042:41:10 - This is Apollo Control at 42 hours, 41 minutes. Apollo 17 now 144,002 nautical miles [266,692 km] from Earth. Velocity, 3,577 feet per second [1,090 m/s]. The change-of-shift briefing is ready to start in the News Center briefing room. We'll take down this air/ground line and tape any communications during the course of the briefing and replay them at the conclusion of the news conference. This is Mission Control, Houston, at 42 hours, 41 minutes.
042:57:34 Evans: Okay, Houston. At 042:56:52.04, I started the stop watch, and also the watch read 18:30:01.
042:57:53 Overmyer: Okay, Ron. We got that.
Long comm break.
With the checkout of the LM out of the way, the next major task is to operate a unit that will demonstrate the effects of heat flow and convection under microgravity conditions. It is noted that there is almost no mention of this demonstration in the Apollo 17 Preliminary Science Report, excepting brief comment on pages 2-3 and 2-4. The unit was filmed using a Maurer 16-mm DAC at a slow frame rate.
043:02:24 Evans: Okay, Houston. We've started on the heat select radial and lineal part - part of it. The little pie-shaped things are changing color as we go out. The lineal part of it - all of the chips seemed to have been concentrated on the front edge of the glass, and they're all pretty much in the linear direction or an XX-direction. At this point in time, I haven't seen any movement yet.
043:02:58 Overmyer: Roger, Ron. Aren't they concentrated the same way they were on the backup unit the other evening in the White Room - on the linear?
043:03:10 Evans: Yeah, all those chips seem to be - well - in an XX - I got the lineal direction, the lineal part of the experiment in the XX-direction. And all the chips are lined up in that XX-direction on the front or the top of the glass.
043:03:31 Overmyer: Roger. That's just the way you were in the backup unit the other day in the White Room.
043:11:36 Evans: Okay, Houston. We've started the cooldown in Light 5 position there. The radial cells, they all started to change color except the one from about 10 o'clock to 12 o'clock.
043:11:52 Overmyer: Roger. Except from 10 to 12. We've got it. Did the lineal ball stay right in line there, Ron?
043:12:02 Evans: Yeah, the crystals or chips that are inside there didn't move at all. Yes, they're [garble]...
043:12:09 Overmyer: Roger.
043:12:15 Evans: On the color patterns behind there - the one on the left, as you look at the unit - the color crystals only changed down to about 0.9 of the first square as you come down from the top. The rest of them are all black on that partic - on the left row.
043:12:39 Overmyer: Roger, Ron.
043:12:41 Evans: So that's the maximum extent of the - that's the max extent of the heating.
043:12:47 Evans: You might check and see if the guys want to heat it a little bit longer the next time, when they do it in the PTC.
043:12:55 Overmyer: Yeah. Roger, Ron. We're copying everything you're saying, and we've got all kinds of support here; we - in fact, we've got one backup unit here watching what you're doing, so we'll keep you posted on what we think.
043:13:08 Evans: Oh, okay.
043:13:12 Schmitt: Is the backup CMP operating it?
043:13:16 Overmyer: Matter of fact, that's affirm.
043:13:21 Schmitt: That's the way to do things.
043:13:25 Overmyer: And, Ron, we'd like you to stay nominal on the heating time due to the film limitation.
043:15:09 Evans: Okay, Houston; 17 here. Is there enough film in there to allow me to keep the camera running while I try to fill up that flow pattern?
043:15:22 Overmyer: Stand by on that, Ron.
043:15:27 Overmyer: It's affirmative, Ron. You can leave it running.
043:15:39 - This is Apollo Control at 43 hours, 16 minutes. Apollo 17 is 145,178 nautical miles [268,870 km] from Earth, traveling at a speed of 3,543 feet per second [1,080 m/s]. The crew is now in the midst of the heat flow and convection demonstration. This is the demonstration that's designed to provide more exact data on the behavior of fluids in a low gravity field. This type of investigation is really not possible on Earth where gravity determines flow of fluids. In space the flow forces surface tension. There are three test cells involved in this demonstration for measuring and observing the fluid flow, behavior and the results are recorded with the 16-mm camera aboard. We have about 5 minutes worth of tape that accumulated during the news conference and we'll play that for you now and then pickup live.
043:16:51 Evans: Okay, Houston. The first thing I noticed, as soon as I opened the Flow four turns, when it started running out a little bit, even - even without doing the inject. Okay; that's because the Inject thing was open just a little bit, but it's all right.
043:17:11 Overmyer: Yep. We copy.
043:17:22 Evans: Okay; I'll try to squirt some fluid in there...
043:17:26 Overmyer: Okay.
043:17:27 Evans: ...with the fluid inject thing. [Long pause.]
043:18:11 Evans: Okay; I'm taking it in quite slow. It's noted there are quite a few small bubbles coming out with it. So far, so good. It hasn't overflowed the - the first capillary ring. And it's taken off, and it's going by capillary action toward the bottom and toward the top.
043:18:40 Overmyer: Roger, Ron.
043:19:27 Evans: Okay; it finally met together at - that part going around the top and around the bottom - met together 180 degrees opposite of the inject port and now is starting to go out across the middle and fill up from the inject port.
043:19:46 Overmyer: Roger.
043:19:47 Evans: We're getting a lot of big bubbles coming out now. That's after about a turn and a half.
043:21:41 Evans: Okay; that's two turns now. The meniscus is still holding on the first inner ring - it looks like all the way around, at least the part I can see. The bubbles - big bubbles that have been coming out now, and also the fluid have taken over the right half of the bottom of the dish. We're starting to fill in a little bit, maybe a fourth of an inch - fourth of an inch circumference coming around from the left side opposite the injection port.
043:22:22 Overmyer: Roger. [Pause.]
043:22:31 Evans: Okay; I'll keep going here. We're about two and a half turns now. And it looks like all of the bubbles have already come out. We're getting real fluid now coming out. It's a real pretty picture anyhow.
043:22:48 Overmyer: Roger. [Pause.]
043:22:55 Evans: Okay; that's three turns. I don't believe we're going to be able to cover the entire bottom with the four turns. [Pause.]
043:23:27 Evans: Okay. That's four turns, and - it's covered up the right - oh, three-fourths of the floor of the thing and about three-eights of an inch on the left side of the - of the floor - three-eights of an inch annulus all the way around, except for the right - oh, say right two-thirds of the floor.
043:23:55 Overmyer: Roger, Ron. You can use more than four turns if you need it.
043:24:01 Evans: Okay; let's go ahead and try to cover up the whole floor on the thing before we do it. The bubbles are in there, and I'm afraid they're going to stay un - unless they disappear when we heat it.
043:24:11 Overmyer: Roger. [Long pause.]
043:24:35 Evans: There now it's - it's coming out with no bubbles now, and it looks like it almost formed a meniscus on top of itself - on top of where the bubbles were.
043:24:50 Overmyer: Roger, Ron. Is it continuing to spread out?
043:24:54 Evans: Yeah, it's continuing to spread out now, and without pumping anything into it at all - I did that last turn fairly fast - and it seems to be spreading of its own accord now, and it should go on over and cover up the bottom, I think. Once it completely covers up the bottom, I think we should go ahead and start the heat High on this pattern.
043:25:59 Evans: Okay. Now the - Everything's all hooked together now. We completely filled up the bottom of the floor.
043:26:15 Evans: Hey, for some reason, the bubbles seem to be starting to break now.
043:26:21 Overmyer: Roger. We copy that, Ron. [Long pause.]
043:26:54 Evans: Okay. I don't know if it's coincidence or what, but all the bubbles are formed together, essentially in the center - along the plus-X-axis direction. And they're about 1 inch wide. And then they start about three-quarters - I mean three-eights of an inch in from the circumference.
043:27:18 Overmyer: Roger. [Long pause.]
043:27:58 Evans: Okay; I was going to try to break the bubbles with a pencil, but if you try to push a pencil into the bubble, it just moves aside.
043:28:22 Evans: So that being the case, I'm going to go ahead and start the - start the timer.
043:28:29 Overmyer: We concur on that, Ron.
043:28:33 Schmitt: That's called the old push-a-bubble-with-a-pencil trick.
043:28:38 Overmyer: Roger. Just need a sharper pencil, Jack.
043:28:44 - Air-to-Ground is live now.
043:28:45 Schmitt: Either that or a thinner bubble. [Long pause.]
043:29:16 Schmitt: This is the best Friday afternoon matinee I've ever been to.
043:29:24 Overmyer: How about Friday evening, Jack? [Pause.]
043:29:32 Schmitt: Well, I've lost track. I don't think - I don't think there's any...
043:29:35 Evans: Stand by.
043:29:37 Evans: Mark. That was 1 minute after the start.
043:29:41 Overmyer: Roger.
043:29:44 Evans: I'll give you another mark when I go to High on the - with the Select switch. [Long pause.]
043:30:37 Evans: Mark it.
043:30:39 Overmyer: Roger. [Long pause.]
043:31:35 Evans: Each bubble looks like it's a locus of - it looks like it's starting one of the Bernu call - Bernoulli cells.
043:31:46 Overmyer: Say that again, Ron.
043:31:51 Evans: Okay; each one of those bubbles looks like it's the locus - or the start of one of the Bénard cells.
043:31:57 Overmyer: Roger.
043:31:59 Evans: So far, the bubbles aren't breaking.
043:32:02 Overmyer: We copy that. [Pause.]
043:32:08 Schmitt: Is Stu getting - did Stu get bubbles on his pattern, Bob?
043:32:13 Overmyer: We're not running it down here. We're just demonstrating on the demonstrator there, but Stu can tell you.
043:32:19 Schmitt: Oh, I thought you were running...
043:32:20 Roosa: Roger, Jack. Yes, I - you're talking of the one we - that we did, right?
043:32:29 Schmitt: That's right. Well, I am now. I thought you were running it down there also.
043:32:35 Roosa: No. Okay. The one that we did in flight - Yeah, I had - I had a lot of bubbles, but I couldn't get mine - Krytox out across the center. So, you all are already well ahead of what I did.
