Lunar Surface Journal - Part 4 - Down the Ladder

Author: CaptainNemo
Title: Lunar Surface Journal - Part 4 - Down the Ladder
Date: 13 May 2013

Lunar Surface Journal - Down the Ladder

[Aaron has hooked up his ETB to the transfer lanyard outside the LM. Now he proceeds from the porch backwards onto the ladder leading him down to the lunar soil.]

119:25:54 Aaron: I'm on my way down the ladder.

119:25:59 Houston: We can watch you now, boy. You are really looking great!

[A remote-controlled camera is mounted on the LM’s landing leg structure so that the astronaut climbing down the ladder can be watched.]

119:26:49 Aaron (breathing heavily): Okay, Houston. I’m about three quarters of the way down. Fantastic!

(Pause)

[Aaron’s Memories – “Climbing down the ladder in the suit was no problem, since we had trained that in underwater simulations, in slightly modified suits. The only difficulty I experienced was my hardon which was quite inconvenient at those climbing movements. So I moved slowly and tried to peer to the side in my helmet to gather some more spectacular views of the lunar landscape, while I was still on the ladder. I could move around my head inside the helmet, but my field of view was restricted by the protective outer assembly. I only saw the ladder and LM structures, and of course parts of my suit arms and my gloves grasping the ladder, a view which also provided some joy to me.”]

119:27:30 Aaron: I'm now down on the footpad, and I’m stepping off with one boot and now with the other boot (excited). I’m standing on lunar soil with both of my feet, turning away from the ladder right now! Oh, my golly! Unbelievable! Unbelievable!

119:27:45 Houston: Congratulations, boy! We are all excited about that wonderful scene you are giving us!

119:28:03 Aaron: I’m now taking the first steps forward, the first lunar steps of Mission 22 NT. I’d like to give thanks to all those who made this possible.

[Aaron takes a moment to get familiar with moving around in one-sixth g. He practices some careful walking and comments on the surroundings on the landing site.]

119:28:13 Aaron: We landed in a wide, open area surrounded by some mountains. It’s so beautiful, bright in the Sun. The LM seems to be slightly pitched to the North, I can see some depressions under the descent stage engine nozzle.

[Aaron – “My boot soles were partially sinking into the lunar dust when I took my first steps. My heart was beating at maximum pace. Like the other astronauts I familiarized quickly with the lunar conditions. The suit was already becoming a sort of part of my body, turning me more and more into a real astronaut. But it took quite a time until my excitement calmed down. I was like a little boy in his first adventures, trying to gather all those amazing views and impressions up there.”]

119:29:25 Dennis: Aaron, how are you doing?

119:29:30 Aaron: Dennis, I'm out now. Why don’t you come down to me, my friend, it’s incredible.

(Pause)

[Dennis is now getting out on the porch]

119:30:57 Dennis: Okay, I'm out. Almost.

119:31:05 Aaron: I can just see your soles and your legs from my position.

119:31:45 Dennis: Oh, I'm on the porch! Man, that view is amazing!

119:31:50 Aaron: I told you before (garbled).

119:32:48 Dennis: Hatch is closed, barely.

119:32:51 Aaron: Don't lock it.

119:32:53 Dennis: I'm not going to lock it.

119:32:54 Aaron: We've got to go back there. You lose the key, and we're in trouble.

[This is an old Apollo joke, having been used in some form by nearly all of the former crews.]

119:34:43 Dennis: (hopping down the ladder) Is this great! Uh-hu!

119:34:46 Houston: Sounds great.

119:35:12 Dennis (laughs): Oh, that first foot on the lunar surface is super! (Pause) Okay, Houston, we're making little footprints here about 1/2-inch deep; not kicking up much dust.

119:35:32 Houston: That’s good news.

119:35:36 Dennis: Okay. I’ll just walk around for one second (garbled).

[Dennis also takes a moment for familiarization.]

119:36:45 Aaron: (Laughs) Hey, man, put your visor down.

119:36:50 Dennis: Later. I'll be soon over there, and you can fix my tool harness. I don't like that thing loose.

119:37:10 Aaron: I don't like it loose, either. What are you doing over there? We're supposed to be working together!

119:37:19 Dennis (laughs): Wait a minute, I’m on my way to you.

[Aaron’s Memories – “I just had familiarized with moving around on the surface when Dennis teamed up to me. He looked so amazing in his suit. He approached me, performing those typical, but to some extent bizarre, astronaut moves under the bright lunar sun. I also enjoyed his enthusiastic voice and his laughing in my headphones, transformed into that typical tone of Apollo astronauts – big boy on the moon. I was standing there between the craters of the moon, and I imagined Dennis’ friendly face in his pressure helmet. It was like a hot flash for me when I came to the conclusion: ‘Holy shit, you’re seriously and irreversibly in love with that spaceman.’”]

119:39:24 Dennis (breathing heavily): Uhh… (garbled).

119:39:27 Aaron: What’s up? Why do you stop?

119:39:30 Dennis: Wait a minute, Dude. Just a moment.

[Dennis’ Memories – “Moving around in the suit with my massive hard-on was surprisingly easy and funny for me in one-sixth g. It boosted my stimulation from minute to minute, keeping the UCD rubber thing lubricated, a very joyful experience. And then there was Aaron. I was into him since I met him for the first time when he came into the lunar program as an astronaut candidate. I had worked a lot to get him on my lunar mission. Now he was standing there in his suit, in that amazing moon scenery, awaiting me. When I approached him, I could see myself in my suit, being mirrored by the high-polished gold coated visor on Aaron’s helmet. Like many times in those three days since we suited up for launch at the Cape, I asked myself, is that reality or am I just dreaming? And that sight of moonwalking Aaron was almost too much for me. I lost another portion of pre-cum, which was extremely joyful, but dangerous. I was very close to my point of no return now. I was already breathing faster in my helmet. I stopped for a moment, and I only thought, ‘I must calm down, otherwise I’ll shoot my complete load’.”]