I ...

117:51:25 Young: ...

117:51:42 Young: Here's your tissue.

117:52:03 Duke: Here.

117:52:05 Young: ...

117:52:20 Young: ...

117:52:36 Young: You'd better give me your scissors ... I'm over here on the ...

117:53:31 Duke: Here's one for you and one for me. First stuff I've spilled since I've been here.

117:53:54 Duke: Okay, Tony. We're down to 1585 on the ...

117:54:07 England: Charlie, this is Houston. We're having a hard time copying you. John's a little bit better there. Would you check that your mikes are up to your mouths or have John say it?

117:54:19 Duke: Okay, Tony.

117:54:30 Young: Our mike is up to our mouths - mouth.

117:54:33 England: Okay, that's a little better.

117:54:48 Young: Okay. Okay.

117:55:06 Duke: Okay, ...

117:55:52 Duke: How we doing on the timeline, Tony?

117:55:59 Young: Tony, how are we doing on time?

117:56:04 England: Looks like you're a little bit ahead right now.

117:56:10 Young: Okay.

117:56:23 England: Your comm check (in the righthand column of the Card 1 Side 1) should come in about 25 minutes.

117:56:30 Young: Okay. We don't really have a feeling for that even though we've probably got a watch here; we're not - we're not able to watch it.

117:56:38 England: Roger. I understand that. When you get a chance, we'd like to put the lunar battery on the LMP's bus.

117:56:47 Young: Understand. Lunar Batt on the LMP's bus.

117:56:52 England: Right. If you want to, I'll just read the procedure.

117:56:55 Young: They want the lunar bat on your bus, Charlie. Okay, go.

117:56:59 England: Okay. The steps we've got here are Batt 2, Off/Reset, talkback, barber pole; Batt L - LMP, On; talkback, LMP; Batt 2, Off/Reset, talkback barber pole.

117:57:18 Young: Charlie says that'll drop power - on the commander's bus. Probably won't hurt anything.

117:57:26 England: Okay.

117:57:31 Duke: Is that okay with you guys to do that?

117:57:48 Young: What are you hinting there, Charlie?

117:57:50 Duke: ... LMP ...

117:57:57 Young: Okay. How come you're not talking to them?

117:58:05 Duke: Can you hear me?

117:58:06 Young: No.

117:58:08 England: Yeah, Charlie. We're just not - not reading you well enough to understand what you're saying there.

117:58:30 Duke: ...?

117:58:31 Young: No.

117:58:33 Duke: How do you read now, Tony?

117:58:36 England: I can hear you, Charlie, because I know what you're saying. But if you say anything different, I'm sure I wouldn't be able to copy.

117:58:44 Young: Let me cover up my mike.

117:58:47 Duke: How do you read now, Tony?

117:58:49 England: About the same.

117:59:04 Young: Do I sound pretty bad too, Tony?

117:59:10 England: Say again, John?

117:59:15 Young: Do I sound pretty bad? I must. What we're trying to find out is if we have a comm problem before we start getting into this any further.

117:59:27 England: Right; we understand. Would you verify that you've done the battery management on 3-9?

117:59:38 Young: You did the battery management, right?

117:59:40 Duke: Yeah, it's done.

117:59:44 Young: That's completed, Houston. (To Charlie) (Reading the third line from the bottom of the lefthand column on the Card 1 Side 1) "Stow jett bag". Here we are (five lines farther up the column). "EV gloves, attach watch to EV gloves. Stow LEVA bags."

118:00:06 Young: Yeah. ... going to have go to unstow LEVA bag. "Stow CDR's OPS on the forward engine cover."

118:00:28 Duke: Houston, do you read Forward omni any better? Over.

118:00:32 England: Stand by 1.

118:00:42 Young: Okay. "Tie jettison bag; stow on the aft engine cover."

118:00:54 England: Okay, Charlie. I guess we'd like you to go back to Aft (omni-directional antenna).

118:01:00 Young: They want you to go to Aft, Charlie.

118:01:04 Duke: Okay, on Aft omni now.

118:01:19 Young: Okay. It must be unlocked, Charlie.

118:01:36 Young: Yeah, you pull those ends, right?

118:01:43 Duke: ... push in, push in ... way in.

118:02:01 Young: Yep. I don't think...No, it won't push anymore than that. See, it won't ride up over this thing here. We'll do it whenever we get there.

118:02:20 Duke: If we can get it open.

118:02:21 Young: Okay, but...We can get it open. You don't get the handle all the way open. It'll never come any further than this, Charlie.

118:02:28 Duke: You sure about that?

118:02:30 Young: No, that's unlocked right there. Have to remove that ...

118:02:46 Duke: ...

118:03:03 Young: All right.

118:03:04 Duke: ...

118:03:05 Young: Okay.

118:03:06 Duke: ...

118:03:13 Young: All right ... is good.

118:04:55 Young: What is this thing around the backup, Charlie?

118:05:11 Young: ... another shot of (cooling) water.

[While it is possible that they are taking drinks from the water gun (photo by Mick Hyde), during the Technical Debrief John indicated that they frequently ran water through the LCGs to keep themselves cool.]

[Young, from the 1972 Technical Debrief - "Let me say something about the donning and doffing. We used a different procedure than that in the timeline in regard to coolant. We used only Lunar Module (water) for cooling during donning and doffing and we only used the LCG pump. We got the other hoses out of the way and sort of semi-stowed. We didn't say anything (to Houston) about changing those procedures in real time, but it kept us significantly more hydrated than we would have been had we been on air coolant. What we would do is we plugged into the (LM) water and got it running through our suits, cooled the LCG down, and then climbed into the pressure suit, which took a big chunk of energy. And then, immediately, plugged the water in (again) and pushed the (LCG) pump (circuit breaker) in and gave it a squirt of water. At various intervals, when we started to feel like we were running out of cooling, we'd push the pump (breaker) in for maybe 30 seconds worth, give it a squirt of water, and not use air coolant all the time that we were donning and doffing. I'm sure that's the best way to work that system, because it keeps you from sweating. It keeps you from doing the kind of (air) cooling that must dehydrate you."]

[Slayton, from the 1972 Technical Debrief - "You didn't run the pump continuously, though."]

[Young, from the 1972 Technical Debrief - "No. I think I'm going to recommend that they change the procedures to do it this way. I first noticed this when we were running (that is, "conducting") long durations of suit runs (in training) and we only had air coolant. You really feel bad after you finish a long duration of suit run with only air coolant. If you run with water coolant, you feel okay. Now, I don't know why that is, but it sure is a fact. Because (after) 5 hours of running in the suit with just air coolant, you suffer the next day. (After) five hours of water coolant down at the Cape training, you can go the next day and run another one. You don't feel like (doing) it very much, but you can do it. I think it may be a difference that, if you can keep your body from sweating, you sure should do it; and running that water coolant for donning and doffing was ideal; plus, it had the added advantage of getting those two, big, long, cumbersome (oxygen) hoses out of the way, which were right in the traffic area. That (meaning having the oxygen hoses in the way) is really a son-of-a-gun when it comes to doing things like changing comm out in the Lunar Module. And we made that change (in procedures) in real time because it was actually like we practiced in the (LM cabin) mock-up down at the Cape. I sure think it paid off. I think it's a better way to do it. I just don't think long-duration air coolant in the pressure suit - which we were in a lot of the time - makes your body sweat and you have to replenish the water by drinking it. You don't always have time to think about doing that. It may be a significant factor in getting the crew back hydrated, as opposed to being dehydrated."]

