Apollo 8
Day 3: The Green Team
Corrected Transcript and Commentary Copyright © 2003-2021 by W. David Woods and Frank O'Brien. All rights reserved.
Last updated 2021-02-27
This is Apollo Control, Houston and at 49 hours, 18 minutes, we've just tagged up with the crew, and Mike Collins is reading the morning edition of the Interstellar Times. Here's how it's going.
049:16:34 Collins: Apollo 8, Houston. [No answer.]
049:17:07 Collins: Apollo 8, this is Houston. Over.
049:17:13 Anders: Go ahead, Houston. Apollo 8.
049:17:15 Collins: Roger. I just wanted to let you know we still have voice contact, and we have the morning news for you. We can give it to you now or some time later. Your choice.
049:17:27 Anders: How about right now?
049:17:29 Collins: Very good. This is the 23rd of December edition of the Interstellar Times
a la Paul Haney.
Collins (continued): We would like to let you know that there are only 2 more shopping days until Christmas. He says your TV transmission was a real big hit yesterday. Mickey Herskowitz is doing double duty for the Post. He's written a couple of columns on your launch in addition to his other sports columns, and, Jim, your Mom certainly appreciated that birthday greeting. Twenty one convicts broke out of a prison in New Orleans yesterday, and President Johnson went home last night from Bethesda Naval Hospital after his bout with the flu. He sends you guys a special message - not what to do for the flu - but congratulations on the flight. Are you reading me so far?
049:18:25 Anders: You're very clear, Mike.
049:18:27 Collins: Good. Well, we had a big blizzard down here in the midwest; I don't know if you can see that from up there or not. And in Houston, as a matter of fact, it's getting pretty chilly, about 35 degrees [Fahrenheit, 2°C]. And we would like to know who you like next Sunday, Baltimore or Cleveland? Baltimore defense looked pretty tremendous yesterday. They put on a great pass rush, and it sounds to CapCom like Haney is trying to con you guys into a bet. Over.
049:18:57 Anders: I like Baltimore.
049:19:01 Collins: Are you giving points?
049:19:05 Anders: Negative. I don't bet.
049:19:09 Collins: I guess you don't if you don't give points.
049:19:14 Anders: Not with you anyway.
049:19:19 Collins: Okay. That's about the size of the news. Houston, standing by.
049:19:24 Borman: How are the families doing, Mike?
049:19:29 Collins: They are doing just great, Bill; just talking to Valerie a few minutes ago.
049:19:37 Borman: That was Frank.
049:19:40 Collins: Oh, well, likewise with Susan [Borman]. I have not talked to her since last night.
Apollo Control here. We got a little lull on the conversation. That may be resumed. We will take advantage of the lull to give you the altitude which is 163,920 [nautical] miles [303,579 km] and our velocity; 3,514 feet per second [1,071 m/s]. If you take three-fourths of that, you can get the distance [means velocity in miles per hour] - I'll read that - it's something like 26 - 26 hundred miles per hour, call it. We'll stand by - here is more conversation.
049:21:16 Borman: Mike, this is Frank again. Would you tell the doctors I got about 5 hours of good sleep yesterday?
049:21:21 Collins: Roger. Thank you, Frank; we were wondering about that, about 5 hours of good sleep.
049:21:29 Borman: Right. [Pause.]
049:21:37 Collins: How is everything going up there, Frank; all three of you guys feeling okay this morning?
049:21:43 Borman: Feel fine. Jim went back to sleep. Bill and I are having breakfast and everything seems fine.
049:21:48 Collins: Good; glad to hear it.
