posted 12-22-2004 01:20 AM               

So he should take credit? Dave? Irwin? or Both?

posted 12-22-2004 03:00 AM               

145:41:15 Scott: Okay. Now let's go down and...
145:41:17 Irwin: Get that unusual one?

145:41:19 Scott: Get that unusual one. (Pause) Here's some dense...And there's another unusual one; look at the little crater here, and the one that's facing us. There is a little white corner to the thing.

145:41:34 Allen: Okay, Dave. Get as many of those as you can, and you might be watching for a place where you think the rake might help you.

RealVideo Clip (3 min 36 sec)

145:41:43 Scott: Yeah. I think we can probably do a rake here, Joe.

145:41:47 Allen: Okay, sounds like a good place....

145:41:48 Scott: Okay, there's a big boulder over there down-Sun of us, that I'm sure you can see, Joe, which is gray. And it has some very outstanding gray clasts and white clasts, and oh, boy, it's a beaut! We're going to get ahold of that one in a minute.

145:42:07 Irwin: Okay, I have my pictures, Dave.

[The sample with the "white corner on the thing" is one of the best known of all Apollo samples, 15415, a 269 gram piece of pure anorthosite. Reporters covering the mission almost immediately named it the Genesis Rock. Interestingly, it was sitting up off the surface on a pedestal of soil. Readers should note that, during the drive back to the LM on EVA-1 at 123:56:52, Dave noticed another rock on a pedestal.]
[Jim's down-Sun "before" pictures are AS15-90- 12227 and 12228. In 12227, Dave is standing quite close to the gnomon. Although the pedestal is a little washed out in this picture, the Genesis Rock, the white object, is quite obvious. Jim moved several steps to his right to take 228, which shows Dave holding the tongs in his left hand. The Station 7 boulder is in the background.]

[Dave's cross-Sun "befores" are AS15-86- 11670 and 11671. David Harland has assembled a mosaic of Genesis Rock "befores" and "afters".]

RealVideo Clip (40 sec) by Ken Glover from the NASA film Apollo 15: In the Mountains of the Moon
145:42:10 Scott: Okay, let's see. What do you think the best way to sample it (meaning the Genesis Rock) would be?

145:42:14 Irwin: I think probably...Could we break off a piece of the clod underneath it? Or I guess you could probably lift that top fragment right off.

[Fendell has stopped to look at the rille and, now, zooms in on the near surface.]
145:42:23 Scott: Yeah. Let me try. (Pause) Yeah. Sure can. And it's a...a white clast, and it's about...

[Dave may have been about to call the rock a white clast breccia when he cleaned some of the dirt cover off and saw the predominant plagioclase. Jim sees the characteristic reflections almost before Dave does.]
145:42:41 Irwin: Oh, man!
145:42:41 Scott: Oh, boy!

145:42:42 Irwin: I got...

145:42:42 Scott: Look at that.

145:42:44 Irwin: Look at the glint!

145:42:45 Scott: Aaah.

145:42:46 Irwin: Almost see twinning in there!

145:42:47 Scott: Guess what we just found. (Jim laughs with pleasure) Guess what we just found! I think we found what we came for.

145:42:53 Irwin: Crystalline rock, huh?

145:42:55 Scott: Yes, sir. You better believe it.

145:42:57 Allen: Yes, sir.

145:42:58 Scott: Look at the plage in there.

145:42:59 Irwin: Yeah.

145:43:00 Scott: Almost all plage.

145:43:01 Irwin: (Garbled)

145:43:02 Scott: As a matter of fact (Laughing) Oh, boy! I think we might have ourselves something close to anorthosite, 'cause it's crystalline, and there's just a bunch...It's just almost all plage. What a beaut.

[NASA photo S71-43477 shows Dave examining the Genesis Rock in the Lunar Receiving Lab after the flight.]
145:43:18 Irwin: That is really a beauty. And, there's another one down there!
145:43:22 Scott: Yeah. We'll get some of these.

[Fendell is now looking at Dave and Jim. Jim has his back to the camera and Dave is standing at his right, facing south, as they examine the ground around their find. They are working inside the rim of Spur on a noticeable slope.]
145:43:24 Allen: Bag it up!
145:43:27 Scott: Ah! Ah!

145:43:29 Irwin: Beautiful.

145:43:30 Scott: Hey, let me get some of that clod there. No, let's don't mix them. Let's make this a special...Why (don't)...I'll zip it up.

145:43:36 Irwin: Okay.