[A comparison of pages 2-9 in both the Apollo 16 and Apollo 17 checklists indicate that John's suggestion was adopted. On Apollo 17, the LM oxygen hoses were disconnected at the bottom of the left-hand column on 2-9 and the LM water hoses weren't disconnected until the bottom of the right-hand column.]

118:05:24 Duke: ...

118:05:25 Young: Yeah.

118:05:43 Duke: ...

118:05:44 Young: Nope.

118:05:45 Duke: ... battery connected. Okay.

118:05:50 Young: Whoa, Charlie. Roll me the water, please.

118:05:58 Young: Okay. (Fourth paragraph of the second column Card 1 Side 1 under "verify the following Locked") PLSS battery connection is locked. This PLSS battery is locked. Battery cable is locked. Antenna's locked. Straps are unstrapped.

[Now they will get Charlie's PLSS on. John's "sure makes a difference" in his next transmission may be another reference to the ease of lifting things in one-sixth g.]
118:06:35 Young: Sure makes a difference. Oh, for goodness sake. All right, Charlie. I had no idea that was going to happen. Okay. Have you got that? It's too far down. What? Yeah. That's awful weird, isn't it?
[Although there is no mention of the fact in the transcripts, Houston did a clock update at 118:06:31. Subsequent times mentioned by the PAO Commentators are 11 minutes 48 seconds later than the corresponding transcript times.]
118:07:11 Duke: ...

118:07:12 Young: Huh? ... around that way, Charlie.

118:07:19 Duke: Okay.

118:07:20 Young: Okay.

118:07:36 Young: There we go. Okay. Hoses are above the lower strap (as per the fifth paragraph, middle column of Card 1 Side 1).

118:07:49 Duke: ...

118:07:51 Young: Okay. ... hoses ...

118:08:06 Duke: ...

118:08:12 Young: Okay. You're all set.

118:08:13 Duke: ... correct ...

118:08:16 Young: Yeah.

118:08:32 Young: In and lock. In and lock.

118:08:43 Duke: Yeah. "Connect RCU to PGA and upper straps."

118:08:55 Young: Okay, Charlie. "Fan is off, off. Comm is off, pump's off."

118:09:06 Duke: Okay. ...

118:09:18 Young: Oh, look at that.

118:09:31 Young: Okay, here's the tag. Shall we put it on the PLSS? Where's your ...?

118:09:40 Duke: I got it.

118:09:45 Young: Okay.

118:10:11 Duke: Houston, what site have you got on that...?

118:10:18 Young: ...

118:10:21 England: Charlie, I can hear you talking, but I can't copy it.

118:10:28 Young: ... Can you hear me, Tony?

118:10:35 England: Yes, John, I can, if you talk slowly and right into the mike.

118:10:43 Young: Okay, that's what I'm doing.

118:10:46 England: Okay.

118:10:47 Young: Okay, Charlie's got his PLSS on.

118:10:51 Duke: Okay, Tony. You've got Charlie. I've got my PLSS on. Over.

118:10:58 England: Very good. We copy that, Charlie.

118:11:26 Young: Okay.

[Next, John will don his own PLSS.]
118:13:12 Young: Okay. Okay, the battery is in and locked. The battery is locked. PLSS controls are all off. OPS is locked, the controls are clear, and the hose is locked.

118:13:34 Young: See how that thing takes a set? Folded up in there - that jobber right there, Charlie? Wadded it up behind you, like you did.

118:13:57 Young: Huh?

118:14:13 Young: ... Turn it up, Charlie. I can't believe it. Here, let me take that thing off.

118:14:29 Young: Turn around this way. Can you turn around this way?

118:14:54 Young: Okay, turn around this way. ... Whew! Yeah. Yeah.

118:15:28 Young: Feels neat.

118:15:50 Young: How're you doing? Okay.

118:16:00 Duke: Is your ...?

118:16:02 Young: Yeah, right here.

118:16:45 Young: Okay.

118:17:03 Young: Okay. Get the RCU ...

118:17:12 Duke: RCU ...

118:17:27 Young: How about another shot (of cooling water), Charlie? More. ... Okay ...

118:18:32 Young: Okay, can you get my hose?

118:18:34 Duke: Yeah.

118:19:26 Young: Strap right here.

118:19:29 Duke: Okay.

118:19:35 Young: There's one little ..., Charlie.

118:19:45 Duke: ... cap?

118:19:46 Young: Okay, plus ...(Long Pause)

[John's next transmission suggests that he has hit his circuit breaker panel ( CB(11) ) with his PLSS. The breaker in question is the second one in from the left side in the middle row on Surface checklist page 1-4. It is supposed to be in (that is, closed).]
118:20:06 Young: Should we have the Radar Standby breaker in or out, Houston?

118:20:09 England: Say again, John.

118:20:13 Young: Should the Radar Standby breaker be in or out?

118:20:17 England: Okay, we'll check.

118:20:22 Duke: Okay, Tony, we are starting the PLSS comm check (second paragraph in right-hand column on Card 1 Side 1) momentarily. Over.

118:20:29 England: Okay, you're very weak but readable, Charlie.

118:20:35 Young: Okay. "Audio Mode, S-Band to T/R, ICS to T/R, Relay to ON, Mode to VOX, VOX Sens(itivity) PTT (Push-to-Talk) max." Okay, it says "VHF A to T/R and VHF B to Receive. Comm, VHF A Transmitter to Voice; A Receiver, On (Garbled) Receiver, Off; A Receiver, On; B Transmitter, Off; B Receiver, On. Squelch VHF - VHF A and B noise thresholds, plus 1-1/2. Something else. VHF Antenna to EVA."

118:21:32 England: And, Charlie, we'd like that Radar Standby breaker closed.

118:21:39 Young: Okay, it's closed.

118:21:48 Young: "EVA, Uplink Squelch, Enable." (Garbled) mine goes off. "Uplink Squelch, Enable."

[They will now configuring John's Audio, as per th fourth paragraph in right-hand column on Card 1 Side 1.]
118:22:xx Young: Okay, S-Band - my "S-Band to T/R; ICS to T/R; Relay to Off; Mode, VOX; (VOX Sensitivity), max; A to T/R; (B to) Receive." Okay.

118:22:45 Young: (Garbled) lock. Okay. (Long Pause)

118:22:58 Young: (As per the top of the left-hand column of Card 1 Side 2) Charlie's Audio breaker's closed. Okay, going to A. Wheel. You get a tone on, a vent flag P, a press flag O, and O2 mom(entary). PLSS O2 pressure gauge greater than 85 percent. Check (comm) with me and Houston.

118:23:27 Young: Charlie, I don't read you.

118:23:31 Duke: (Garbled) Houston, how do you read your LMP?

118:23:35 England: Charlie, we hear you. You've got a squeal in the background though.

118:23:42 Duke: Yeah, I know. How do you read now? Over.

118:23:53 Duke: Can you read anything?

118:23:56 England: Yeah, we're copying you, Charlie. I didn't hear the squeal that time, though.

118:24:04 Duke: No, we're...

118:24:09 Young: ... I know what it is. You're not ...

118:24:23 Young: Okay. You're not keying at all.

118:24:26 Duke: Houston, am I keying? Over.

118:24:30 Young: You are now.

118:24:31 England: Yes, you are, Charlie. How do you copy us? You sound better than you did on LM comm.