Krytox is the trade name for a range of oils and greases that are based on fluorocarbons which make them extremely nonreactive and stable. Krytox is being used in this demonstration with added aluminium powder to aid visibility.
043:32:53 Schmitt: Gee, I'm sorry you had to admit that, Stu.
043:32:56 Roosa: Oh, you all just do such good work. [Pause.]
043:33:05 Evans: Another thing is, it seems to me like, in one g, the Bénard cells started completely back to the edge, you know, right back to the edge of the circle. And in this case, at least, they haven't filled in yet back to the edge of the circle at all. They all started out in the center and are working around the bubbles, and then it's now - just now starting to form a few of them where there aren't any bubbles.
043:33:31 Overmyer: Roger, Ron. [Pause.]
043:33:36 Roosa: How large are the cells, Ron? [Pause.]
043:33:44 Evans: Well, they're varying considerably in size. I can see one that's about a half an inch across, and then the other ones - they've got a great big bubble in it, and yet the cell itself is down to maybe an eighth of an inch. The bigger ones seem to be on the outside; and, of course, there are very few bubbles on the outside also.
043:34:09 Roosa: Okay. [Pause.]
043:34:15 Evans: And the bigger ones, generally right now, are averaging about - oh, a fourth to three-eights of an inch in their cross - cross section [garble]. [Long pause.]
043:34:54 - This is Apollo Control...
043:34:57 Evans: The cells tend to be somewhat polygonal. Let's see, we've been going 6 minutes - 4 minutes into the heating part of it and the cells are polygonal but they don't seem to be quite as straight-lined as they were on the ground.
043:35:18 Overmyer: Roger. We copy. [Long pause.]
043:35:28 - Stu Roosa, Apollo 17 back-up Command Module Pilot, is talking to the crew now from the CapCom console. Stu performed a demonstration similar to this on his Apollo 14 flight. That demonstration was not as sophisticated as the 17 test and the 17 demonstration is expected to provide more exact data on the fluid behaviour.
043:36:18 Evans: It almost looks like it's reached a steady state now. It's 9 minus 27 minutes.
043:36:28 Roosa: Roger.
043:36:28 Evans: Yeah, I think the one thing I'd neglected to mention is that we essentially have a convex surface from the - the material; in other words, con - convex with the high part in the middle; and, of course, that's where the bubbles are, too, but I think you'd generally have that type of a surface anyhow. And, it hasn't broken the meniscus of the lower, or the thinnest ring. [Long pause.]
043:37:34 Schmitt: We should have had some popcorn on our stowage list.
043:39:46 Evans: Okay; now the Bénard cells are starting to form in that outer annulus that went all the way around.
Bénard cells are the convection cells that form when a liquid is heated from below. Gravity is normally thought to be implicit in their formation so the microgravity environment is an interesting examination of the phenomenon.
043:45:51 Evans: Okay; we went back to light 4 now. And we never did get any real polygonal cells formed around the outer annulus. And even the cells that were formed on the thing, it seemed like the particle flow within the cells was very slow when you compare that with the way it was in one G.
043:47:59 Evans: Okay; I'm trying to - suck the stuff back in the - the entry tube there, and it looks like part of it's coming in. [Pause.]
043:48:21 Overmyer: Roger, Ron. We copy that. [Long pause.]
043:49:02 Evans: And the camera is down to about 50 percent here, so I'm going to go ahead and turn it off now.
043:49:08 Overmyer: Roger, Ron. [Long pause.]
043:49:36 Overmyer: Ron, if I didn't tell you, we concur with turning the DAC off there.
043:49:43 Evans: Okay; yeah, I got you. I'll turn it off. [Long pause.]
043:50:02 Evans: You know, I just happened to think, after I've already sucked part of those bubbles back in there, we've got enough fluid in there to pump it out the next time without sucking that back in there, don't we?
043:50:14 Roosa: I'm sorry, Ron. Say that again.
043:50:19 Evans: Don't we have enough of the Krytox fluid without sucking that back in there? Maybe I can just wipe the Krytox off with some Kleenex, and maybe there won't be any bubbles the next time.
043:50:32 Roosa: Okay; stand by. [Long pause.]
043:50:55 Roosa: Ron, I guess we understand you've pulled some back in, but you haven't pulled any of the bubbles. Now, if you pull any more in, you're going to start the bubbles back in. is that correct?
043:51:06 Evans: Yeah; that's correct.
043:51:08 Roosa: Okay; why don't you stand by here on that then?
043:51:14 Evans: Let me see - I'll see if I can push the bubbles out of the way here with something.
043:51:23 Roosa: Okay. The consensus is that we would like to not pull the bubbles back in. I think you've got a good idea.
043:51:34 Evans: Okay.
043:51:39 Roosa: It's the old keep-the-bubbles-out-of-the-Krytox trick.
043:51:44 Evans: [Laughter.] Okay; I'll see if I can do it. [Long pause.]
043:52:05 Schmitt: I see you're finally getting caught up in the humor of the thing there, Stu.
043:52:11 Roosa: Oh, I've always been in good humor. [Pause.] It sure sounded like that baffle did the trick, Ron. [Pause.]
043:52:32 Evans: Yeah, I think it did, too. It looks like it worked real well.
Long comm break.
043:52:44 - This is Apollo Control at 43 hours, 52 minutes. Krytox, which is a heavy oil, is one of the fluids being used in the demonstration. Apollo 17 is now 146,455 nautical miles [271,235 km] from Earth. Velocity, 3,505 feet per second [1,068 m/s]. And this shift of Orange flight controllers is being directed by Charles Lewis, one of the several gentlemen recently promoted to Flight Director. The regular Orange Flight Director Pete Frank is an observer for this shift.
043:56:16 Roosa: And, 17, just so you say we didn't give you our cue, we're standing by for the 1-17 procedures there in your Experiments Checklist - the film cycling. [Long pause.]
The Service Module has two large photographic instruments installed in its Scientific Instrument Module bay. These cameras, both derived from aerial reconnaissance designs, contain very long lengths of film that pass across a series of pulleys and guidess. To avoid the plastic-backed film stiffening in a particular form around the supply and take-up system, it is occasionally advanced to bring fresh film into the camera.
043:56:45 Evans: Okay; we'll have to get that shortly.
043:56:47 Roosa: Okay. [Long pause.]
Comm break.
043:57:49 Schmitt: Okay, Stu, we got you on that. The Saturday afternoon or Friday evening matinee was absorbing us, so we almost missed it.
The heat flow and convection demonstration has evidently been as engrossing as a movie.
044:03:28 Schmitt: Okay, Houston. Data Systems coming On.
The spacecraft's radio system has an auxilary channel available that can carry data from the SIM bay. It also allows Mission Control to monitor the state of the cameras.
044:03:32 Overmyer: Roger. [Pause.]
044:03:38 Schmitt: Aux TV's to Science, and SM/AC Power is coming On.
044:03:41 Overmyer: Roger. [Pause.]
044:03:49 Schmitt: Okay; Mapping Camera is Standby...
044:03:51 Schmitt: Mark it.
044:03:53 Overmyer: Roger. Mark it.
The Mapping Camera takes square wide angle images on 127-mm-wide film that is over 450 metres long.
044:03:56 Schmitt: Pan Camera Mode, Standby...
044:03:58 Schmitt: Mark it.
044:03:59 Overmyer: Roger.
The Panoramic Camera takes enormous images 114 mm by 1.15 metres on a roll 2 kilometres long.
044:04:03 Schmitt: I guess that's verified. [Long pause.]
044:04:20 Schmitt: Pan Camera Power to Power.
044:04:23 Evans: Barber pole and a gray.
044:04:25 Overmyer: Roger. [Pause.]
044:04:34 Evans: Self Test is going to Heaters. [Long pause.]
044:05:05 Schmitt: Okay; we're standing by for your cue on Mapping Camera, On, and Self Test.
044:05:12 Overmyer: Roger. Stand by on that. [Long pause.]
044:05:51 Overmyer: 17, you're Go for cycling the Pan Camera and the Mapping Camera. [Pause.]
044:05:59 Schmitt: Okay. [Long pause.]
044:06:12 Evans: Okay; Mapping Camera's gone On; Pan Camera to Self Test. Barber pole and release. [Long pause.]
044:06:45 Overmyer: Looks like 10 seconds on the Pan Camera there. [Long pause.]
044:07:27 Evans: Okay; Pan Camera Power is coming Off.
044:07:30 Overmyer: Roger, Ron.
044:07:32 Evans: Now. [Long pause.]
044:08:21 Evans: Okay; Mapping Camera going Off.
044:08:24 Overmyer: Roger, Ron. [Long pause.]
044:09:03 Overmyer: That's 30 seconds off on the Mapping Camera, Ron. [Pause.]
044:11:08 Overmyer: Jack, when you get done with the PTC area here, we'd like you to get out the Flight Plan Supplement. We'd like to get a food report from you all on your food intake for today.
044:11:22 Schmitt: I thought we gave you that in the morning. Happy to do it, but...
044:11:26 Overmyer: That's affirm, Jack...
044:11:27 Schmitt: You want a special report? Is that what you want?
044:11:27 Overmyer: We'd just like to have it - prefer tonight. [Pause.]
044:11:35 Schmitt: It sounds like you don't think we're eating enough.
044:11:41 Overmyer: Ron, would you check your Noun 78? [Long pause.]
044:11:59 Evans: Ah-ha! Thank you.
044:12:02 Overmyer: Roger.
Comm break.
Noun 78 stored three angles, Gamma, Rho and Omicron. According to the AC Delco manual for the software, "Gamma and Rho are rotational coordinates of the desired pointing axis or axis of rotation." The manual continues, "Omicron is an attitude constraint about the pointing vector for three-axis options." In this context, we believe it is related to setting up the Passive Thermal Control mode.
044:13:27 Overmyer: Jack or Ron, when you come around, we'll ask you to stow the High Gain on our call, and we'll be wanting Omni Bravo.
