Return of Apollo 15 to Earth

After the Apollo 15 LM Falcon lifted from the lunar surface on August 2, 1971, it rendezvoused and docked with the CSM Endeavour.

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 (SIM) 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.

Although he thought it was only being played for Houston, unbeknownst to him, a switch had been flicked in Mission Control that relayed his voice transmissions to the LM.

It is understood that Scott was not very happy with this, as it was impossible to make out any communications from Mission Control while the song played.

During the following near side pass, the spacecraft continued to close, with Falcon, in its lower orbit, catching Endeavour.

After opening the hatches, the crew began the task of transferring the rock samples that had been collected on the surface.

Also transferred were film magazines, food, used urine and fecal bags (they were included for medical investigators).

After checking the hatches the crew could not find a cause for the improper seal, but the tunnel now vented successfully.

In his 2001 memoir, Flight Director Christopher Kraft wrote that some of these difficulties may have been the result of crew fatigue.

A change in crew procedure had come after the deaths of three crewmembers of Soyuz 11 less than a month before the launch of Apollo 15.

Mission planners for Apollo 15 decided that the crew should now wear their pressure suits during the separation of the LM from the CSM, something that had not previously occurred.

Just before the sleep period, Deke Slayton, who was effectively the astronauts' boss, radioed the crew and told them to take a Seconal sedative.

Apollo 15 spent one final day in lunar orbit before trans-Earth injection (TEI), the SPS burn that would put them on a trajectory back to Earth.

Among their photographic targets were the terminator region, where the Sun would appear to be either rising or setting for an observer on the ground.

Weighing a total of 78.5 pounds (35.6 kg), it was powered by solar cells for daytime operations and a silver-cadmium battery for the nighttime.

As they began their 74th and final orbit of the Moon, the crew positioned the spacecraft for the correct attitude for release.

After having the information needed to burn the SPS to send them home radioed from Mission Control, Apollo 15 disappeared behind the Moon for the last time.

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.

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.

It was extremely important that stowed items were placed such that the spacecraft's center of gravity was within the set limits.

The crew was instructed to photograph it but due to the hand-held nature of the cameras and the length of the exposures, most of the photos were blurred.

Irwin enjoyed the launch the most, but would not like to repeat falling down in front of the TV camera while deploying the rover.

The rover was of interest, with Irwin describing it as a bucking bronco that at times only had two wheels still touching the surface.

The final midcourse correction of the mission (MCC-7) or the corridor control burn, was a 21 s RCS thruster, slowing them down by 5.6 ft/s (1.7 m/s).

The electrical connections between the two craft were severed using cannon-style plug and socket connectors that were ejected using small pyrotechnic charges.

Although no conclusive cause was found, it is thought that the loss of the shroud lines was due to the RCS fuel dump.

Frogmen from the Okinawa were at the capsule within minutes attaching a sea anchor and opening the hatch to get the crew into a life raft.

Apollo 15 was the first mission where the crew did not go into quarantine in case of any lunar microorganisms, after it was found from previous flights that the Moon was lifeless.