118:24:58 Young: Yes.

118:25:37 Duke: Okay, how do you read now, Houston?

118:25:40 England: Okay, you're weak but readable, Charlie.

118:25:47 Duke: Okay, my microphones were full of orange juice, and I cleaned them out, and I think I'm okay now.

118:25:55 Young: Every time you turn your head, you're keying it.

118:25:57 England: Okay. We copy that, Charlie.

118:25:58 Duke: ... I can't help it.

118:26:02 Young: Oh.

118:26:06 Duke: Nothing we can do about it now.

118:26:10 Young: Okay.

118:26:12 Duke: Okay, we were reading ...

118:26:13 Young: Okay.

118:26:14 Duke: (Third paragraph, left-hand column, Card 1 Side 2) "CB 11, Commander Audio, open."

118:26:19 Young: Okay, Commander Audio's open.(Pause)

[Here, John connects his PLSS comm.]
118:28:24 Duke: Close your Audio breaker. "VHF A to Off, and B to Off. PLSS PTT to maintain?"

118:28:34 Young: "Right."

118:28:36 Duke: We go to B?

MP3 Audio Clip ( 10 min 27 sec )

118:28:43 Young: There's B.

118:28:44 Duke: We have a tone, a vent flag, and a press flag, and a PLSS O2, greater than 85 (percent).

118:28:52 Young: Okay. (Garbled) PLSS O2's reading about 98.

118:28:59 Duke: (Paragraph 6; very faint) And you can't hear Houston. Houston, how do you read the LMP? Over.

118:29:07 England: Say again, Charlie.

118:29:11 Duke: (Slowly) How do you read? Over.

118:29:16 England: We're copying you, but you're weak.

118:29:21 Duke: Okay. We're reading you 5 by. We're pressing on. (Pause) Comm check with the LMP. You do the comm check now.

118:29:37 Young: Hello, Houston. How do you read? Over.

118:29:39 England: Okay, John. You sound good but, again, you're weak also.

118:29:47 Young: Okay, I'm hollering as loud as I can. And my microphones are right in my mouth.

118:29:53 England: Right. I can hear it bounce against your tonsils.

118:29:54 Young: You're loud and clear, Houston.

118:29:59 Young: Okay. We're going to AR now. How do you read now, Houston?

118:30:09 England: Okay, just like before.

118:30:14 Young: Do you read (Houston), Charlie?

118:30:16 Duke: Okay, Houston. You're coming in beautifully, Tony; 5 by.

118:30:20 England: Very good. Actually, your comm is better now - for both of you - than it was when it was on the LM (comm).

118:30:28 Duke: Okay, great. Okay.

118:30:33 Young: Okay.

118:30:36 Duke: (next to last paragraph) Okay, Houston. My O2 quantity is 100 percent.

118:30:41 Young: So's mine, about 99.

118:30:45 Duke: (Reading the handwritten change) "Squelch B to full decrease."

118:30:48 England: Okay, we copy that.

118:30:49 Young: Okay. "S-Band Mod(ulation) to PM."

118:30:51 Duke: Go. (Pause)

118:30:59 Young: Not bad. All ready.

118:31:01 Duke: Okay, Houston. You don't...Y'all have telemetry now?

118:31:07 England: Negative; we don't.

118:31:10 Young: Let's get some cooling in here.

118:31:13 Duke: Okay, it says "verify comm and telemetry". There's no way we can do that, is there?

118:31:28 England: Okay, no. We don't expect it until you get on the LCRU.

118:31:34 Young: (Shouting) Okay, fine. (To Charlie, now at the top of the middle column of Card 1 Side 2) Okay, "cold, as required. Circuit breaker (panel) 16: Cabin ECS Repress, closed, verify..."

118:31:44 Duke: Go.

[John and Charlie have been through these procedures often enough that Charlie is anticipating John's words.]
118:31:47 Young: "...Repress, closed, verify. Suit Fan Delta-P to open."

118:31:50 Duke: Go.

118:31:51 Young: "Suit Fan Delta-P number 2..."

118:31:52 Duke: No, that ain't right. Suit Fan 2?

118:31:56 Young: "Suit Fan 2, open."

118:31:57 Duke: Okay.

[They have shut down the fan that moves oxygen through the ECS Suit Circuit and have shut off a differential pressure (Delta-P) sensor that would have warned them that the fan was not running.]
118:32:00 Young: "Suit Fan selector to 2." (Pause) "Verify ECS caution and Water Sep lights come on in about a minute."

118:32:11 Duke: Okay.

[With the fan off, there is no air flow to drive the water separator and, once the centrifuge in the separator spins down, a warning light will come on.]
118:32:12 Young: "Suit Gas Diverter (Valve), Pull to Egress. Verify."

118:32:15 Duke: Go.

118:32:16 Young: "Cabin Gas Return (Valve) to Egress. Verify."

118:32:18 Duke: Go.

118:32:19 Young: "Suit Circuit Relief (Valve) to Auto. Verify."

118:32:21 Duke: Go.

118:32:22 Young: (Halfway down the middle column on Card 1 Side 2) Okay; 102 hours (on 2-9), "OPS connect", LMP first. "Suit Isolation Valves, actuate..." No, we don't have that yet. Want to go to Suit Isol, though. (Garbled) both of them. Okay, let me connect your OPS hose. (Pause)

118:32:47 Duke: It's hot in here.

118:32:48 Young: Yeah. (Pause)

118:32:53 Duke: There's the Sep light.

118:32:55 Young: Okay. Got a Water Sep light, Houston.

[The water separator has spun down.]
118:32:59 Duke: (Garbled) on that.

118:33:02 Young: Okay.

118:33:08 Duke: "Retrieve purge valve (from purse)."

118:33:11 Young: Okay.

118:33:12 Duke: "Verify closed, lock pin in, and in low flow."

118:33:16 Young: That's verified. (Garbled) for you, Charlie.

118:33:20 Duke: "Install purge valve in PGA, red on red."

118:33:22 Young: Okay.

118:33:24 Duke: "PGA diverter valve to vertical." (Garbled)

118:33:29 Young: Thank you, Charlie.

[As shown in Figure I-23 in the EMU Handbook, the diverter valve is part of the oxygen inflow connector and gives them the option of directing the PLSS oxygen flow entirely into the helmet (the vertical position) or partly into the suit torso (the horizontal position). Generally, the astronauts put the diverter valve to horizontal only when they were in the cabin and were trying to dry the suits out a little. In the hoizontal position, used in the cabin, all the incoming oxygen stream is divided between a duct leading to the helmet vent and a duct leading the vents in the torso. In the vertical position, used outside, all the oxygen goes to the helmet vent. Figure I-10 from the EMU Handbook shows the layout of the ducts.]
118:33:38 Young: We're in lock.

118:33:40 Duke: Okay. Now we'll repeat it.

118:33:42 Young: Okay. (Pause)

[Now they will install John's purge valve.]
118:33:45 Young: Hey, why don't you sock us some water. We're still on LM cooling.

118:33:58 Duke: Yeah, just a minute. (Pause)

[They are probably talking about running water through the LCGs again.]
118:34:02 Young: Okay. Hope you're not keying your mike again, Charlie.

118:34:08 Duke: How's that?

118:34:09 Young: That's better.

118:34:10 Duke: (Garbled)

118:34:11 Young: Okay. (Long Pause) In and locked? (Pause) Okay.

118:34:49 Duke: Got it. No? (Garbled). Lock pin isn't in.