044:13:37 Schmitt: Roger. [Pause.]
044:13:45 Schmitt: And are you ready for the trotting gourmet's report?
A popular TV show of the time was The Galloping Gourmet presented by English chef and TV personality Graham Kerr. Jack, who is prone to a bit of word play, is referencing the show's name.
044:13:51 Overmyer: Roger. Everybody's here with all ears.
044:13:58 Schmitt: Okay. The CDR today had scrambled eggs and three bacon squares and a can of peaches and pineapple drink for breakfast. And then later on in the day, he had peanut butter, jelly, and bread with a chocolate bar and some dried apricots. [Long pause.]
044:14:30 Schmitt: And the LMP had scrambled eggs and four bacon squares, an orange drink, and cocoa for breakfast, and potato soup, two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and a cherry bar, and an orange drink. [Long pause.]
044:15:00 Schmitt: And that hero of the matinee, the matinee idol of Spaceship America, had scrambled eggs, bacon squares, peaches, cinnamon toast, orange juice, and cocoa for breakfast. That's how he keeps his form. And, for lunch, he had a peanut butter sandwich and citrus beverage. [Long pause.]
044:15:41 Schmitt: And that's it, since there's nobody else up here. [Pause.]
044:15:52 Overmyer: Roger. We copy that. We'd like you to stow the High Gain at this time and Omni Bravo. [Long pause.]
044:16:37 Overmyer: Jack, we appreciate all your information, and we'd like to just pass on some recommendations here from the ground that we'd like you to keep on with your regular menu as much as possible. And, if you do cut anything off, we'd like you to concentrate on eating the meats, the juices, and the fruitcake, which are the most effective for maintaining your electrolyte balance. [Pause.]
Mission Control are sensitive to the crew's electrolyte balance since the Apollo 15 surface crew of Dave Scott and Jim Irwin inadvertently became deficient in potassium. They had been drinking large quantities of water during EVA training in the Florida heat just before their flight which had flushed it out of their systems. This was implicated in heartbeat irregularities that both men exibited during their lunar exploration.
044:17:07 Cernan: Okay, Bob. We understand what you're saying. We're shooting at eating - eating it all. It's just a lot of food, that's all.
044:17:18 Overmyer: Rog. We understand, Gene. Also, on that group of foods, peanut butter's great for the bal - electrolyte balance, also; so you're doing okay. [Pause.]
044:17:30 Schmitt: I knew it was good for something. It couldn't be that good without being good for something.
044:17:35 Cernan: I think we're all trying to make a concentrated effort also to keep quite a bit of water down.
044:17:42 Overmyer: Roger. Understand. Real fine.
Long comm break.
044:18:32 - This is Apollo Control at 44 hours, 18 minutes. Flight Surgeon John Zieglschmid is pleased with the food report for today. Apollo 17 is 147,306 nautical miles [272,811 km] from Earth, traveling at a speed of 3,481 feet per second [1,061 m/s].
044:26:14 Schmitt: Okay. Got a little information on what we were talking about yesterday with respect to southern Pacific weather, if you've got nothing else going on.
044:26:26 Roosa: Go; speak to me. [Pause.]
044:26:32 Schmitt: Okay, looks like that little - cyclonic circulation we had over New Zealand is still there. It's - looks like the front it was associated with is broken up a little bit; however, that pattern is - seems to be hugging the New Zealand area, and - but not - has not intensified. If - if not - it may have even weakened a little bit since yesterday. It's hard to be sure exactly. The front does not look as strong, and it still seems to be hanging - just stabilized, and with all of Australia clear now and the western edge of that front being just offshore north of Brisbane. The - there is - east of New Guinea - in the vicinity of the Solomon Islands, it looks like a fairly moderate-sized cyclone developing at the western edge of the - of a front that was somewhat farther north and west than the one over New Zealand. North of that - Wake/Kwajalein region that was of interest yesterday to the ARIA people - still seems to be in general overcast condition, but the clouds do not look very heavy or impacted at all. New Guinea is just on the limb, so...
044:32:00 Roosa: Okay, I think we've got you now, 17. [Pause.]
044:32:08 Cernan: You're loud and clear, Stu.
044:32:10 Overmyer: Okay. [Long pause.]
044:32:51 Schmitt: Stu, I think we lost you about the time I lost view of the Earth and mentioned the Wake/Kwajalein area; right?
044:33:00 Roosa: That's affirmative. We didn't get much of the Kwajalein report.
044:33:08 Schmitt: There was nothing new to add over yesterday. There just seems general cloudiness in the area, but they do not look too intense or well organized. Just probably a general overcast.
044:33:19 Roosa: Okay. [Long pause.]
044:33:37 Schmitt: I'm gonna try to get some exercise, and then I'll be back at you with some more information. Maybe we can see the Philippines by then.
044:33:44 Roosa: Okay. [Pause.]
044:33:53 Schmitt: And, Stu, I've got my biomed hooked up. Are you guys bringing it in during this exercise thing? This is Jack.
044:34:03 Roosa: Yes, Jack. We'll check on that. [Pause.]
044:34:11 Roosa: Okay; you're coming in loud and clear, Jack.
044:35:39 - This is Apollo Control at 44 hours, 35 minutes. Spacecraft distance 147,866 [nautical miles, 273,848 km]...
044:35:47 Schmitt: Okay.
044:35:49 Cernan: Stu, are you reading?
044:35:51 Overmyer: Rog. We're reading you loud and clear.
044:35:55 Cernan: Okay, I think that big storm that Jack was referring to, that has moved off to the - well to the east of Australia. Very definite counterclockwise rotation and then it stretches to the south or what might even be the southeast. And then just rolls right - we [garble] a big frontal pattern and then it rolls right into another - another clockwise - clockwise rotating low down there near Antarctica. It gives me the impression of a - of a parrot's comb when he's got his feathers ruffled. And it, in turn, has another low trailing it, arcing and then flowing into another - another low that is very near the continent down there of Antarctica. They form a chain, as I just described froming - coming from - well, possibly southeast of Antarctica - it's hard to really tell what east is down there - on up to due west of Australia by several hundred miles.
044:37:13 Overmyer: Roger. [Pause.]
044:37:21 Cernan: South of Australia, you get a hint of a very large cloud mass, from there all the way down to Antarctica, that has the tendency to...
Comm break.
044:37:47 - This is Apollo Control. That was Gene Cernan picking up Jack Schmitt's weather observations as Jack is now in an exercise period. Spacecraft is in the Passive Thermal Control mode and is rotating. We've broken lock on the Omni antenna. We'll pick up another antenna very shortly. Spacecraft distance 147,953 nautical miles [274,009 km]; velocity, 3,462 feet per second [1,055 m/s].
044:40:17 Overmyer: Just wanted to get comm there again. We had some switchover there. You might be interested; we've got an ATS map in here from this morning. Just - you're just about on - We can see the flow patterns in the Antarctic just about at - 120 degrees west, which is a little closer to South America than what you're calling, I guess. But we do - we do see that activity down there. [Pause.]
044:40:46 Cernan: Okay, Bob. And there is a very large cloudy air mass between Australia and Antarctica. It has a tendency to want to start a rotation, and you can see a hint of that; it's not too strong right now. We're seeing about three-quarters of the Earth, I guess. Judging from our clocks and what we can see, it looks like the Sun is setting out over the west coast; and it leaves us with about three-quarters of the Earth available to us.
044:41:20 Overmyer: Rog. It'll be about 06:15 Los Angeles time right now, so it's probably sunset out there.
Comm break.
044:42:38 Overmyer: Ron, just a reminder from the Flight Plan change last night. You'll have a P52 coming up here at 45 hours in your Flight Plan. [Pause.]
044:42:52 Evans: Roger. Mighty fine; thank you.
044:42:55 Overmyer: Roger, Ron.
Long comm break.
044:43:01 - This is Apollo Control at 44 hours, 43 minutes. That was a reminder that we are approaching the time where we're going to make the first step in a two-step adjustment caused by the late launch. This will be to bring the Greenwich Mean Time, the Ground Elapsed Time and the Flight Plan together. What this first step will account for an hour of 2-hours-and-40-minutes adjustment that will be made eventually. The clocks will not be recycled at this time at 45 hours. The clock recycling will be accomplished later in the mission at 65 hours Elapsed Time. This 1-hour adjustment consists of moving the activities that were scheduled in the Flight Plan to take place between 46 hours and 30 minutes and 47 hours up to 45 hours in the Flight Plan. Therefore, during the hour from 45 hours to 46 hours we will have accomplished all the Flight Plan activities that were originally scheduled to be accomplished from 46 to 47 hours. This will put us 1 hour ahead on the Flight Plan. We would pick up the activities originally scheduled at 47 hours at 46 hours under this plan. And this would proceed in an orderly fashion one hour ahead up to the 65-hour mark at which time we will synchronize the Ground Elapsed Time clock to 67 hours and 40 minutes and at that time go to the 67:40 time in the Flight Plan and we will be back on schedule.
044:46:28 Overmyer: Jack, just for information, you've got your heart rate to 103.
044:48:19 Overmyer: Jack, you've got your heart rate to about 103; and we lost data right now. [Long pause.]
044:48:40 Overmyer: Jack, just for information, the last heart rate we had was 103; and it's - we lost data right now, so 103 is max we saw right now [Pause.].
044:48:55 Schmitt: Okay, I was just doing some isometrics. I just tried running in place again then.
044:49:00 Overmyer: Roger. Do you want us to call you your heart rate if - if we get data in here now?
044:58:20 - This is Apollo Control at 44 hours, 58 minutes. Moving the GET clock ahead at 65 hours will affect the time that has previously been given for the lunar sphere of influence crossing. Newsmen who are interested in this time should add 2 hours and 40 minutes to the time previously given, which would make the time for lunar sphere crossing now 73 hours, 23 minutes, 24 seconds Ground Elapsed Time. The distances and the velocities that were previously predicted will remain the same. Those are 190,725 nautical miles [353,223 km] from Earth; 33,639 nautical miles [62,299 km] from the Moon; and an Earth referenced velocity of 2,340 feet per second [713 m/s]. Apollo 17 is now 148,668 nautical miles [275,333 km] from Earth...
