Apollo 17 Transcript, 1972

This NASA document contains excerpts from the Apollo 17 air-to-ground voice transcription from 1972. The crew reports bright, jagged fragments drifting past the spacecraft after S-IVB separation, and later describes a distant flashing, rotating object that Jack thinks is the S-IVB. Gene also describes light flashes he saw with his eyes closed. Other passages cover weather over Hawaii and the Solomon Islands, and a flash seen on the lunar surface north of Grimaldi.

From the source: Release of 2026-05-08 Incident: 1972, Moon. Apollo 17 was the ninth crewed U.S. mission to the Moon, and the sixth to land astronauts on the lunar surface. This document is an excerpt from the Apollo 17 Technical Air-to-Ground Voice Transcription, December 1972, highlighting three periods in which astronauts reported observing unidentified phenomenon: a nine minute period on the first day, a three hour period on the second day, and a six minute period on the third day. • Day 00, Hour 03, Minute 34, Second 10 through Day 00, Hour 03, Minute 42, Second 29: o Command Module Pilot (CMP), Ronald Evans, reported observing “very bright particles or fragments” drifting and “tumbling” near the spacecraft as it maneuvered. Lunar Module Pilot (LMP), Harrison “Jack” Schmitt, described the phenomenon as looking “like the Fourth of July.” The astronauts speculated that the phenomenon may be attributable to ice or paint fragments dislodging from a separated component of the spacecraft (S-IVB) but characterized that assessment as a “wild guess.” • Day 02, Hour 18, Minute 42, Second 34 through Day 02, Hour 21, Minute 07, Second 05: o Mission Commander, Eugene A. Cernan, reported difficulty sleeping and described having observed “some sets of the streaks.” He also described an intense light flashing between his eyes, describing its intensity as comparable to that of a train headlight and characterizing it as “imposing.” Over the next three hours, Cernan described observing several flashing, rotating phenomenon that he assessed as corresponding to physical objects in space rather than a purely optical phenomenon. LMP Schmitt also reported observing similar phenomenon, though he again assessed the source of his observation to be a separated rocket stage (S-IVB). At 02:20:55:22, Cernan reported observing two additional distant flashing objects, though he assessed them as Spacecraft/Lunar Module Adapter panels (SLA panel), another separated component of the Saturn V rocket. • Day 03, Hour 15, Minute 33, Second 25 through Day 03, Hour 15, Minute 39, Second 46: o At 03:15:38:09, LMP Schmitt exclaimed that he had observed a flash on the lunar surface north of Grimaldi (crater).

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MARK it. It just crossed through the - -
Mark. We got it.
let's call it the XZ plane of the spacecraft.
One unique thing about it, Bob, is that it's got
two flashes. As it comes around in - in rhythmic
fashion, you get a very bright flash; and then
you get a dull flash. And then it'll come around
with a bright flash, and then a dull flash.
That's the side and - of the S-IVB - and then the
engine bell, Gene.
The commander doesn't think that I can see the
engine bell on that thing.
Roger, Ja.ck. Is that with the monocular you're
looking at it?
He couldn't see the engine bell if he had 10 monoc
ulars.
Okay. I've got the cable restowed now.
Say again, Ron.
And, Gene, where's your blindfold? ...
Bob, couple of revolutions ago when I was looking
at it, I had a much brighter view and I believe
I was looking at it broadside. It looks to me like
it may be flashing more or less end-on now. It's
much, not - not as bright, although it's getting
brighter. But it's not as bright now as it was
awhile ago.
Roger, Jack.
... we've been noticing that, I think, for about
24 hours or so. I just - hadn't put it together
as maybe being the S-IVB. I thought it was just
some other particle out there.
Roger, Jack.
Hey, Robert, what's the final Cowboy score?