118:34:58 Young: Okay.

118:35:01 Duke: In and locked.

118:35:03 Young: All righty.

118:35:05 Duke: (Bottom of the middle column on Card 1 Side 2) (Garbled) now let's get a drink and I'll get us some cooling.

118:35:08 Young: Okay. That's pretty smart, Charlie. (Long Pause) Okay. (Long Pause)

[John is saying that it was a good idea to run the LCG pump occasionally.]
118:35:49 Duke: Brace this here for a little bit.

118:36:51 Young: All right. (Pause)

118:36:00 Young: And he's doing it. (Pause) Okay.

118:36:08 Duke: Okay, I'm turning off the (Descent) water (valve as per the last line in 2-9 prior to "102:06 Helmet/Glove Donning").

118:36:11 Young: Okay. (Pause)

[In the following transmission, Charlie suggests that they leave the water on for a while.]
118:36:13 Duke: Let's see. We could still do that. Let's do that...Let's keep doing it until we get down here.

118:36:20 Duke: (top of right-hand column on Card 1 Side 2) Okay, "PLSS fan, on; position mikes". Done.

118:36:23 Young: Fan's on; mike is positioned.

118:36:26 Duke: Okay; Fan is on.

118:36:28 Young: Vent Flag's clear.

118:36:30 Duke: Mine isn't yet. (Pause) Mine did. "Don helmet; check drink bag position. Don LEVAs and lower protective visor. Secure tool harness."

118:36:42 Young: Okay.

118:36:43 Duke: Guess whose helmet's in the very back. (Pause) Nope. (Long Pause)

[During this interval, we can hear clacking noises which indicate that one of them, possibly John, is getting his helmet on. I think that John already has his helmet on because the dialog from here to 118:38:55 seems to concern only Charlie's helmet and, after that point, there is no doubt that they both have their helmets on.]

[Jones - "Ideally, you each got your own helmet on?"]

[Duke - "Uh-huh."]

118:37:31 Young: Want me to get it, Charlie?

118:37:33 Duke: Just the Velcro over here, John.

118:37:35 Young: Yeah. (Pause) Okay, let me try to get it on when...Try to get it on whenever you get it down; I can see it. Oh, man, that's going to get you with the orange juice. (Pause) (Garbled) Give another try. (Pause)

118:37:57 Duke: Nope. Won't do it. (Pause) Make sure the Velcro's down all the way in the back, here.

118:38:06 Young: That's what it is, right there.

118:38:07 Duke: That's what it feels like; right over there. Same place as yesterday (garbled).

118:38:15 Young: Yeah. Yeah. There's another piece (garbled)

118:38:20 Duke: (Garbled) too much. Boy. (Pause) This comm is beautiful, isn't it?

118:38:30 Young: Yeah. Now try it. Let me put it on for you, so I can see what you...

118:38:35 Duke: Okay.

118:38:37 Young: Just hold your head back. Get it over your head first. Watch out for your mike. There you go. Get that inside.

118:38:46 Duke: Okay. (Pause) Felt like you got it, John.

118:38:55 LM Crew: (Helmet lock audible, as usual) Got it.

[Although the comm may have been good in the spacecraft, the audio tape in Houston is difficult to understand and I have no doubt that transcription errors remain.]
MP3 Audio Clip ( 9 min 38 sec )

118:38:57 Duke: Okay, now we don the LEVAs.

118:38:59 Young: Okay.

118:39:01 Duke: Okay, I'll put yours on first. (Pause)

118:39:06 Young: Careful we don't drop those gloves.

118:39:08 Duke: Yeah, I know it. We'd be in sad shape.

[With the suits and PLSS on, it would be all but impossible to get the gloves off the floor.]
118:39:10 Duke: I got it. Ah, the old red stripes! (Long Pause)
[John's LEVA has a red strip that runs back from the top-center of the faceplate. The stripe - along with similar red stripes on his arms and legs - make it relatively easy to tell John and Charlie apart in the TV and photographs. Jim Lovell was the first of the Commanders to have red stripes on his suit.]
118:39:33 Duke: That looks pretty good, John.

118:39:35 Young: Okay. (Pause)

118:39:39 Duke: (To himself) Get it down in back. It is (and it's) Velcroed (in place).

118:39:42 Young: Okay.

118:39:46 Duke: Okay, the old long arms, here, will get mine out. (Pause) This tool (harness?).

118:39:50 Young: All righty. (Pause) Almost got it, Charlie.

118:40:04 Duke: Okay. Sorry. You're a little top-heavy with this PLSS, aren't you?

118:40:11 Young: Not really. I feel a little bit...(Long Pause) There, you got it.

118:40:34 Duke: (Not finished) Hang on. (Pause)

118:40:38 Young: Okay, can I turn around?

118:40:40 Duke: Okay.

[Evidently, John had turned to face his circuit breaker panel so that Charlie could secure his LEVA in the back.]
118:40:42 Young: (Garbled) turned around. (Pause)

118:40:46 Duke: Oh. Man, is that (LM LCG) water cold! Whoo, whoo!

118:40:48 Young: Feels good doesn't it?

118:40:49 Duke: Mm-hmm! Okay, can you get my tool harness straps?

118:40:56 Young: Yep. (Pause) Okay, there's one.

118:41:04 Duke: Okay. (Pause)

118:41:08 Young: (I'll) get the other on.

118:41:11 Duke: Okay. (Pause)

118:41:17 Young: Got it.

118:41:19 Duke: Okay. Hold on.

[Now, Charlie will secure John's tool-harness straps.]
118:41:21 Duke: Got this one. It's Velcroed down. Here's the other one. (Pause) And it's Velcroed down. Okay, "LCG cold" (second paragraph, right-hand column, Card 1 Side 2). We got that. And I'm going to open the (LCG) Pump (circuit breaker), and we can disconnect the (LM water) hoses, and then connect up the PLSS (water) hoses.

118:41:44 Young: Okay.

118:41:46 Duke: Okay, Pump (breaker) is open.

118:41:47 Young: Okay.

118:41:48 Duke: See if I can get...

118:41:49 Young: Got it.

118:41:51 Duke: Got yours, huh?

118:41:52 Young: Yep.

118:41:53 Duke: Would you throw that back up in there?

118:41:55 Young: I'll get it out of the way.

[John's LM water hose extends from the ECS behind Charlie over to John's side of the spacecraft and he is probably putting it back on the engine cover.]
118:41:59 Duke: Boy, those things are a bucket of snakes, aren't they?

118:42:01 Young: That's alright. They won't bother you, will they?

118:42:04 Duke: Okay. No. Uh-uh. It's alright.

118:42:05 Young: Here's yours. Why don't you put it back there on the wall?

118:42:08 Duke: Yeah, I am. (Pause)

[Charlie is fitting the ends of the LM water hoses into some fitting on the wall.]
118:42:15 Duke: Okay, it's on the wall. Okay, here's yours. (Garbled) extra 4 inches on this hose. Super. Push!

118:42:28 Young: Okay...

118:42:29 Duke: Wait a minute. (Pause) (Mock concern) Guess what? (It's) in.

118:42:37 Young: (Mock admonishment) Charlie! (Both laugh)

[Charlie has just hooked up John's PLSS water hose.]
118:42:40 Duke: Go ahead. Try me.

118:42:44 Young: In. (Pause) And locked.