044:59:52 Overmyer: ...resting, or did you quit?
044:59:56 Schmitt: No, I'm resting right now. Didn't seem like my arms have the stamina they did yesterday to hold the artificial g. What...
045:00:02 Overmyer: [Garble] understand.
045:00:02 Schmitt: ...did I get to?
045:00:05 Overmyer: We copied about a maximum of about 118...
045:00:07 Schmitt: What heart rate did...
045:00:07 Overmyer: ...on the heart rate.
045:00:11 Overmyer: About 118 max, Jack.
045:00:15 Schmitt: Roger. Understand.
045:00:17 Overmyer: Don't let me - let me harrass you. I just wan kidding you on that. Whatever you think is fair. [Pause.]
045:00:27 Schmitt: Oh, you're not harrassing me. When my arm's rested, I'll try again. [Long pause.]
045:00:39 - Spacecraft velocity now 3,441 feet per second [1,049 m/s].
045:00:50 Overmyer: Couple of interesting data points for you, Jack. We saw the - while you were doing that, we saw the PP CO2 go up; and we saw the tanks destratify again, same way.
045:01:05 Schmitt: Very good. Next mission they'll have to Flight Plan it.
045:01:08 Overmyer: That's affirmative.
045:01:12 Cernan: You saw the P CO2 go up?
045:01:17 Overmyer: That's affirmative. Let me get the numbers here, if you want. It took a jump from 1.3 to 2.4 on that.
045:01:27 Cernan: Okay. That was with two of us going, and part of the time, three of us going.
045:01:33 Overmyer: Roger. Understand.
045:01:33 Cernan: Now we've still got one going.
045:01:36 Overmyer: Well, it's not unexpected. I just thought you'd be interested. [Long pause.]
045:03:01 Schmitt: Hey, Bob, with this change in the hour, what time does penumbra start?
045:03:08 Overmyer: Say again the question, Jack. What time does what start?
045:03:13 Schmitt: With the change in hour, what time does the penumbra - what time do we enter the lunar penumbra? [Pause.]
045:03:27 Overmyer: Right now, we don't - Tommy doesn't think we're going to go into the penumbra, and we're verifying that.
045:03:37 Schmitt: Okay.
045:03:37 Overmyer: Say Ron, could we ask a question about the heat-flow experiment setup?
045:03:44 Evans: Sure. Sure, go ahead.
045:03:47 Overmyer: You mentioned that the lineal chips were all on the - in the XX plane, and we're just wondering - do you mean along the XX axis of the spacecraft?
045:04:03 Evans: Ah, yeah; along the XX axis of the spacecraft. [Pause.]
045:04:12 Overmyer: Is the long XX axis of the lineal cell along the XX axis, Ron?
045:04:21 Evans: Yeah, that's affirmative. It's right-side up, if you're looking at the connect panel, you know?
045:04:30 Overmyer: Yeah. That's - we'd - they'd like it so that that - the axis of that lineal cell was - would be parallel to the bottom of the panel 100, as an example. It's prob - right now, it's perpendicular to the bottom of panel 100, isn't it? [Long pause.]
045:05:00 Evans: Well, wait a minute. [Long pause.]
045:05:15 Evans: Yeah, the lineal thing is, right now, perpendicular to the bottom of panel 100.
Comm break.
045:05:42 - This is Apollo Control at 45 hours, 5 minutes. Ron Evans is making preparations to again perform the heat flow and and convection demonstration.
045:07:41 Evans: Okay, I think I see what you're saying. I'm sorry; I read the thing with lineal cell in a plus-X direction. But what they mean is the lineal cell in the - in - [laughter]...
045:07:55 Overmyer: Lineal word, I guess, is the...
045:07:55 Evans: ...lineal cell up.
045:07:57 Overmyer: Roger.
045:08:01 Evans: Okay, I'll turn around the other for this PTC part of it then.
045:08:05 Overmyer: Wait a minute on that, Ron. We're having a debate whether we want to, maybe, continue the next part in the same attitude or just rotate it.
045:08:15 Evans: Okay. Seems to me like you'd like to - maybe leave it in the same attitude. [Long pause.]
045:08:44 Overmyer: Ron, the only rational reason to change it right now is we're hearing words that if you had rotated to the other way, that you'd get better pictures out of the DAC due to the lighting reflection on it. The PI would like to change it back to the other way.
045:15:49 Overmyer: Ron, we see your 52; and you can go ahead and torque. [Long pause.]
045:16:06 Overmyer: Ron, Houston. We're watching your 52, and you can go ahead and torque. [Pause.]
045:16:16 Evans: Okay, Houston; 17. Thought you said go ahead and torque. Is that correct?
045:16:21 Overmyer: That's affirmative, Ron.
045:16:25 Evans: Okay. We'll torque at 1630.
045:16:31 Overmyer: Roger.
Long comm break.
Ron has just carried out a realignment of the guidance platform, a 'P52' to use the parlance. For this, he sighted on two stars, star 01 (Alpheratz, Alpha Andromedae) and star 10 (Mirfak, Alpha Pegasi) and as a result, the platform had to be rotated, or torqued, by -0.022° in X, +0.017° in Y and -0.020° in Z. When the computer compared the angle it knows between the stars and the angle that was measured between them, it found only one hundredth of a degree difference, a good check of Ron's sighting accuracy.
045:17:12 - This is Apollo Control at 45 hours, 17 minutes. Flight Dynamics Officer Bill Boone has just informed the Flight Director Chuck Lewis that 9 hours of tracking since the midcourse correction No. 2 burn confirms that the burn was indeed a good one. On the present trajectory of the spacecraft, the height, the closest approach to the Moon, is 52 [nautical] miles [96 km].
045:23:54 Overmyer: Ron, a couple reminders - LOI...
Comm break.
045:25:03 Overmyer: 17, Houston. [No answer.]
045:25:58 Overmyer: 17, Houston. [Pause.]
045:26:08 Evans: Roger. Go ahead.
045:26:09 Overmyer: Rog, Ron. Just a reminder on the LOI [sic] canister change - Have you gotten into that? [Pause.]
Overmyer is referring to a lithium hydroxide canister, abbreviated LiOH.
045:26:21 Evans: No, not yet. We're - probably get started on this...
045:26:25 Overmyer: Okay. On the...
045:26:26 Evans: On the heat flow first.
045:26:27 Overmyer: Rog. Understand. We'd like to know when you start on that heat flow, Ron, because we need to get the DSE to high bit rate. [Pause.]
045:26:42 Evans: Okay. I'm having a little trouble getting them mounted - in a stable position this way,
045:29:50 Evans: Okay, Houston; this is 17. I'm about ready to start it here in about 45 seconds here; let me know when you get the tape recorder going.
045:29:59 Overmyer: Roger, Ron. [Pause.]
045:30:09 Overmyer: Okay, we got the tape recorder in High Bit Rate. [Pause.]
045:30:17 Evans: Okay.
045:30:18 Overmyer: Hey, stand by 1, Ron. We got a little change here we'd like to make on the plan on page 2-6. [Pause.]
045:30:31 Evans: Okay. Stand by for zero. 3, 2, 1...
045:30:36 Evans: Mark it. It's reset. Start the stop watch.
045:30:39 Overmyer: Roger. [Pause.] And, Ron, on the checklist on page 2-6 after the 16-minute "End of test and proceed to next test" we'd like to turn the DAC Off at that position.
045:30:57 Evans: Okay. Will do.
045:30:58 Overmyer: And, then, you turn it back on at the re - where it says "Reset stop watch and start." The time zero there - point. Prior to that, turn it on. I'll remind you of it.
045:31:10 Evans: Okay. [Pause.] You don't want to watch me fill that pan again, huh?
045:31:21 Overmyer: Say again, Ron.
045:31:26 Evans: You don't want to watch me fill the pan again.
045:31:28 Overmyer: Yeah. Rog. [Pause.] Yeah, it'll be up before then. We'll watch you fill the pan. We just - while you're taking time wiping it and all that, that's when we - we don't want to use up the film there. [Long pause.]
045:31:50 Evans: Okay. I'm with you. Actually, I've already cleaned out the - the little area there.
045:32:05 Overmyer: Roger. I've got 1 minute on my timer right now - about 01:27, actually.
045:32:11 Evans: Oh, thank you. [Long pause.]
045:32:24 Evans: Well, we'll start at 2 minutes.
Comm break.
045:33:37 Overmyer: You're still on the front page with the [garble].
045:38:41 - This is Apollo Control at 45 hours, 38 minutes. Distance now 149,941 nautical miles [277,691 km] from the Earth; velocity, 3,405 feet per second [1,038 km].
045:47:50 Evans: Okay, Houston. The DAC is Off now.
045:47:53 Overmyer: Roger. DAC Off. [Long pause.]
045:48:12 Overmyer: Say, Ron. [Pause.]
045:48:20 Evans: Go ahead, Houston.
045:48:22 Overmyer: Yeah, Ron. If it's not too much bother, it's one of those nice things to have. The PI would like you to take a picture with the - with the 35-millimeter indoor of the orientation of the heat flow as it's mounted. See if you can get that, if it's not too much problem.
045:48:42 Evans: Okay. No problem. Good idea.
045:48:48 Overmyer: And that should be magazine SS, which is the same one you'll use for - with the ALFMED tomorrow.
045:49:00 Evans: Affirmative; okay. [Long pause.]
AS17-162-24056 - CM Interior, Heat Flow Experiment Panel (Ron Evans obscured on the right) - JSC scan
AS17-162-24057 - Ron Evans with Heat Flow Experiment Panel - JSC scan
045:49:23 Evans: Okay. I opened the flow about four turns. A little bit is running out - one big bubble in it. And I still have a little bit left over, even though I wiped it out pretty good awhile ago. The meniscus is up to the bottom ring, and I think we put in eight things in there where it's going to try to get the meniscus up to the top baffle. Is that correct?