This is Apollo Control here. Apparently we are wrapping up, the crew is now eating and we doubt that we will get any additional conversation for at least the next few minutes. The eat period extends up to 50 hours [Ground] Elapsed [Time]. We are at 49 hours, 29 minutes. The spacecraft meanwhile has - it's about to complete its second - let's back off that statement and put it this way. The Earth is about to complete its second revolution under the spacecraft. The spacecraft now, in relation to the Earth, is over Africa and that is its second revolution since the second rev when suddenly the spacecraft left the Earth out over the central Pacific. Our flat map projection follows this trace and it's running at about 10 degrees south latitude very steady and coming back across, if for map purposes it appears that it's coming - going from east to west across the face of the map. Of course, the spacecraft is quite steady and the Earth is turning under it. At 49 hours, 30 minutes into the flight; this is Apollo Control, Houston.
050:07:18 Collins: Apollo 8, Houston. Over.
050:07:23 Borman: Go ahead, Houston.
050:07:24 Collins: Just checking in with you after about a 45-minute quiet break. Say, we notice on your High Gain Antenna, if you like, you can get a little bit more use out of it by switching to it from Omni when you have a yaw angle of 90 degrees and a pitch angle of minus 45 degrees. We are noticing that you are staying an extra 10 minutes on the Omni, which is fine; but you could get more use out of the High Gain if you use that procedure. Over.
050:08:00 Borman: Okay, thank you. It's a lot simpler for us, as long as the Omni isn't working. We've got it all wrapped up here on the eight-ball with the roll [garbled] pointing to an Omni number. We just switch it; it makes it a lot easier, if it is not bothering you.
Photograph of FDAI-1 onboard Apollo 13's Command Module Odyssey.
050:08:13 Collins: Okay. That is fine. We are presently happy with the comm, Frank. We are just trying to be helpful.
050:08:25 Borman: Thank you very much. It's unusual that Mike Collins tries to be helpful, but nevertheless, thank you very much.
050:08:30 Collins: Good; aerospace first, Frank.
050:08:35 Borman: Say hello to Howard Tindall for us, will you? His procedure seemed to be working.
050:08:39 Collins: Sure will. [Long pause.]
050:08:59 Borman: I hope that you have got everybody looking this thing over very carefully. One thing we want is a perfect spacecraft before we consider the LOI burn.
050:09:07 Collins: Apollo 8, Houston. We concur, and we are doing that.
050:09:13 Borman: Okay. [Long pause.]
050:09:55 Borman: Houston, Apollo 8. The water is in the process of being chlorinated at this time.
050:09:59 Collins: Roger. Understand you're chlorinating the water at this time.
050:10:06 Borman: Roger. [Long pause.]
050:10:48 Collins: Apollo 8, Houston. Over.
050:10:53 Borman: Go ahead.
050:10:54 Collins: At your convenience, we would like the read-out of your Service Module RCS propellant quantities. We haven't gotten one of those so far this flight.
050:11:04 Borman: Alright. Stand by. We are just about to - need to change the antenna. I'll give them to you. [Long pause.]
050:12:14 Borman: Houston, Apollo 8. How do you read?
050:12:18 Collins: Go ahead, Apollo 8.
050:12:25 Borman: Okay. A, Service Module [quad] A. Are you ready?
050:12:30 Collins: Ready to copy.
050:12:34 Borman: The temperature is about 111 [degrees Fahrenheit], the helium pressure - Do you just want the quantity, or do you want the whole works?
050:12:41 Collins: Well, if you are reading, give us the whole works.
050:12:46 Borman: Okay. The helium pressure [on quad A] is about 37 [that is 3,700 psi, 25.5 MPa], the [fuel] manifold [pressure] is 182 [psi, 1,255 kPa], and the quantity is reading 80 [percent]. B has got the temperature about 112, the helium pressure about 36.5, the fuel pressure 180, and the quantity about 77. C has got the temperature of 140 - incidentally, those other temperatures should have been 120 instead of 110; I was looking at the wrong calibration here. The pressure is 37, the manifold pressure is about 182, and the quantity is 80. Temperature on D is 115, pressure is 37, the manifold pressure is 181, and the quantity is about 83.