118:42:54 Duke: Okay, we got your hoses, on the ECS handhold. (Third paragraph, righthand column, Card 1 Side 2) Okay, "helmets, visors aligned and locked".

118:43:01 Young: Aligned and locked.

118:43:02 Duke: "O2 connectors, three, locked."

118:43:03 Young: O2 connectors have been locked. I checked yours, Charlie.

118:43:06 Duke: Okay, "purge valves locked".

118:43:08 Young: Purge valve's locked.

118:43:10 Duke: Okay.

118:43:11 Young: "Water connectors locked."

118:43:13 Duke: Water's locked; we just checked.

118:43:14 Young: "Comm connector's locked." That's true.

118:43:15 Duke: Okay, go to vertical.

118:43:17 Young: Vertical.

[They have verified that the suit diverter valve is vertical. With the valve in this position, they will get oxygen flow into the helmet.]

[Duke - "It had a vertical and a horizontal position. You'd put it vertical and all the flow would go to the helmet; and that's what you wanted. You could go to horizontal and part of the flow would go to the torso and part to the helmet. But it was always nice to have it in vertical because it'd flow over and wash out the helmet; and it was a lot cooler with all the oxygen going to the helmet rather than into the torso."]

[Jones - "Now, later on, would you have switched it over to horizontal to clean out water vapor or sweat?"]

[Duke - "We could have but I don't think we did."]

[Jones - "The oxygen's coming in through the connectors on the chest, but then there would have been some tubing to send it up to vents..."]

[Duke - "Right at the back of the helmet. There was a big space (about 4 inches left to right by a quarter inch deep) and it would flow right up over the back of the head, around and down the front of the helmet."]

[Jones - "And then it would go down through the neckring and exit the suit somewhere in the torso."]

[Duke - "Yeah."]

118:43:19 Duke: Okay, "verify CB configuration."

118:43:20 Young: Verify...

118:43:21 Duke: And turn the page (to Card 2 Side 1).

118:43:23 Young: Okay. (Pause)

[The circuit breaker configurations are those shown on surface checklist pages 1-4 and 1-5.]
118:43:26 Duke: Couple minutes away (from Depress).

118:43:27 Young: Don EV gloves. (Long Pause) Okay, I verify these CB configurations.

118:43:41 Duke: Okay; so do I.

118:43:46 Young: (To Tony) Can you read all this, Houston?

118:43:48 England: (Making a rare mis-identification) We sure can, Charlie. We're following you pretty well.

118:43:53 Young: I'm John. (Laughs) That's yours.

[Readers should remember that the comm is poor because of the need to conserve power so that a third EVA will be possible. The poor comm not only caused Tony's mis-identification but, for someone without the checklists, makes this part of the mission very hard to follow.]
118:44:00 Duke: Yeah. I forgot I left my white over-gloves back here. (Pause)
[These are fingerless cover gloves - rather like golf gloves - used to protect the EVA gloves from abrasion during the ALSEP deployment. In the transmission at 118:44:00, we can hear Charlie straining as he reaches back to get the cover gloves, which may be on the stowage shelf on the back wall.]
118:44:12 Duke: (There's) one of 'em (Long Pause)

118:44:45 Duke: Something fell out somewhere. (Pause)

[Charlie thinks he may have dropped one of the cover gloves.]

[Duke - "It would have been real tough to get it. It really was. It was really crowded."]

118:44:57 Young: Okay. My (EVA) gloves are on and locked, Charlie.

118:44:59 Duke: Okay. I haven't even started mine, yet. Wait a minute. (Pause) You don't see one of those white gloves down there anywhere, do you?

118:45:05 Young: No, I sure don't, Charlie.

118:45:10 Duke: On the floor anywhere?

118:45:15 Young: No, I don't see one.

118:45:17 Duke: Ah ha! Here it is. (Pause) Had to be either there or in the glove.

[Charlie may have found the missing cover glove inside the corresponding EVA glove.]
118:45:33 Duke: Okay, you're the fastest man...(You're) Flash Gordon with the...getting those gloves on.

118:45:41 Young: Make sure they're locked.

118:45:43 Duke: (Pulling a glove on) Ahhhhh! I can barely get the old fingers in them.

118:45:47 Young: Let me do it for you, Charlie.

118:45:49 Duke: Let me try this one. Then you can get my other one. Okay, now push. Can you push it? Oops. (Pause) John, wait a minute. We got...Okay; now you push the top, (and) let me push the bottom.

118:46:10 Young: Okay.

118:46:11 Duke: There we go.

118:46:12 Young: Got it. Okay, it's locked. (Pause)

118:46:23 Duke: Guess what? I am pissed now (because of the trouble he's having with the gloves). (Long Pause) Okay. (Pause) We've done it; I think.

118:47:11 Young: That got it, Charlie.

118:47:13 Duke: Super job, John. Thank you. (Pause)

118:47:21 Young: Let's get this PLSS integrity check.

[John is jumping the gun. They still need to verify the wrist locks and glove straps and the other steps at the top of the lefhand column of Card 2 Side 1.]
118:47:23 Duke: Okay. Wait a minute. The watch is a little loose, but that's okay. Okay. "Wrist locks (are) locked; gloves (4) adjusted; if PGA biting, PLSS O2 on and off." Okay, "verify PLSS Diverters Min". Yours is.

118:47:42 Young: Yeah.

[They each wore a wrist watch over the glove gauntlets. The PLSS diverter valves control the rate of flow of water into the PLSS sublimator and, hence, the level of cooling.]
118:47:47 Duke: Check mine.

118:47:48 Young: Just scoot around. (Pause) It's Min, Charlie.

118:47:52 Duke: Okay. Okay, "(PLSS LGC) pumps on".

118:47:54 Young: Yeah. PLSS pump on. Right.

118:47:57 Duke: Mine's on.

118:47:58 Young: Okay. Mine's on too. "Press Reg A and B to Egress."

118:48:02 Duke: Okay. Go ahead.

118:48:03 Young: Hey, that's good cooling.

118:48:05 Duke: I don't understand how you can get cool, though.

118:48:08 Young: Just circulate that cool water we have in there.

118:48:10 Duke: Okay; yeah. Go ahead.

[They have not yet started the flow of sublimator feedwater but, rather, have started the flow of water through the LCGs.]
118:48:11 Young: Okay, "Press Regs A and B to Egress".

118:48:13 Duke: It is.

[They are now starting the pressure integrity check starting at the middle of the lefthand column of Card 2 Side 1.]

[Duke, from the 1972 Technical Debrief - "(The) EVA Prep, PLSS donning, and checkout went great. That little beauty is just what we expected. It worked just like the procedures - followed straight through. We felt as if we were on time during the whole donning."]

[Young, from the 1972 Technical Debrief - "Yes, we didn't think we were behind anywhere."]

[Duke, from the 1972 Technical Debrief - "We didn't have a clock to see."]

[Young, from the 1972 Technical Debrief - "What we had planned to do, pre-flight, was to have the mission timer running and we had our timeline blocked out so that, for each sequence that took, say, 20 minutes, we'd know where we were in the timeline and we wouldn't have to keep bugging the ground. They wouldn't have to keep bugging us, either, to speed up or slow down. We didn't have to do anything over."]

[As an indication of their rate of progress, they started "Equipment Prep EVA-1" at the top of the lefthand column on Card 1 Side 1 at 117:36:35. They had planned to spend one hour eighteen minutes getting from that point to the start of the Pressure Integrity Check and, in fact, have only taken one hour twelve minutes.]