045:51:16 Evans: There must have been a few more bubbles down in there again. That was two turns now, and I've got it about half full all the way across.
045:51:29 Overmyer: Roger.
045:51:31 Evans: But, maybe there's just about eight or 10 bubbles in it. [Long pause.]
045:52:30 Evans: [Garble] That's three turns. The fluid is essentially [garble] so far. And we're still going on the first - fourth turn now, and it's still develops a meniscus around the lower baffle - the smaller baffle.
045:57:24 Overmyer: Ron, I might have given you a bad call before. We don't want the DAC on until just before that 2-minute mark here, where just prior to going Experiment/Heat Select - Flow Pattern - Low. At that point, is where we want the DAC on. [Pause.]
045:57:44 Evans: Okay. You want the DAC on when it starts heating up.
045:57:47 Overmyer: That's affirm.
045:57:51 Evans: Okay. You, know - I may have lost track of turns here, but I think we've got - really got 7½ or 6½ turns in here. And it still hasn't overflown that first lower baffle. I've got a tremendous concave - convex surface on the fluid, but it still hasn't broken the meniscus of the first baf - baffle.
045:58:20 Overmyer: Roger. We copy that. [Long pause.]
045:58:55 Evans: Okay. I'm going to go ahead and take it another turn, because it was my understanding we wanted to try to get it in the second baffle, anyhow. So, I'm going to take another turn of Krytox and put some more in there.
045:59:37 Overmyer: Ron, if that - if that doesn't do it, they're saying you might want to take a pencil or something and stir it up a bit and try and break it up from lower baffle into the upper baffle. [Pause.]
045:59:50 Evans: (Chuckle) Okay. I'm afraid, I may have it all over the place if I do that, but I'll try it.
045:59:55 Overmyer: Roger. Very slowly.
045:59:59 Evans: [Laughter.] Right. [Long pause.]
046:00:55 Overmyer: Ron, just a question while you're watching it here. Do you have any bubbles in the lineal cell?
046:02:56 Evans: Yeah. This one is going to be interesting. There are about, oh, a dozen, nine to a dozen - small bubbles right next to the inject board and then about the same number right in the center of the convex portion of it.
046:03:14 Overmyer: Roger, Ron. Did you - we didn't copy your answer to our question about any bubbles in the lineal. [Pause.]
046:03:26 Evans: No, I didn't get to the question on that. In the lineal unit there are no bubbles whatsoever.
046:03:32 Overmyer: Roger. Thank you.
046:03:33 Evans: And there might have been very slight movement. Matter of fact, I can see just a very slight movement, even now. The particles, in there, they're still lined up in the YY direction essentially though, although it looks like some of them may have deviated from the front of the lineal unit back toward the center, or toward the back of the lineal unit, as you call it. [Pause.]
046:04:10 Evans: Well, I missed the 2-minute start time there, but I can keep track of it here.
046:04:14 Evans: So we'll start the DAC, and then I'll turn this to Low at 02:45. [Pause.]
046:04:31 Overmyer: Okay. We got a hack on it, Ron. If you started it, we started our clock.
046:04:38 Evans: Okay. [Pause.] You know, just for future reference here, if we like to do things in zero g and without jarring or jiggle, we want to make sure that the switch actuates with a minimum of pressure.
046:06:16 Evans: Okay. That's just now starting to develop. Look like circular cells, great big ones. And then some of the bigger ones are subdividing now. [Pause.]
046:06:32 Overmyer: Okay. We got that.
046:06:32 Evans: [Garble] are even - some of them are even getting bigger. One of them is - oh, about three-quarters of an inch in diameter, and it hasn't divided yet, at all. [Pause.]
046:06:53 Roosa: Those are real good comments, Ron. I was in just talking with the experimenters, and if you've got nothing else to do, giving us some sizes of those cells would certainly be very beneficial. [Pause.]
046:07:13 Evans: Okay. [Pause.]
046:07:22 Evans: Okay. Frame 27 was taken at an elapsed time of about 4 minutes. [Pause.]
046:07:37 Roosa: Okay. We got that.
046:07:42 Schmitt: Stu, this is Jack. I was taking the pictures. I took four pictures about 20 seconds apart - of the sequence just after he started it. And that ended with - or started with frame 26.
046:08:05 Roosa: Okay. Frame 26 for 4 seconds - I mean for 4 frames. [Pause.]
046:08:14 Evans: Okay. That one cell I spoke of that was about three-quarters of an inch in diameter now is about an inch long and maybe three-quarters of an inch wide. Each - All of the cells seem to be bigger, in general. They're bigger this time. There is two small ones at about an eighth of an inch and - and along one side. The other one is a half-inch, a half-inch - oh, a quarter of an inch, a half inch, and then a circular when you get around the outs - out - annulus of the cup. Then you start getting circular sides instead of straight sides. All of the flow comes from the little center spot and flows outward from the center toward the outside of the cells.
046:09:07 Evans: In this case, all of the bubbles have disappeared, except two. [Pause.]
046:09:19 Roosa: Ron, is the smallest cell you see about an eighth of an inch across?
046:09:26 Evans: The smallest cell I see is a four-sided one; it looks like a diamond. And it's an eighth of an inch on one side, an eighth of an inch on the other side, and maybe 3/16 on the other two sides.
046:09:39 Roosa: Okay. That sounds - that's a good description, Ron. I know on mine some of the smaller ones didn't show up in the - in the film, and we were not - not sure what size they are. So you might, before you quit, bracket the - the smallest or the biggest cells by your estimate of the size.
Comm break.
046:10:17 - This is Apollo Control at 46 hours, 10 minutes. Apollo 17 is 150,976 nautical miles [279,608 km] from Earth, traveling at a speed of 3,375 feet per second [1,029 m/s].
046:11:20 Schmitt: [Garble] any rate, frame number 31, frame number 31 [garble].
046:11:36 Evans: And the information first half of the experiment. The orientation was 90 degrees from this one, [Laughter] in that the lineal cell was on the right, and the lineal cell was aligned with the XX axis.
046:12:00 Roosa: Okay, Ron. We got - We had a drop in our signal strength there, and we did get your last comment about the orientation. We missed some comment about the frame numbers; I think came from Jack.
046:12:14 Evans: Okay. Something's a little different on this one here. Right at the top of the flow circle, it looks just like a finger. It's a curved surface that goes out and almost touches the - the circumference of the dish. And it looks just like if you're holding your finger up and looking at it. It's that type of a shape to it. It comes back down, and it's about a half an inch wide. The flow again emanates from a source that is almost on the fingertip, you might say. [Pause.]
046:12:58 Roosa: Okay. We copy. [Pause.]
046:13:10 Evans: Okay. Somehow, that fingertip finally touched the complete circumference, and the tip of the finger disappeared.
046:13:21 Roosa: Okay.
046:13:24 Evans: Okay. My - my small one-eighth inch - or one-eighth of an inch sided diamond joined with another one, now, and one side of the diamond is gone. I still have three sides of the diamond and the fourth side of the diamond, or the upper right-hand corner of the diamond, you might say, has disappeared and goes on with another little square - or rectangle. One - one end of the rectangle is about 3/l6 of an inch long; the other two sides are about three-eights of an inch long.
046:14:07 Roosa: Ron, what's the location of that - of that diamond and rectangle in the - in the circular dish? And is it near the edge, or is it towards the center?
046:14:18 Evans: There are almost - No, it's almost in the center. Towards the center. Almost in the center. On the left edge, as you look at the piece of equipment, as you're looking at it, there are absolutely no patterns at all. There is a flow. You can see a stream of flow. Whoops. I can get up then and start looking at it. I blew on it when I was talking. You can see a stream of flow from the circumference in toward the outer group of cells. The outer group of cells is at least half an inch from the circumference though, at that point. [Pause.]
046:15:04 Roosa: Okay, Ron. We're copying all that. [Long pause.]
046:15:18 Evans: Yeah. I think there's a general migration of - of the cells. Kind of toward the bottom of the circle, if you want to look at it that way. They seem to be stretching kind of in that direction, too.
046:15:40 Roosa: Okay. You're saying that's toward minus X?
046:15:47 Evans: First thing [hears Roosa] No, toward the plus Y, as you're looking at it.
046:15:52 Roosa: Okay. They're migrating toward plus Y.
046:15:53 Evans: I'll - I'll try to make all directions, with respect to - with respect to the right-side-up of the equipment, you know.
046:16:01 Roosa: Okay. We've got you.
046:16:06 Evans: And the first finger I talked about was at 12 o'clock. It has joined the edge now and almost disappeared. The second finger was - still essentially the way it was - is getting slightly closer to the edge. There's maybe - oh, less than 1/32 of an inch between the tip of the finger and the edge. And it goes out at - at 2 o'clock. Okay, from 3 o'clock on around to about 7 o'clock, the cells - it's in a shadow, and I can't see for sure if they're touching the edge or not, but it looks like they're probably essentially touching - the [garble] the edge. [Pause.]
046:16:51 Roosa: Okay. [Pause.]
046:16:56 Evans: And then from 7 o'clock on around to 12 o'clock again, none of the cells are touching the edge at all. And they're - oh, an average of three-eighths of an inch from the outside circumference. [Pause.]
046:17:15 Roosa: Okay. We're getting all that, Ron. [Long pause.]
046:18:03 Roosa: And, Ron, we'd like to verify that the fluid is up to the second baffle.
046:18:11 Evans: That's verified. It's up to the second baffle.
046:18:15 Roosa: Okay...
046:18:15 Evans: All I had to do was start it in one position, and as soon as I started it - started it in one position, it whipped all the way around it. From the point I started it, it went all the way around in both directions.
046:18:28 Roosa: Okay. That sounds beautiful. That ought to be a good data point for something.
046:18:35 Evans: Yeah, right.