050:14:02 Collins: Roger, Frank. I read you loud and clear. On the temperatures, quad A and B should both be 120. Roger.
050:14:12 Collins: Thank you. [Long pause.]
050:14:36 Borman: I will trade all of that good information for a read-out of the actual quantities. If you will give us a minute, we will go ahead and plot them up, Mike.
050:14:45 Collins: Roger. We will stand by until we get them for you.
050:16:34 Collins: Apollo 8, Houston. I have your Service Module RCS quantities available. Over.
050:16:43 Borman: Roger. We are ready to copy at 50 hours, 16 minutes.
050:16:47 Collins: Okay. I have them both in percent and pounds; I'll give you both numbers. The pounds are slightly more accurate for plotting on your chart. Quad A, 72 percent, 219 pounds; quad B, 76 percent, 233 pounds; quad C, 70...
050:17:10 Borman: Take it a little slower, Mike; whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
050:17:15 Borman: Slow up. We just got quad A plotted. They are on separate charts.
050:17:22 Borman: Okay for quad B.
050:17:24 Collins: Quad B; 76 percent, 233 pounds.
050:17:34 Borman: Okay. Quad C.
050:17:36 Collins: Seventy-six percent, 231 pounds.
050:17:49 Borman: Quad D.
050:17:50 Collins: Seventy-six percent, 229 pounds.
050:17:59 Borman: Okay. [Long pause.]
Diagram showing predicted RCS propellant usage throughout the flight, and actual usage at 50 hours GET.
050:18:15 Borman: Would you give us the O
2 and H
2 as long as we are plotting?
050:18:18 Collins: Roger. Stand by for O
2 and H
2.
050:19:58 Collins: Apollo 8, Houston. We have got those numbers in a percent. We are going to switch them over to pounds, and in the meantime, we are going to be changing our ground antenna in about another 2½ minutes. You can expect a comm glitch. Over.
050:20:14 Borman: Thank you.
050:23:44 Collins: Apollo 8, Houston. Over.
050:23:52 Borman: Go ahead, Houston. Apollo 8.
050:23:55 Collins: Roger. I have your oxygen and hydrogen quantities when you are ready to copy.
050:24:06 Collins: Oxygen tank number 1, 270 pounds, 270; oxygen tank 2, 267, 267 pounds. Over.
050:24:24 Borman: Roger. Thank you.
050:24:26 Collins: Roger. On the hydrogen, hydrogen tank 1, 19.7; hydrogen tank 2, 20.1. Over.
050:24:41 Borman: Understand; 19.7 and 20.1.
050:24:44 Collins: Roger. You are a little bit low on the line on your graph due to the fact that they started out low.
This is Apollo Control. We have apparently got a lull in the conversation. We have been listening to the exchange between Mike Collins and Apollo 8 live now, for nearly half an hour. Our present position in relation to Earth, is 166,116 [nautical] miles [307,646 km] from Earth. Our velocity in feet per second; 3,466 [1,056 metres per second]. And one-fourth [means three fourths, a quick means of converting feet per second to miles per hour] of that would be about 27 - 2,725 miles per hour. Velocity will continue to slow down to a value of 2,170 miles per hour, not feet per second.
And at the point of lunar capture, or the point of lunar sphere influence - which we are rapidly approaching; and in fact reach, I believe, at 55 hours - we will begin to see a slight acceleration. I think the biggest thing that we will experience today, at least we will be filling in numbers in an unknown but at a predicted area, is the range of temperatures that the spacecraft will be seeing. The Earth - even in Earth orbit, the Earth exerts a temperature factor over spacecraft, even out at 100 or more miles. And the Moon, it's theorized, does the same thing because of its highly reflective quality. The area between the Earth and the Moon has no great reflector available. And, thus, a different temperature regime is experienced. This will be of considerable interest to the spacecraft builders and the spacecraft thermal planners, as we progress through this day. At 50 hours, 27 minutes, this is Apollo Control, Houston.
