Tracy's Rock / Split Rock

....for those of you looking befuddled, it's the enormous boulder Schmitt
got photographed with on Apollo 17. It also seems to be called Turning
Point Rock, in some sources.

http://images.jsc.nasa.gov/lores/S73-22871.jpg

It gets called Tracy's Rock because Cernan, the story goes, wrote his
daughter's initials in the regolith. At some point, the story adapted
and became that he'd written her initials at this rock, or that he felt
he should have.

So, some picky questions (but I'm curious now):

1) Did he actually ever write the initials?
2) If so, where?

Whilst I'm at it, what's with the name? My understanding currently is
that it was photographed from orbit, and noted as "Turning Point Rock",
and used as a marker for one of the planned EVAs. At some point, it
became "Split Rock", though I'm not sure why. Then it became "Tracy's
Rock", sometime after the mission.

Thoughts? I seem to be in a "finding trivialities" mood tonight...

--
-Andrew Gray

"Andrew Gray" wrote in message
. ..
So, some picky questions (but I'm curious now):

1) Did he actually ever write the initials?
2) If so, where?

On page 336 of "The Last Man on the Moon," Cernan notes he scratched "TDC"
in the soil near the Rover's final parking spot, about 1.6 km away from the
LM. He was too busy earlier in the EVA to actually mark Tracy's Rock.

JW



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"John Whisenhunt" wrote in message
...

"Andrew Gray" wrote in message
. ..
So, some picky questions (but I'm curious now):

1) Did he actually ever write the initials?
2) If so, where?

On page 336 of "The Last Man on the Moon," Cernan notes he scratched "TDC"
in the soil near the Rover's final parking spot, about 1.6 km away from
the LM. He was too busy earlier in the EVA to actually mark Tracy's Rock.

JW
AIUI, Al Bean "marked" Tracy's Rock for Gene in one of his paintings. ISTR
seeing that in the bonus scenes on the "For All Mankind" DVD.

J

--

"Its origin and purpose is still a total mystery."