118:48:14 Young: Okay. "PLSS O2, On."

118:48:15 Duke: Okay. (Long Pause)

[The control that will start the oxygen flow is on the bottom, right, forward corner of the PLSS and, in the cramped cabin, is difficult to reach. A close-up photograph of an engineering model of the PLSS at NASA Johnson shows the location of the control, which is between controls for the feedwater diverter valve (closer to the camera) and the water shut-off valve (farthest from the camera). The controls have different shapes to make them easier to distinguish by feel when reaching back with a gloved right hand.]

[Young, from the 1972 Technical Debrief - "Sometimes Charlie and I could reach the valve on the PLSS and sometimes we couldn't; and there didn't seem to be a reason why. But, in the main, we tried to help each other in the vehicle to turn the oxygen on and off."]

MP3 Audio Clip ( 12 min 30 sec)

118:48:30 Young: Okay. "Press flag clear at 3.1 to 3.4 (psi)".

118:48:35 Duke: (If I can) find mine. (Pause)

[I am not certain that I transcribed Charlie's transmission correctly at 118:48:05; but it is certainly true that the small, recessed flag windows on the top of the RCU were difficult to see.]
118:48:41 Young: Yeah, it is.

118:48:43 Duke: Okay; Coming up. (Pause) Okay, I've got an O2 flag. (Pause) (Garbled)

118:48:55 Young: And a Press Flag. "Press flag clears at 3.1 to 3.4", Charlie.

118:48:57 Duke: Okay. What about the O2 flag? What does it say?

118:49:03 Young: Doesn't say nothing. Says "O2 flag clear at cuff gauge 3.7 to 4.0".

118:49:07 Duke: Okay. (Pause)

[Here, John is combining the information in the first three lines in the pressure integrity check.]
118:49:21 Young: Yeah. Happy days.

118:49:24 Duke: Yeah.

118:49:27 Young: "Press flags clear at 3.2."

118:49:31 Duke: Okay; mine (meaning his cuff-mounted pressure gauge) is off the peg.

118:49:33 Young: Okay. (Pause)

118:49:37 Duke: There's 3.0.

118:49:40 Young: Okay; my suit is regulating at 3.5.

118:49:43 Duke: Mine cleared at 3.2. (Pause) Look at the beauty bring it right up to...

118:49:52 Young: Okay, Charlie. Let's do the integrity check.

[They will turn off the oxygen for one minute and watch the suit pressure decay due to small leaks, breathe-down, and flow into nooks and crannies in the suit. A decrease of 0.2 psi in one minute is normal and up to 0.3 psi is acceptable.]
118:49:54 Duke: Okay. I'll get yours off.

118:49:57 Young: Let me see if I can get it. I got it.

118:50:00 Duke: Grabbing the wrong valve. There.

118:50:01 Young: Who me?

118:50:02 Duke: No, I did it.

118:50:03 Young: Okay, there's starting a minute. Houston, can you give us a mark at the end of a minute?

118:50:08 England: Roger. I started the clock when you said it was off.

118:50:15 Duke: Okay, mine's off.

118:50:16 Young: Charlie's is off. (Long Pause)

118:50:27 Duke: Boy, mine (meaning his suit) is tight as a drum, John.

118:50:30 Young: Yeah, and mine's leaked about...It's gone down some. (Pause) Started at 3.82; it's down to about 3.72 now.

118:50:47 Duke: Mine dropped about a tenth also. Boy, that feels good. That pressure point on my leg went away, John...

118:50:56 Young: Good.

118:50:57 Duke: When we pressurized. (Pause)

[The unpressurized suit hangs on the body and, despite the low gravity, presses into the wearer at various places.]
118:51:01 Young: Hey, when's the minute up, Tony?

118:51:03 England: Okay, there's the minute now.

118:51:05 Duke: Takes a long time.

118:51:10 Young: Okay. I'm down to 3.7.

118:51:12 Duke: Okay. Mine dropped 1 and 1/2 (tenths), Tony.

118:51:18 England: Say again yours, Charlie?

118:51:20 Young: "PLSS O2, On." (Answering Tony) 0.15. (Is that) right, Charlie?

118:51:25 Duke: Yeah. (Pause) Let me get yours, John.

118:51:29 Young: Okay; (garbled) any more. (Pause)

118:51:37 Duke: Feels like it's on to me. Back over a little bit...

118:51:41 Young: It's not on.

118:51:42 Duke: Huh?

118:51:43 Young: It's not on. (Pause)

[Duke - "I thought I had it on; it didn't look like I had it on; he said 'it's not on'. I don't remember how you could tell it was on; by oxygen flow or something."]

[Jones - "Could you feel it on the back of your head, even with the Snoopy cap on?"]

[Duke - "Yeah, a little bit. But you could feel it more coming down over your face."]

118:51:50 Duke: There. It is. Okay; check mine (to see if it is) on.

118:51:54 England: (Now at the top of the middle column on Card 2 Side 1) Okay, Orion. We're Go for depress.

118:52:00 Duke: Roger. Go for depress. (Pause)

118:52:09 Young: Yours is on, Charlie.

118:52:10 Duke: Okay. Okay, read them. (Garbled)

[Charlie strains as he turns to face his circuit breaker panel, CB(16).]
118:52:18 Young: Okay. "Circuit breaker ECS, Cabin Repress to Open."

118:52:20 Duke: Okay.

118:52:23 Young: Don't need to close the Comm TV breaker, I guess.

118:52:25 Duke: No. Uh-uh.

118:52:26 Young: Okay, "Cabin Repress valve to Close".

118:52:28 Duke: Okay, go.

118:52:30 Young: "Overhead or forward dump valve Open and (then) Auto at 3-1/2."

118:52:33 Duke: Okay. I'll get this one.

118:52:35 Young: Okay. (Pause) You got it open, Charlie?

118:52:41 Duke: Not yet. One thing I need to do is get...

[Prior crews had used the dump valve in the forward hatch to do the depressurization. In order to do that, the LMP had to back up as far as possible and bend down to get the valve, which was not an easy task in a pressurized suit. Here, Charlie is turning so that he can get his left arm up to the dump valve in the overhead hatch. The Apollo 16 and 17 crews used only the overhead valve.]

[Jones - "On 17 Gene and Jack had to jockey positions fairly carefully. Gene was the one who went up for the dump valve, because he's taller. And, to get his right arm up, he had to get around with his PLSS to the circuit breaker panel. Do you remember anything about how you did it."]

[Duke - "I reached that for John. I'm left handed, and I remember it was right up in here somewhere. I didn't have any problem. I just reached up and got it. I think I might have had to stand up on my tiptoes."]

[Jones - "Facing more or less inboard, I would imagine."]

[Duke - "Right (correct). Uh-huh. Well, sort of inboard, sort of 45 degrees (facing the left-front corner) so that you can get your arm up."]

[Jones - "There was a little locking pin on the valve. Did you have to get that out."]

[Duke - "That might have been it."]

[Jones - "'Cause I don't remember any discussion of getting that pin out first."]

[Duke - "That's probably what I'm talking about (at 118:52:41)."]

[Duke, from the 1972 Technical Debrief - "We used the overhead valve and it was horrible to reach in training; but, in one-sixth gravity, it was nothing: just (reached) right up there and got it. I really felt familiar with those procedures. That 'square-filling' we did (in training) really paid off, I'll tell you."]