050:54:46 Borman: Houston, how do you read? Apollo 8.
050:54:48 Collins: Apollo 8, Houston. Loud and clear. How me? Over.
050:54:54 Borman: Loud and clear. I was just checking. Over.
050:54:57 Collins: Roger.
This is Apollo Control, Houston. 50 hours, 55 minutes into the flight. Mike Collins just put in a - I take that back. Apollo 8 just gave us a call a few minutes ago, I guess just to check and make sure our antennas are all switched around, which I believe they have been. We can expect some communication very shortly. We have had a number of calls on conversion charts. We would like to pass on to you these conversion tables. Earlier we had estimated that to get a handy grab on statute miles per hour, simply take three quarters of feet per second. Of course, the number is somewhere between three quarters and two thirds, so here are some more conversion tables. Before we do that, let's go now live to more communication.
050:56:09 Collins: Apollo 8, Houston. Over.
050:56:13 Borman: Go ahead.
050:56:15 Collins: Roger, Frank. Your 51-hour update of block data will be omitted. The block data you have on board is satisfactory. Over.
050:56:28 Borman: Understand. The block data we have aboard is satisfactory.
050:56:30 Collins: Right. That's for the flyby and pericynthion plus 2-hour block update.
Collins (continued): We would like also to get a current up-to-date report on all your windows. We are trying to make some alternate plans for using the center hatch window when you are in lunar orbit, and we would like to make sure we understand exactly what the condition of all five windows is. Over.
050:56:54 Borman: Okay, Roger. Window number 1 and number 5 are clouded, but they may be partially useful. The hatch window is very badly clouded. Window number 2 and 4 are good.
050:57:06 Collins: Okay. Understand the hatch window is unusable, 1 and 5 are partially usable, and the rendezvous windows are both good.
Apollo Control here. We will take advantage here to go ahead and give you these conversion tables that we talked about earlier. If you have feet per second and you want statute miles per hour, you convert by multiplying feet per second times 0.6818. The resulting number - statute miles per hour. If you want knots, you take feet per second, and multiply by 0.5925, I repeat, feet per second times 0.5925 gives you knots per hour. If you want kilometers per hour, you take feet per second and multiply by 1.097, 1.097, and you get kilometers per hour. And one other factor to help, particularly our European, well to help all reporters who are other than U.S., if you have statute miles per hour and multiply by 1.609, you can get kilometers per hour. So much for the lack of a universal numbering system. We will go back and monitor the circuit now for any additional communications.
Apollo Control here. CapCom Mike Collins is sitting back in his seat and apparently we will not have any communication unless it is initiated by Apollo 8. So we will take the line down now at 51 hours, even, into the flight and we are - they are 167,000 [nautical] miles [309,000 km] from Earth, moving at a velocity of 3,441 feet per second [1,049 m/s]. This is Apollo Control, Houston.
051:13:13 Collins: Apollo 8, Houston. Over.
051:13:18 Borman: Go ahead, Houston. Apollo 8.
051:13:20 Collins: Roger, Frank. We would like to ask you about the next few hours in the Flight Plan. We are inclined to let Jim go ahead and sleep and to slip the P23 that occurs at 52:15. On the other hand, we would think it would probably be a good idea if he returned more to the normal sleep rest cycle; and if you got him up nominally to do the 52:15 work, then perhaps he would be ready to go back to sleep at about 61 hours, when he nominally is expected to do so.
051:13:55 Borman: Okay. He's up now, eating. We are planning to go to normal procedures on the Flight Plan.
051:14:02 Collins: Okay. That - that's fine then. If - you know, there is no - it's not time critical that P23 be done at 52:15, but if you get up to do it then, that's just fine.
051:14:16 Borman: Well, we thought we might give it a try.
051:14:18 Collins: Roger. [Pause.]
051:14:23 Borman: This sleep cycle here is - we're just going to have to real-time it, I guess. I'm supposed to be asleep right now but, obviously - or I'm supposed to go to sleep here shortly, but I just got up. We are going to have to play this by ear.
