page_title: Return of Apollo 15 to Earth
section_title: Day 11 and EVA
hierarchical_section_title: Return of Apollo 15 to Earth / Day 11 and EVA
context_page_description: After the Apollo 15 LM Falcon lifted from the lunar surface on August 2, 1971, it rendezvoused and docked with the CSM Endeavour. After transferring across the lunar samples and other equipment, Falcon was jettisoned. It would fire its rocket engine to cause it to impact the lunar surface.
  Apollo 15 spent one more day in lunar orbit, continuing Worden's observations. After releasing a subsatellite, they ignited their service propulsion system to put them on a trajectory back to Earth. The next day, Worden performed an EVA to retrieve the film cassettes from the scientific instrument module bay cameras.
  The twelfth day in space was uneventful, with Mission Control holding a press conference where the astronauts were asked questions submitted by the news media. On their 13th and final day they prepared for reentry. During descent one of their three parachutes failed, and they splashed down successfully with only two.
context_section_description: The main task on the eleventh day in space was an EVA by Worden. This was the first EVA by a Command Module Pilot since Scott performed one on Apollo 9.
  As the crew began their preparations, they left the Lunar Sphere of Influence at 238 hours, 14 minutes, 51 seconds GET, at which point the gravitational pull of the Earth was stronger than that of the Moon. From now on they would start to accelerate towards the Earth. After retracting and turning off the equipment in the SIM bay, the crew donned their space suits. They disabled the RCS thrusters that were near the SIM and if accidentally fired would have been dangerous to Worden. Guards were also placed over the control panel to ensure that switches were not flicked by an errant foot.
  After suit checks and depressurizing the spacecraft, the hatch was opened. After mounting a TV and film camera on the hatch, Worden jettisoned two bags of rubbish that did not need to be returned to Earth. Then using handholds built into the craft he moved along to the SIM bay. Along with retrieval he was tasked with inspecting the instruments to find the cause for the various problems experienced with them.
  First he retrieved the film cassette from the Panoramic Camera and returned that to the cabin. After inspecting the "V-over-H" sensor on the Mapping Camera he retrieved its film cassette. He found that there was nothing obscuring the sensor as had been postulated by Mission Control as a cause for its problems. Later analysis would find that the problem was related to the optical signal-to-noise ratio.
  As the other instruments had radioed their data back to Earth, there were nothing else to collect. Twenty minutes after opening the hatch, it was closed and locked again. The SIM bay was turned back on so that the X-ray Spectrometer could be pointed at Scorpius X-1 and Cygnus X-1.
caption: Al Worden during his EVA to retrieve film from cameras in the SIM bay. This is a frame from the a 16 mm film shot by Jim Irwin from the hatch.
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