[In order to maintain proficiency, pilots make flights on a routine basis in which they perform various procedures and maneuvers so that they don't get rusty. A record is maintained of the procedures that they have practiced in a given week or month and, after each proficiency flight, the appropriate squares on the form are checked - the square is filled.]

118:52:46 Young: Okay.

118:52:47 Duke: Here we go.

118:52:48 Young: Okay. That's 4 and 1/2, 4, 3 and 1/2 Mark.

118:52:57 Duke: Okay, (dump valve) Close.

[With the cabin pressure at 3.5 psi, they have closed the dump valve. Card 2 Side 1 indicates that they were to put the dump valve in Auto. In that position, the valve would only dump oxygen if the cabin pressure exceeded 5.4 psi. They will put the valve in the Open position as soon as they finish the pressure integrity check so, in this circumstance, the difference between Auto and Close is of no consequence.]

[Because of the lower cabin pressure, the relative pressure in the suit has increased and they will watch their cuff gauges to make sure that the suit pressure has risen as expected and is decaying due to breathe-down. There is a relief valve in the suit which opens if the pressure rises into the range 4.8 to 5.5 psi.]

118:53:01 Young: Okay. "Cabin's at 3 and 1/2; LM suit circuit locked up at 4.3." That's true.

118:53:08 Duke: Okay, My pressure gauge is five.

118:53:11 Young: Mine is...

118:53:13 Duke: Yeah.

118:53:13 Young: ...four (point) nine. Coming down slowly. Okay. (Pause) Okay. Starting the (wrist) watch. Go ahead and open the dump valve, Charlie.

118:53:31 Duke: Okay. We ready?

118:53:32 Young: Yeah.

[The EVA starts as soon as Charlie re-opens the dump valve. John and Charlie will use their watches to gauge the EVA elapsed time for comparison with the time markers in the cuff checklists. They are each wearing an Omega Speedmaster Professional on a long strap that fits around the forearm. They are at 102:25 in the middle column of Card 2 Side 1.]

[Jones - "Did you use the stopwatch function, or set it to twelve or something?"]

[Duke - "You just started your stopwatch. That's what we did."]

[Jones - "You've got the gloves on. Any particular problem with starting the stopwatch?"]

[Duke - "No. That Omega had a little button at the top...It would be difficult to wind a watch; but, to start the watch, you hit that and it started the stop watch."]

[Photo AS16-117-18826 shows John at Station 10-prime, late in EVA-3, wearing his Omega Speedmaster Professional strapped over his right gauntlet. It reads 1:20, which is Houston time. ]

[Jones - "Gene said that he wore a mirror (on the suit sleeve)..."]

[Duke - "Yeah, we did."]

[Jones - "And what did you use that for?"]

[Duke - "To shine into areas to read checklists and things that were difficult to read for some reason. Like decals and things on experiments that you could get under to read it, so you'd use the mirror so you could look in. And we used it to shine light into a dark area. Just things like that."]

[Jones - "Would you have used it to look at anything on the RCU?"]

[Duke - "No. That was all up on the top."]

[Jones - "Look at connectors?"]

[Duke - "Yeah, you could have. There was a lot of uses for it. I don't remember any specific times doing that."]

[A search of the stowage lists shows that only the A16 and A17 LM crews had wrist mirrors, perhaps because of a comment Dave Scott made at 119:42:48during the Apollo 15 hatch opening for EVA-1: "Yeah, I got it open. But I wish I had a mirror. (Long Pause) I feel like I'm caught on something!". See a discussion following 163:19:53 in the A17LSJ.]

118:53:33 Duke: Okay. Here we go. It's open. There. (Long Pause)

118:54:00 Duke: Okay; "tone on and H2O flag A".

118:54:01 Young: Yeah.

[Because the PLSS sublimator will only operate in a vacuum, they won't turn the sublimator feedwater on until the hatch is open. The appearance of an "A" flag in the RCU water window confirms both that the feedwater is off and that the sensor is working.]
118:54:02 Duke: Okay; that's what I've got. (Pause) Okay. Pressure's at 1 (psi), Houston.

118:54:10 England: Say again, Charlie.

118:54:15 Duke: Cabin pressure is down to 1 (psi).

118:54:20 England: Roger. We copy. (Pause)

118:54:29 Young: Okay; now, two minutes after we started that, we're supposed to be able to open the forward hatch.

118:54:36 Duke: Well, we're down to five tenths. Four tenths.

118:54:46 Young: You gonna put that (dump valve) back to Auto before we get out, Charlie?

118:54:49 Duke: What does it say? No, we're not.

118:54:54 Young: Yeah. Better remember to do that.

118:54:56 Duke: If that thing came closed and we had a leak, we'd be in trouble.

118:54:02 Young: True. (Garbled)

118:55:03 England: No, you want to leave one in Open, there.

118:55:07 Duke: We got it. The overhead's in Open.

[If the hatch swung shut, with both valves Closed or in Auto, and there was a leak of oxygen into the cabin, they wouldn't be able to open the hatch until they bled the cabin pressure by opening the forward valve with a control mounted on the outside. Under normal circumstances, that wouldn't be a problem. If they were in a hurry because of a suit leak, they would be in trouble.]
118:55:09 Duke: Okay, John. It's two tenths; you ought to be able to open that beauty. (Pause) Here she comes.
[John has to back up as far as possible and bend down to get the handle on the hatch.]
118:55:25 Young: Ain't coming open, though.

118:55:27 Duke: You've got the handle down.

118:55:30 Young: (Straining) I know it. (Pause)

118:55:34 Duke: There it is.

118:55:35 Young: Yeah, man.

118:55:36 Duke: Hatch is open, Houston. Wait a minute, wait a minute. (Grabbing the hatch as it swings in front of his knees) Okay, I got it. Look at that air...Look at that stuff stream out of there.

118:55:46 Young: Yeah.

[Mattingly, from the 1972 Technical Debrief - "Did you have a lot of stuff come out of the hatch like we had (during equalization of the LM and CSM cabin pressures)?"]

[Duke, from the 1972 Technical Debrief - "No, we saw a few dust particles fly out, but that was all. To do the actual depress, we used the overhead valve and just left it open. I never noticed much floating (up) that way. The LM was extremely clean. You know how many screws and little washers and things we found floating in the Command Module. I guess, maybe, we found five in the LM the whole time."]

[Young, from the 1972 Technical Debrief - "It was extremely clean until after the first EVA and, from then on, it was really dirty."]

[Duke - "John opened it. We just practiced that way. He opened it and then I took over and pulled it over in front of my feet. And when we opened it, you can see what I commented here. Boy, I tell you the dust and debris and everything just streamed out the hatch. I mean, even though it was down to what we thought was a vacuum, it wasn't. The lunar module was still outgassing a lot."]

118:55:47 Duke: Okay. Okay, "Forward hatch open. PLSS open"..."Partially opened forward hatch." It is.

118:55:53 Young: Yeah.

[They have started the tasks under Final Prep for Egress at the bottom of the middle column on Card 2 Side 1.]
118:55:54 Duke: "Primary H2O open."

118:55:56 Young: Okay, turn on my water switch.

118:55:58 Duke: Okay. Stand by. (Pause) Can you back up?

[Charlie is trying to turn on John's feedwater. The feedwater on/off valve is the rightmost of the three controls on the bottom of the PLSS and is the hardest to reach, especially with the suit at greater than the normal working pressure of 3.8 psi. Each of the controls has a distinct shape so that they can be distinguished by feel.]
118:56:06 Young: Yeah. Can you get it?