046:18:37 Evans: I think that in the low flow here, evidently things are even a little bit slower than they were in the high rate - in the high - in the high heat rate. But my little diamond now, is almost joined with the rectangle. And I think given half a chance, it's tending to go into another five-sided figure.
046:19:09 Roosa: Okay. We copy.
Comm break.
046:20:44 Evans: And we start to cool down [garble]. [Long pause.]
046:21:12 Evans: Okay. As we're cooling down, the flow patterns tend to join together, so far. The ones on the outer periphery dissolve into straight lines. Straight lines are emanating in a radial direction from the center of the circle.
046:24:10 Evans: And, Houston, if you're listening; or DSE if you're listening. Had a little bit of film - oop, there's the end of film right now. May as well stop it. Hey, I went to High for a little ways. [Pause.]
046:24:24 Roosa: Okay, Ron. You came back in; I didn't get all of that. Understand you ran out of film. And say the other.
046:24:35 Evans: Well, I still had a little bit of film when the cooldown - the 2-minute cooldown period was left, so I went back to High on the Flow Pattern just to see what would happen. And it looked like they were starting out with - again larger-sized cells developing into smaller ones. And, initially, all of the cells were about a half an inch in diameter, and they were closer to the periphery of the dish than they were in the Low Flow position. [Pause.]
046:25:15 Roosa: Okay. We copy that, Ron. After - after you went to High - after the 19 minutes - how long was it before you started seeing a change? [Pause.]
046:25:37 Evans: It was within a minute there. See, it cooled down fairly rapidly at the end of the 2 minutes. All of the cells had essentially dissolved. You had some radial lines on the outer perim - The cells that were on the outer side degraded into a strictly radial lines, back to the second row of cells. The row of cells that were on the inside kind of joined together and all ended up into one or two large cells about an inch - or about three - ¾ of an inch across.
046:26:18 Roosa: Okay. Sounds like real good data...
046:26:20 Evans: Still got the High going.
Comm break.
046:27:42 Evans: I still have it in High, and the pattern that's developing is almost identical to the - what was happening in the Low, except it seems to be happening at a faster rate.
046:28:00 Roosa: Okay. We copy that...
046:28:01 Evans: [Garble] triangle or a little diamond developed down there and then - and it disappeared. Only this time, it kind of joined with a different little cell, but it was the same cell next to it. I still have the big one. It's about an inch long, at 11 o'clock, as I had before. I still have a finger that's developing about 12 o'clock, and another one about 2 o'clock. And they seem to be migrating again toward the bottom of the dish. [Long pause.]
046:29:57 Roosa: Okay, Ron. It sounds like you've really wired that experiment in great shape, and all the - and everybody's real happy with the - with the data. I guess now you might as well tear it down and press ahead.
046:31:32 Roosa: Okay, Ron. We're back with you now, and everybody's real happy about the data and experiment. And it looks like you did a super job, and you might as well tear it down and press ahead. [Pause.]
046:31:48 Evans: Okay. I still got it in High, and I'm kind of sucking the fluid back down the - the intake. And as I get the fluid thinned out, low and behold there's a whole bunch of bubbles underneath there. And each bubble is a source for one of those little cells. It's the internal source. [Pause.]
046:32:24 Roosa: Okay, Ron. We got that. You may have made a breakthrough for science.
046:34:13 Overmyer: Ron, just a reminder that we're scratching that page 3-45 that - from 46 to 47 - that's scratched out. And from then on all the times, you just subtract an hour from it, if you haven't done that already.
046:34:32 Overmyer: Rog. Just a reminder on that. And EECOM's over here trying to figure out if you changed the canister or not. Just a reminder on that one.
046:34:42 Evans: Okay. We'll get that as soon as I get this out of the way. Okay?
046:34:45 Overmyer: Sure. While you're back there - Panel 100 and that - you might park the optics. We see they're not in Zero. [Pause.]
046:35:00 Evans: Okay.
046:35:02 Overmyer: And along that same line, Ron, we did notice several times while people were watching through the optics that they went to Zero. And it's no problem if the rates are low, but just a reminder that we don't want to bump them into the stops with any kind of a rate. [Pause.]
046:35:25 Evans: Yeah. I concur with that, Bob. I guess I didn't realize we were doing that.
046:35:31 Overmyer: We just picked up some data points down here that people - You were all looking around, I guess, and you might - it's easy to miss that Trunnion going to Zero, I guess. [Pause.]
046:35:48 Schmitt: Houston, 17.
046:35:50 Overmyer: Go ahead, Jack, or Gene.
046:35:56 Schmitt: I'm ready to update your weather in the Western Pacific, if you're interested.
046:36:02 Overmyer: Roger. Go ahead.
046:36:07 Schmitt: Still can't quite figure out what that circulation around New Zealand means. It looks like it's merging with some more weather to the southeast. I suspect it's stormy there, but I still - It's not a terribly well-developed storm, although it seems to be broadening in its extent. Australia is completely free of any significant weather and almost completely free - free of clouds. The - There appears to be a front - although right now it does not look too intense - approaching from the southwest. And it looks like it's about 5 degrees of longitude south of the southwestern tip of Australia. [Pause.] The typhoon Cirrus - or Therese, I guess it is - appears to be just about the same position it was yesterday. And that is north of Borneo and between Vietnam and the Philippines.
046:37:26 Overmyer: Roger. We see that on the prog here, Jack.
046:41:36 Overmyer: Ron, did you ever get your P23 data from today.
046:41:42 Evans: That's negative; never did.
046:41:44 Overmyer: Okay. Just got some updating information for you, if you want to listen to it. I don't think you need to copy it down.
046:41:53 Evans: Very good. Go ahead.
046:41:54 Overmyer: Okay, Ron, the effective horizon was 25, plus or minus 6 nautical miles, which is real fine. The substellar pointing error was 1 arc-minute, plus or minus 1 arc-minute, which is less than the 1-sigma error. The marking data was extremely consistent, and all techniques and procedures were excellent. And the horizon updates from the current onboard value of 28 - is not required, so you're extremely good P23. Outstanding.
046:42:31 Evans: Hey, that's good to hear. Great. Thank you.
When Ron sights on Earth's horizon, he is looking through a lot of atmosphere by virtie of the line of sight grazing the limb. This masks the true limb of the planet by softening its hard edge and refracting its image. What the CMPs did was to choose a part of the atmosphere to mark on and try to do so consistently. Once a crewman's offset from the true limb had been determined, it was compensated for in the P23 software.
Diagram of the substellar point during a P23 measurement.
The substellar point is that point on the limb that is nearest to the star from an angular point of view. A line drawn from the star through the substellar point would pass through the centre of Earth's disk. In a similar fashion, should the far horizon be in use, then the substellar point for that would be on a line that passes from the star and through the centre of Earth's disk to the horizon on the opposite side of the planet from the star.
046:42:36 Overmyer: And I do have one input from your other half. There's a concern that if you spill grape juice on your flight suit, it's hard to get out. So be sure - and when you're eating - drinking grape juice, you want to make sure you learn how to drink it right.
046:42:54 Evans: [Chuckle.] Okay. We - we'll try that, for sure.
046:46:58 - This is Apollo Control at 46 hours, 46 minutes. The display which shows distance and velocity is referenced to the Moon at this time so these numbers I'm about to give you will be Moon-referenced and not Earth-referenced. Apollo 17 is 80,322 nautical miles [148,756 km] from the Moon. Velocity, 3,349 feet per second [1,021 m/s]. The crew is in a meal period at this time and we don't expect much conversation for some time. Earlier today, while the Lunar Module was being checked out and during a test of simultaneous dual communications capability from Challenger and America, a portion of the conversation was lost due to a communication line configuration in the Public Affairs distribution system. We have now obtained tape of this lost conversation from the Air/Ground recorders in the Control Center and will play that for you now.
The referenced tape is included earlier in this chapter, starting at 040:00:06.
046:50:42 Overmyer: Go ahead. 17, Houston. Go ahead.
046:50:47 Schmitt: I need to make a correction. Roger. I need to make a correction. It looks as if that storm area that was in New Zealand yesterday has moved up across the two islands and is now sitting northwest. It's getting a little hard to identify the smaller islands in the Pacific, but - pretty sure I've got it in the right place now looking at the map. And it is northwest of New Zealand. And it looks like New Zealand's probably having reasonably good weather today, although I suspect it rained last night.
046:51:27 Overmyer: Roger, Jack. That's interesting because on my prog it doesn't show a thing down that area. This just may not be up to date here yet.
046:51:36 Schmitt: Well, there may be nothing down there except some cloud patterns and - but that's all I can see, of course. The front that's south of Australia now - I presume front - just looking at a fairly well-developed, although narrow, cloud line, is about 5 - about 10 degrees south of Perth right now, southwest of Perth and runs on a northwest-southeast line - over to a point about 10 or 15 degrees southwest of Tasmania. And then it intersects a curved front that runs from there up to - to Tasmania, and then back around down south of New Zealand about 10 degrees.
046:56:24 Cernan: Say, Bob, this is Gene. I got some new sensors on. You might want to take a look at them.
046:56:29 Overmyer: Roger. Good show, Gene. We were just wondering about that, and I'll bug the guys on my left here and make sure they're looking at them. [Pause.]
046:56:51 Overmyer: We're not getting any data yet, Gene.
046:56:55 Schmitt: Bob, we're starting to get [garble] from just off Luzon on the northeast trend [garble] seen so far of a shadow line of fairly thick high clouds overlying some thick lower clouds behind the front.
046:57:29 Overmyer: Roger. You might have - be of interest onboard there, the FIDOs... [Long pause.]
046:58:52 Overmyer: Jack, we've been having comm dropouts here on this Omni as you swing around on us.
046:59:03 Schmitt: Okay. What - where did I leave you, Bob?
046:59:08 Overmyer: Well, I'm not sure because we picked up a number of different bits, and then we dropped it all.
046:59:17 Schmitt: Did you get the overcast over Korea and Manchuria bit?
046:59:22 Overmyer: Negative. I didn't get that.
