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NASA-UAP-D6, TECHNICAL CREW DEBRIEFING, APOLLO 17, JANUARY 1973

This document contains the technical crew debriefing for the Apollo 17 mission. Astronauts discuss various observations including persistent light flashes experienced during dark adaptation and window visibility issues. The transcript also notes a visual sighting of an aircraft carrier during the recovery phase.

AGENCY
NASA
TYPE
DEBRIEF
INCIDENT DATE
1973-01-04
LOCATION
SPACE
PAGES
2
EXTRACTED
2 / 2
STATUS
READY

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PAGE 1

cover-page

This is the cover page for the Apollo 17 Technical Crew Debriefing document, dated January 4, 1973, prepared by the NASA Manned Spacecraft Center.

[HANDWRITTEN: 264 MP.] [REDACTED] 1
MSC-07631
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

APOLLO 17
TECHNICAL
CREW DEBRIEFING
(U)

JANUARY 4, 1973

PREPARED BY
TRAINING OFFICE
CREW TRAINING AND SIMULATION DIVISION

This document will automatically become declassified
90 days from the published date.

NOTICE: This document may be exempt from
public disclosure under the Freedom of Infor-
mation Act (5 U.S.C. 552). Requests for its
release to persons outside the U.S. Govern-
ment should be handled under the provisions
of NASA Policy Directive 1382.2.

MANNED SPACECRAFT CENTER
HOUSTON, TEXAS

INDEXING DATA
DATE GPR # T PGM SUBJECT SIGNATOR LOC
01 04 73 M MSC-07631 R [ILLEGIBLE] [REDACTED] [REDACTED]
[REDACTED]

PAGE 2

transcript

This page contains a transcript of the Apollo 17 technical crew debriefing, where astronauts discuss observations of light flashes, window visibility, and a sighting of an aircraft carrier during recovery.

24-4

EVANS
(CONT'D)

after the brightness of the fireball decreased, I could look
back up through the rendezvous window and see what to me was
kind of like a tunnel with a bright spot in the middle of the
tunnel. Way down the tunnel, way back behind, I could see
the fireball.

CERNAN

The only unusual sighting I can recall during landing or
recovery is when the CMP looked out the window and saw the
superstructure of an aircraft carrier and said, "Oh, we've
got a tin can with us."

EVANS

Well, it was kind of foggy on the windows.

SCHMITT

Transearth we had only a small crescent of an Earth and it was
not feasible to do any extensive weather observations. We
had light flashes just about continuously during the whole
flight when we were dark adapted. I had one which I thought
was a flash on the lunar surface. That one period of time
when we had the blindfolds on for the ALFMED experiment there
were just no visible flashes, although that evening, that
night, before I went to sleep I noticed that I was seeing the
light flashes again. So, it just seemed to be that one
interval either side of it where the light flash was not
visible to myself or to the other two crewmen.