118:56:10 Duke: No. (Pause) There it is. Okay, it's off (means "on").

118:56:19 Young: I believe I can get yours.

118:56:21 Duke: Okay, just a minute.

118:56:23 Young: I don't think you can even reach yours, Charlie.

118:56:24 Duke: Got it.

118:56:25 Young: Got the water? (Pause)

118:56:29 Duke: Yeah. I think so; check it.

118:56:31 Young: Okay.

118:56:33 Duke: (Grunting) Ahh!

118:56:35 Young: Turn around, Charlie.

118:56:36 Duke: Okay, wait a minute.

118:56:37 Young: What are you getting.

118:56:38 Duke: I'm just trying to turn around! You're in front of me. Okay, there we go. (Long Pause)

[Young, from the 1972 Technical Debrief - "As everybody (on the other LM crews) has remarked, once you get the gear on, the only thing you can do is get out of the spacecraft, because you've run out of room to do anything else."]

[Duke - "We were sort of running into one another at this point. You can tell we're getting a little frustrated."]

[Jones - "It's a real broom closet in there, I gather. And that's mostly because of the constraints of the Saturn V, isn't it?"]

[Duke - "I don't remember what was the design constraint on the Lunar Module. I don't think it was the Saturn. It was more just the weight of things. Well, of course, it had to fit into the slot of the LM adapter (just below the Service Module near the top of the Apollo stack). And then, of course, there was a weight limit on how much you could carry down."]

[Jones - "And volume does cost you a little bit."]

[Duke - "Yeah. So, it was okay. We got used to it. This first time was the hard part and then, after that, it got better."]

[Journal Contributor David Harland calls attention to a discussion of the dimensions of the Saturn V and, hence, of the CSM and LM, on page 166 of Mike Gray's Angle of Attack: Harrison Storms and the Race to the Moon.]

[Jones - "Would it be fair to describe it as 'barely adequate'?"]

[Duke - "I wouldn't want it any smaller. Let me put it that way. Yeah."]

[Jones - "A little bit larger would have helped."]

[Duke - "Yeah. Or the PLSS controls in a different spot; that would have helped. It was hard to get back over here with your arm. With a proper design on the...I think the design was good; I'm not saying it wasn't good, 'cause the thing worked great once you got it going. But it was just hard to reach those switches in a confined environment."]

[Jones - "Could you get the switches while you were on the Rover?"]

[Duke - "It was easier. For some reason the (feed)water (control) - Min, Max, Medium - was okay; that was the only one we ever touched. I went to Aux water once, I think, on the first EVA. Yeah, I didn't seem to have any trouble once I got outside."]

118:56:56 Duke: I think it's on, John. (Pause)

118:57:03 Young: ... Charlie's ... is on your mark. Okay, it's on, Charlie.

118:57:13 Duke: If you'd turn sideways, John, I think...

118:57:16 Young: If I could turn sideways, I'd be half as big as I am.

118:57:19 Duke: Okay. You'll have to turn sideways to get out.

118:57:20 Young: I know it.

118:57:21 Duke: Okay, let's rest until the feedwater pressure comes up. (Pause)

[The sublimator contains a porous metal plate on which a layer of feedwater ice forms. Heat transferred from the closed-loop water supply that flows through the LCG causes the outer layer of ice to sublimate, carrying off heat. It takes a few minutes for the ice layer to form. A rise in feedwater pressure indicates that fact. It is the total amount of available feedwater and the rate at which it is used that is the main determinant of the length of an EVA.]
118:57:33 England: No, we don't have any telemetry here.
[Because of the need to save power, the high-bit rate that Houston would need to get PLSS telemetry is not available.]

[Jones - "The way I understand it is that you're still at low bit rate, here, to conserve power. They're not getting telemetry, and that's mostly because of transmitter power. There's still telemetry coming out of the PLSS but the LM isn't able to send it."]

[Duke - "Apparently so. I don't remember. 'Cause, once we got on the surface, they had everything - once we got the LCRU up."]

118:57:39 Young: (Garbled) (Responding to Tony) Oh, yeah? (Pause)

118:57:46 Young: Leave your protective visor down, Charlie.

[This is the gold-coated outer visor that provides protection from solar ultraviolet.]
118:57:48 Duke: (To Houston) How long is it supposed to take to get the feedwater...to start feeding the cooling?

118:57:59 Young: Four minutes.

118:58:00 England: About four minutes. (Long Pause)

118:58:42 Young: Do you want me to throw out the jett bag, Charlie?

118:58:46 Duke: I'll give it to you. Okay?

118:58:51 Young: Don't think we can get it past us.

[The jettison bag may be on the engine cover at this point and, because John and Charlie fill virtually the whole forward part of the cabin now that their suits are inflated, it would be all but impossible to get the jett bag to the hatch.]

[In the following, John refers to the "second jettison" but probably means this jettison following the first rest period. Had they landed on schedule, they would have done a jettison at the start of EVA-1 and the one after the first rest period would have been the "second jettison". The Buddy SLSS - or BSLSS - is a set of hoses which would allow the crew to share cooling water in the event that one of them had a PLSS failure. The BSLSS was taken to the Moon inside the cabin and the BSLSS bag was its stowage bag.]

[Young, from the 1972 Technical Debrief - "For the second jettison, we loaded up the Buddy SLSS bag. In training, the Buddy SLSS bag had been adequate. Unfortunately, nobody had counted on us landing, eating a night's food, getting up the next morning, eating a breakfast, and then trying to stow all those food wrappings in the Buddy SLSS bag. We just barely jammed all that stuff in there. It was really overly full. To tie the bag up, we finally ended up wrapping tape around it. It was really a marginal operation. Plus, the other jett bag would give you something to stand on (to avoid dust on the floor). I don't think the Buddy SLSS bag makes a very good jettison bag. It just wasn't big enough for the volume we had to put in it on the second jettison."]

118:58:53 Duke: Okay. Fine. You can't get back in that (right-rear) corner? (Pause) No, sideways, like I am. You ain't going to be able to get out unless you can get around! There you go.

118:59:08 Young: Okay, but that's as far as I go.

[In order to get out, John has to be facing the right rear so that he can lower himself toward the floor and get his feet out through the hatch. Once he gets to his knees, he will move to his left to get centered and then will back out slowly under the DSKY.]
118:59:13 Duke: (Garbled), but that's what we're going to have to do. Okay, you get out and I'll put in the...(Pause) I've still got a flag A. You do, too. Okay, yours just cleared; so did mine. (Asking John to look) Didn't mine clear?

118:59:33 Young: You don't have any flags, Charlie.

118:59:37 Duke: Okay, Houston, the H2O flags have just cleared.

118:59:42 England: Okay. We copy that. (Pause)

118:59:52 Young: (To Tony) Okay, shall we go to Intermediate on the cooling and see if it's working. (To himself) It's working. (Pause)

119:00:05 Duke: Houston. Can we go to Intermediate on the cooling?

119:00:14 England: Rog. That's okay. (Pause)

119:00:20 Duke: I feel mine working.

119:00:21 Young: I do, too.

119:00:22 Duke: Okay, Houston, are we ready to get out? We're ready to get out.

119:00:28 Young: Yeah. (Pause)

119:00:31 England: Okay. Let's go.

119:00:34 Duke: Okay, why don't you go out, John?

 

Wake-up for EVA-1 Apollo 16 Journal Back in the Briar Patch