046:59:36 Schmitt: Okay. That generally - South China looks clear. I haven't had a real good look at it yet, it's out on the limb. It's clearly, however, overcast over Korea and Manchuria. It does not appear to be frontal weather there, though. The dominant front in the northwestern Pacific stretches on a northwest line from just off Luzon on up as far as I could see to the terminator. And it seems to be an extremely strong front with what I would guess is heavy air-mass weather all along it. And up to the east-northeast of Japan, there's an excellent example of a shadow line from some fairly thick high clouds on solid overcast of lower clouds. Don't see any major cyclone development along it, or wave development. It just locks like a very strong air-mass front.
047:00:51 Overmyer: Roger, Jack. We've got it on our prog here. We don't show the one on the northeast part of Japan, but we do show a front prog for tomorrow morning going off of Taiwan and - right from Taiwan eastward - past the Ryukyu islands and just on into the northern Pacific there. Looks like pretty heavy cloud mass over there.
047:01:14 Schmitt: Roger. That's the one I'm - Roger. That's the one I'm looking at. Extremely heavy. And right now it - in fact starts about at Luzon. It looks like Taiwan is almost on the back side of it.
047:01:30 Overmyer: Yeah. That's what our prog - it shows it right on Luzon and then Taiwan's clear.
047:01:37 Schmitt: Very good.
047:01:39 Overmyer: We'll keep up with you yet there, Jack. Say, you may be interested. We've got 9 hours of good tracking on the - after the midcourse - and we show a perilune of about 52 [nautical] miles [96 km] which confirms a good midcourse.
047:01:59 Cernan: Sounds outstanding...
047:02:00 Evans: That's great.
047:02:01 Cernan: You can cross off the canister, by the way; it's changed.
047:02:05 Overmyer: Okay. EECOM's happy about that now, finally. And, Gene - the CD - your data looks good.
047:02:17 Schmitt: Okay. I never had a chance to tell you, Bob, but you - as you see - I presume - I - the LMP no longer has sensors on.
047:02:29 Overmyer: Roger. We confirm that.
047:02:34 Schmitt: By the way, those were the - I guess you know - the sensors that we put on at the Cape. And they still seemed to be in good shape when I took them off. I figured I'd let things rest a while, and then I'll put them on again tomorrow.
047:02:49 Overmyer: Roger. Looks like you've got an eat period scheduled here for an hour, and then into the presleep checklist.
047:02:59 Schmitt: Whoopee! The old preslip [sic] checklist.
047:12:26 Stafford: Yeah. I was going to say, is that talkative commander onboard?
047:12:32 Cernan: How are you doing down there?
047:12:34 Stafford: Well, I feel lots better. Like I told you Geno, I think that you were the jinx on Gemini 9 for all the delays. Over.
047:12:43 Cernan: No way; you got a longer history than I do.
047:12:47 Stafford: Everything's looking great.
047:12:52 Cernan: Yeah, it's looking good onboard. We're - I think we're pretty well squared away. We've got our stowage in shape, and we're in the house-cleaning routine. And that's about 50 percent of the battle.
047:13:06 Stafford: Right.
047:13:10 Cernan: The weather down there didn't look too good today. How's it been?
047:13:13 Stafford: Well, as it started out, it was below minimums this morning and finally, this afternoon, it cleared up. But it was strictly zilch this morning and starting last night. There's another front due in here later tonight.
047:13:28 Schmitt: Yeah, we've been watching that one.
047:13:32 Stafford: Well, Jack, you're turning into a very trained weather observer besides being a geologist.
047:13:40 Schmitt: Oh, I'm enjoying it immensely, Tom, as you may have gathered.
047:13:45 Stafford: Right.
047:13:45 Schmitt: Very interesting place to watch; I'll tell you.
047:13:48 Stafford: Absolutely superb.
047:13:52 Cernan: How are things on the home front, T.P.?
047:13:55 Stafford: Geno, things couldn't be better.
047:14:01 Cernan: Well, you might sound all the good words from us.
047:14:03 Stafford: Oh, will do. I plan to drop by and burn a cup of coffee tomorrow.
047:14:11 Cernan: I'd love to invite you up here for supper.
047:14:16 Stafford: And I wish I could join you. I could make another couple of remarks, but they'd be X-rated; so I shouldn't.
047:14:25 Schmitt: Okay. I'll accept that.
047:14:30 Cernan: You notice I haven't yet.
047:14:33 Stafford: [Chuckle] I'm very well pleased, Geno. Your - your language is superb.
047:17:38 Overmyer: 17, Houston, just a couple of words. We'd like you to know we're real satisfied with all the LM data that we saw during the LM activation work today, and, looking at it, the data looked real good.
047:17:54 Schmitt: Great, Bob. I was - you had me worried there for a while with that comm. Do you have a good idea what caused that?
047:18:02 Overmyer: Yes, we're sure about 99.9 percent of it was just ground linkup.
047:18:10 Schmitt: Yeah, that's certainly the way it acted onboard.
047:18:14 Overmyer: I guess there won't be any need to go back and change the checklist on that, but there's a lot to be said for maybe going to a real good stable condition and then getting a good firm checkout before you go into that downvoice backup mode and things like that. And I think that's what we'll do in the future.
047:18:31 Schmitt: Understand.
Very long comm break.
In the following PAO announcement, the tape being referred to was recorded seven hours earlier and just played back. While that was happening, more conversations were recorded which PAO will catch up on.
047:18:33 - This is Apollo Control at 47 hours, 18 minutes. That completes the tape from this afternoon. At this time, Apollo 17 is 79,293 nautical miles [146,851 km] from the Moon with the lunar referenced velocity of 3,343 feet per second [1,019 m/s]. The Flight Director has just gotten another update on the S-IVB impact prediction, based on tracking to date. The newest prediction is that the impact will occur at an elapsed time of 86 hours, 59 minutes, 55 seconds; at 3 degrees, 58 minutes south latitude; 12 degrees, 35 minutes west longitude. While that tape was playing, there were several conversations with the crew, including one between Brigadier General Tom Stafford and Gene Cernan. Stafford was Cernan's spacecraft commander in both Gemini and Apollo. We'll play those conversations for you now and then come back up live.
047:45:57 Schmitt: Yeah, I'm just a little curious about the difficulty on holding the Omnis. Is that about the same as past missions, or are we losing a little bit more than usual? [Pause.]
047:46:12 Overmyer: We're going to have Ed here give us a description for a minute, so let me stand by. [Pause.]
Overmyer is likely referring to Ed Fendell.
047:46:19 Schmitt: Okay. [Long pause.]
047:46:44 Overmyer: Jack, according to that - to our stalwart INCO over there, due to this new 210 (-foot antenna) down at Tidbinbilla, we're holding actually longer than in the past history.
047:47:00 Schmitt: Okay. I just guess I've never been on this end before.
047:47:04 Overmyer: Roger. Do you - do you hear it onboard when we break lock there? [Pause.]
047:47:13 Schmitt: Yes, as a matter of fact, with the Squelch Enabled, we lose all the background noise. And we know when we're picking you up because we start to get background noise again.
047:47:27 Overmyer: Roger. In other words, you - you are able to stop talking or something when you - when you know we're breaking lock then.
047:47:36 Schmitt: Well, if we happen to be talking when you break lock - no, unless we're watching the meter, we won't. We lose you when you get about 55 - say 60 percent signal strength. And apparently we're not talking to you when we have less than that.
047:47:52 Overmyer: Roger. Yeah, INCO gave me a briefing tonight and showed me what chart to watch so I can look at numbers when to talk. I've been talking to myself too much, lately. [Pause.]
047:48:07 Schmitt: Yeah, they have a beautiful chart there for that purpose.
047:48:13 Overmyer: I never really wanted to be an INCO, but I guess I was forced to tonight. [Pause.]
047:48:23 Schmitt: There are lots of comments for that one, Bob; but I'd better not say anything.
047:48:26 Overmyer: Roger.
047:48:27 Schmitt: Ed would never speak to me again.
047:48:29 Overmyer: Well, that's right. We can't X-rate the transcripts, so we'll just have to take - take it easy. [Long pause.]
047:48:52 Schmitt: Say, Bob, I've got another question about the Challenger.
047:48:54 Overmyer: Go ahead, sir.
047:49:01 Schmitt: [Music] Yes, sir. The battery voltage on low taps, strangely enough, was just like the simulator; but I had expected that the simulator might have been wrong - that we would have seen higher voltage there. Is that - is that about what you guys expected? [Pause.]
047:49:23 Overmyer: Roger. They said they expected that because the extra time on the pad that they're running. That 2-hour-and-40-minute delay is coming into play again.
047:49:35 Schmitt: Oh, yes, yes. That's right. Good. I forgot all about that. Something made that slip my mind.
047:49:43 Overmyer: Well, things have been going so well that I can't blame you forgetting that. [Pause.]
047:49:53 Schmitt: [Garble] Stanley Holloway's crazy Flight Plan updates that we've just forgotten that we were ever late.
047:50:00 Overmyer: Roger. Say, by the way, we like the music in the background. Sounds pretty good. [Pause.]
047:50:09 Schmitt: Yeah, we sort of - didn't - we didn't get it out at all until today. [Music: Whipped Cream by Al Hirt] I don't know whether we forgot about it or too many other learning things going on. It's - it's quite pleasant.
047:50:23 Overmyer: Rog. I don't think you forgot about it. I think you were just glued to those windows.
047:50:30 Schmitt: Well, I still am, as a matter of fact. The old Earth's coming by. And, say, I mentioned a couple of fronts that joined together about 20 degrees south of - of - the south coast of Australia. And it looks like that's a fairly healthy storm center developing down in there - conceivably may migrate up across Tasmania and maybe up - up the Sydney-Brisbane coastal area in the next few days.
047:51:07 Overmyer: Roger. Where's the exact center of that, Jack? it took me a second to get my prog out here.
047:51:15 Schmitt: Well, just a second. Let me give you better from the map.
