The Nose Knows...The Nose Knows...The suit technician helping Apollo 17 CDR Gene Cernan dress for flight has not in fact twisted the astronaut's head on wrong. Nor, has Gene been posessed by the head-swiveling demon from the movie "The Exorcist." CAPT Cernan is merely scratching an itch with a strategically-placed piece of Velcro, which was an upgraded nose-relief feature of the later model A7L moonsuit helmet.
Here is a happy group photo of all three Apollo
17 crews from 1972. (Back row/support: L to R; Gordon Fullerton,
Bob Overmyer, Bob Parker; Middle row/backup: Stu Roosa, John
Young, Charlie Duke; First row/prime: Ron Evans, Gene Cernan,
Jack Schmitt) Besides the really hip Ban-Lon golf shirts of the
period, you'll note the prime and backup crews are all wearing
mustaches. Click in closely, and you'll see only the backup
crews' facial hair is real. The somewhat cheesey matching lip
adornments worn by the prime crew are in fact, fake. It seems
they were making fun of the somewhat Bohemian appearance their
colleagues adopted.
Poor 'Ol John Young! The Apollo 16 CDR had a
little misstep while working on the Apollo Lunar Surface
Experiments Package (ALSEP). The spacesuit control box on his
chest, plus the lean-foward stance imposed by the heavy backpack,
prevented him from seeing his feet. His left foot snagged the
ribbon cable which connected the $30 million Heat Flow Experiment
to the Central Station. The connector ripped right out of its
socket, killing the experiment. "God, I'm sorry" said
Young just after the accident. "And he was up there where he
could be heard too!" quipped Tonight Show host comedian
Johnny Carson, upon hearing Young's exclamation.
Here's ol' Jack Schmitt yet again. I swear this guy is a goldmine when it comes to fun on the Moon. Growing up skiing in New Mexico, he obviously couldn't help trying out the sun-drenched Massif slopes of Taurus-Littrow.
Hard to believe that over three decades after
Apollo 14 Commander Alan Shepard hit a few golf shots on the Moon, "B.C." cartoonist Jonny Hart's cavemen
are still mentioning this unique event.
