[Apollo 15]

Ex. Charles "Chuck" E. McKim, Operational Team Leader on the recovery and deactivation/decontamination team from North American Aviation (later North American Rockwell) for all Apollo missions.

FLOWN TO THE MOON AND EXPOSED TO THE VACUUM OF SPACE ON APOLLO 15

Apollo 15 launched on July 26, 1971 from Kennedy Space Center with Commander David Scott, Command Module Pilot Alfred Worden, and Lunar Module Pilot James Irwin. Launched atop a Saturn V rocket, the spacecraft was made up of three parts: Command Module "Endeavour" and the Service Module (manufactured by North American Aviation, later North American Rockwell), as well as Lunar Module "Falcon" (manufactured by Grumman Aircraft, later Grumman Aerospace).

Because Scott, Worden, and Irwin had been the backup crew for Apollo 12, they were already familiar with the spacecraft. As such, they could devote more of their time to training for orbital and lunar surface science experiments, which were key objectives for the Apollo 15 mission. For instance, Apollo 15 saw the introduction of the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV), a battery-powered, four-wheeled rover more affectionately known as the "Moon buggy." As author Earl Swift has noted, the Moon buggy was "transformative" for the Apollo program: on Dave Scott and Jim Irwin's first three drives in the LRV, they recorded over 17 miles of driving, covering more territory than all of the three previous missions combined. Thus, the buggy not only allowed the crew to cover much more ground, but they could also load it with lunar samples, carry more and diverse tools, and use far less life support than during previous missions.

Apollo 15 was also the first mission to include the Scientific Instrument Module (SIM) in bay 1 of the Service Module, which contained instruments such as lunar mapping and panoramic cameras, as well as gamma ray, X-ray, and alpha particle spectrometers, used to measure the chemical composition of lunar rocks. On August 6th, 1971, at approximately 171,000 nautical miles from Earth, Al Worden performed the first "deep space" EVA in history, in order to retrieve the film cassettes from the SIM.

On August 7, 1971, the Service Module was jettisoned and the only piece of the spacecraft remaining, Command Module "Endeavour," re-entered Earth's atmosphere (Lunar Module "Falcon" was sealed off, jettisoned, and crashed on the lunar surface five days prior). "Endeavour" and the crew were recovered in the Pacific Ocean north of Hawai'i by the USS Okinawa. During the subsequent deactivation/decontamination (D/D) of the Command Module, Charles "Chuck" E. McKim, one of the Operational Team Leaders for D/D on all Apollo and Skylab missions, was tasked with recovering material from "Endeavour," including salvaging this Pressure Equalization Valve decal from the primary access hatch.

The Pressure Equalization Valve vented cabin pressure inside the Command Module. Ordinarily locked in the down position, to vent the cabin pressure the crew would release the lock, pull the handle up, and wind it in a clockwise direction. The ground crew could also operate the Pressure Equalization Valve from the outside of the Command Module using a modified Allen wrench in their toolkits.