047:51:18 Overmyer: Roger. [Long pause.]
047:52:05 Overmyer: While you're looking at your map, I just might mention to Gene, I just talked to your - your better half over there, and everybody's fine and happy. [Pause.]
047:52:18 Cernan: Great. Always like to hear news like that, Bob.
047:52:21 Overmyer: Roger. [Pause.]
047:52:31 Schmitt: Bob, did you get that - 15 to 20 degrees south southwest of Adelaide?
047:52:43 Overmyer: Roger. [Long pause.]
047:53:20 Overmyer: 17, Houston. Are you into your pre... [No answer.]
047:53:42 Overmyer: 17, Houston. Are you into your presleep checklist yet? [No answer.]
Comm break.
047:54:54 Overmyer: 17, Houston. Are you into your presleep checklist now?
047:55:02 Cernan: We're just about ready to get started, Bob. We're running a little bit behind, but - we'll catch up here.
047:55:08 Overmyer: Okay. No sweat.
047:55:16 Schmitt: [Music] Trying to get some more of this good food down.
047:55:19 Overmyer: Roger. Keep saying those words. The people on my left appreciate that. [Pause.]
047:55:29 Cernan: Yes, but it does take a while.
047:55:32 Overmyer: I'm sure of that. [Pause.]
047:55:38 Evans: You know what we really need is Rita to fix it for us.
047:55:43 Overmyer: That's affirm. I'll go along on that. [Long pause.]
047:56:18 Cernan: Okay, Bob, I'm going to cycle H2 Fans 1 and 2.
The fans are contained within the SM's hydrogen tanks and their function is to stir up the contents and prevent them from forming layers of differing density caused by thermal gradients as heat leaks through the tank walls. This stratification affects the measurement of the tanks' quantities by a capacitance probe.
047:59:13 Schmitt: Bob, we're still on November November frame 140, and I'm going to take two more pictures before I go to sleep.
047:59:21 Overmyer: Roger, Jack. We copy that. November November frame 140. And you ought to be on 142 when you go to sleep, I guess, huh?
047:59:37 Schmitt: That's affirm.
Very long comm break.
The two pictures that Jack takes at this point appear to be AS17-148-22747 and 22748, based on a count of frames on the film and on photo analysis of the size of the image which indicates they were taken at a distance of about 289,000 kilometres.
AS17-148-22747 - Earth at a distance of approximately 289,000 km (based on photo analysis). Australia and Antarctica - NASA/ASU
AS17-148-22748 - Earth at a distance of approximately 289,000 km (based on photo analysis). Australia and Antarctica - NASA/ASU
048:09:36 - This is Apollo Control at 48 hours, 9 minutes. Apollo 17 now 77,623 nautical miles [143,758 km] away from the Moon and the lunar-referenced velocity, 3,333 feet per second [1,016 m/s]. Here in the Control Room, Flight Director Gene Kranz and his White Team are preparing to relieve the Orange Team which has been directed tonight by Flight Director Chuck Lewis. Major activities during this shift have been the heat flow and convection demonstration which has been performed twice during this shift. Once, while the spacecraft was nulled in all three axes and again after the Passive Thermal Control spinup mode had been established. That demonstration is to provide data on the behavior of fluids in a low gravity field and the information learned from the demonstration could be valuable in future science experiments and perhaps for manufacturing processes in space. The crew is in its presleep checklist at the present time and we have a - again a new update on the S-IVB impact just provided by the Flight Dynamics Officer - updates impact time to 86 hours, 59 minutes, 38 seconds at 3 degrees, 37 minutes south latitude; 12 degrees, 7 minutes west longitude. We do not anticipate a change of shift briefing at the end of this shift. Handover is schedul ed for midnight and there will be no change of shift briefing. At 48 hours, 12 minutes; this is Mission Control, Houston.
048:14:53 Schmitt: Roger. One final word. I got those pictures; and, I tell you, that typhoon off - north of Borneo - looks like it's right off the coast of - the east coast of Vietnam now, and it's about as tightly organized and solid as anything I can remember seeing in photographs. It looks as if, from yesterday, it's moved quite a bit to the west.
048:15:26 Overmyer: Roger. We concur. The prog for 12:00 - Let's see, that's about 6 hours from now - shows it to be right over the Vietnam area, the Viet - Vietnam peninsula there. So it looks like it's moving the way they're progging it, huh?
048:15:42 Schmitt: Yeah; well, it's right there. Yeah, it certainly is. It's - it's moved from just a little bit west of Luzon over to the coast there. So it's a pretty healthy storm.
048:15:59 Overmyer: Roger. It looks - on the prog chart here - it looks real tight. It's a very - very centralized thing and real tight circular.
048:16:12 Schmitt: Oh, yeah, you better believe it. It is really - it is tight. It - it's really - really no bigger than the - in terms of cloud pattern - no bigger than the - say, South Vietnam itself.
048:16:31 Overmyer: Roger. How're you getting that, Jack? Are you looking with the monocular now?
048:16:39 Schmitt: That's affirm. [Pause.] Monocular still gives real good resolution on the cloud patterns. [Music] Naked eye, you just see the masses; but with the 10-power monocular, it's perfectly adequate for seeing the kind of patterns we're talking about.
048:19:59 Overmyer: Well, guys, I guess I won't get the chance to say goodnight to you because Parker's going to come in to put you to bed.
048:20:09 Schmitt: Heavens.
048:20:13 Overmyer: And we'd - we'd like you to clear...
048:20:15 Schmitt: You can still say goodnight, Bob.
048:20:16 Overmyer: ...the DSKY, if you will.
048:20:20 Schmitt: Say goodnight, Bob.
048:20:22 Overmyer: Say goodnight, Dick, huh? One last word. You know, we're always hounding you guys - really don't mean to - but we - we'd like to see a clear DSKY so something doesn't burn out. Don't know the exact words on that, but...
048:20:39 Cernan: Okay, we - we'll give you a clear DSKY.
Each of the individual segments of the DSKY's seven-segment displays has its own latching relay, a tiny electromagnet arrangement that uses current through a coil to flip a switch. There are 154 relays in all (147 for the numerical segments, 6 for + and - segments and one for the computer activity light). These relays are used to send current to the individual segments of the display. However, the coils of the relays are not themselves carrying current all the time because they are latching relays. They only need a short pulse to operate the switch within the relay and the switch will than stay in that mode, thanks to a permanent magnet. The fear that Mission Control has about things in the display burning out must presumably refer to the segments themselves being damaged by long term operation.
048:20:42 Overmyer: Roger. [Pause.]
048:20:50 Cernan: Goodnight, Robert. [Pause.]
048:20:57 Overmyer: We'll see you tomorrow, troops. And we had a good show today, and we'll have more tomorrow. [Long pause.]
048:28:33 Schmitt: Well, you're just in time to put us to sleep. And I'll give you one last little old observation here. Extremely bright zero phase point right off the northwestern corner of Australia right at Carnarvon, it's as bright as I've seen. They must have a pretty good surf or something going in there.
048:28:58 Parker: Okay; that sounds good. [Long pause.]
048:29:29 Parker: Okay, 17, we copy all that; and I gather you're going to sleep at this point.
048:29:37 Schmitt: Well, we're going to try, Bob. I don't think any of us are real sleepy right now, but we're going to give her the old space try, here; and I'm sure we'll be asleep before long. Ron is on watch; and, if you don't wake him up with your voice, give him a crew alert. He says he'll wake up with a Master Alarm.
048:29:59 Parker: That's a healthy sign. All right, guys; if I stick around long enough in the morning, I'll wake you up.
048:33:25 Cernan: Okay, Robert, are you happy with your high - antenna configuration?
048:33:34 Parker: That's affirm. INCO is happy.
048:33:40 Cernan: Okay, you have anything else for us? I'll take care of our sleep configuration if you don't.
048:33:47 Parker: Okay, stand by. I'll go around the MOCR here with white.
048:33:54 SC: [Laughter.] [Pause.]
048:34:00 Parker: Okay. A lot of happy people down here with nothing to ask you.
048:34:07 Cernan: Okay. Nice to have everybody happy. And you - that includes the - the biomed on the commander, huh? [Pause.]
048:34:22 Parker: Okay, I guess they're happy. [Long pause.]
048:34:40 Cernan: Okay, are you going to sing to Ron in the morning to wake us up?
048:34:44 Parker: Depends on how soon you guys decide to wake up in the morning. I'll be around for 8 hours anyway.
048:34:57 Cernan: What's your expected GET of awake?
048:35:19 Parker: Stand by. [Long pause.] Okay, 17, it should say 56...
048:35:20 Cernan: [Garble] 56.
048:35:21 Parker: Go ahead.
048:35:26 Cernan: Yeah, we're just going to say the same thing.
048:35:28 Parker: Okay. Should show 56 on your clock. [Long pause.]
048:35:45 Parker: In fact, Dr. Kranz, here, just decided that you guys get another half hour in the morning if you wanted it. [Pause.] But you better tell us now because we'll wake you up at 56 and ask you if you want the other half hour then, unless you tell us.
048:36:06 Cernan: Yeah, why don't you give us another half hour; and if we happen to wake up and want to move around, well, we'll do it.
048:36:12 Parker: Okay; We'll wake you up at 56:30.
048:39:12 - This is Apollo Control at 48 hours, 39 minutes. We now have turned off the voice subcarrier up to the spacecraft and INCO, just a few minutes ago, reported that the crew has also turned off the voice subcarrier from the spacecraft, indicating that they have completed their presleep preparations and should begin scheduled 8-hour rest period shortly. Spacecraft Communicator, at the present time, is astronaut Robert Parker. He has replaced Robert Overmyer in that position. And in Mission Control we're set to maintain the watch while the crew is sleeping, keeping an eye on spacecraft systems via telemetry. Apollo 17 is now 76,630 nautical miles [141,919 km] from the Moon and everything appears to be functioning normally aboard the spacecraft at this time. At 48 hours, 40 minutes; this is Apollo Control, Houston.