051:14:39 Collins: Roger. Understand.
051:17:39 Borman: Houston, Apollo 8.
051:17:41 Collins: Go ahead, Apollo 8.
051:17:46 Borman: Are the stars in the Flight Plan proper for this next exercise of P23?
051:17:52 Collins: We would like to talk to Jim about it when he is ready to copy.
051:17:59 Borman: He's ready.
051:18:03 Lovell: Good morning, Mike. How are you doing?
051:18:05 Collins: Fine, fine, Jim. You are sounding good this morning. We would like to give you a little rundown on these stars. As you can see in the Flight Plan, we've got you scheduled for a number 33, Antares, number 34, Atria, and number 40, old Altair. Now, the first of those, Antares, is in plane; the second two are out of plane. As you know, we would like to get a mixture of the in and the out of plane. Antares, number 33, is close to the Sun, and we expect that you are going to have difficulty getting those measurements on number 33. We would like very much for you to try, but if you are unable to do number 33, then we propose that you use number 42, which is Peacock, to the lunar far horizon. We realize Peacock isn't the greatest one available - greatest star in the sky - but it's about the only one available. Over.
051:19:06 Lovell: Roger. Understand. I'll - we'll go to Antares first and try it. You know, we tried it last time, but I got one set before I lost the Moon completely in the white haze. I'll give it another try, and if it doesn't work out, we will go to Peacock and give it...
051:19:26 Collins: That ... that is affirmative, Jim, and if neither Antares nor Peacock work, well then, we just will be happy to go with Atria and with Altair. We would like then to increase the number of sets and do three on Atria, that is, number 34, and two on Altair, number 40; but that is only in the event that you can get neither Antares nor Peacock.
051:20:07 Collins: Apollo 8, Houston. Did you copy?
051:20:12 Lovell: Roger. This is 8. Copied. We'll increase the number 34 to three and the number set of 40 to two if we cannot get 33 or 42.
051:20:25 Collins: Yes, that's exactly right.
This is Apollo Control, Houston. 51 hours, 41 minutes into the flight and just a very few minutes ago, the wife of Bill Anders, Valerie Anders, joined us here in the Control Center. She is seated in the viewing area, which overlooks the Mission Operations Control Room, chatting with Mr. James C. Elms, the director of the Electronics Research Center in Boston and Elms was formerly deputy director of this Manned Spacecraft Center. With her also is Neil Armstrong, backup Command Pilot for Apollo 8. This is the first of the wives to visit the Control Center during the mission. Later today we expect to see Jim Lovell's wife, Marilyn. ... Our distance right now; 168,829 [nautical] miles [312,671 km], we should - we are to pass into the lunar sphere of influence [at] 55 hours, 38 minutes; about 4 hours from now. Our velocity has slowed down to 3,408 miles [means feet per second, 1,039 m/s]. While we were talking, Mike Collins has put in another call. Let's go back to that.
051:47:55 Collins: Apollo 8, this is Houston. Over.
051:47:59 Borman: Go ahead, Houston. Apollo 8.
051:48:02 Collins: Roger. We're getting low bit rate from you, rather than high, and on this P23 work, for us to get our data, you're going to have to delay the DSKY display about 10 seconds when it comes up with Noun - Noun 87. Over.
051:48:18 Borman: Roger. [Long pause.]
051:48:44 Collins: Apollo 8, Houston. We are past that [Noun] 87 display now. Did you write down what your trunnion bias was?
051:48:57 Borman: Negative.
051:49:00 Lovell: Houston, we haven't started [P]23 yet. Our Cal is zero.
051:49:12 Collins: Roger. Understand. Thank you.
051:49:17 Lovell: We are in the process now to - to go to P23 attitude.
051:49:27 Collins: Roger. Thank you.
051:53:42 Collins: Apollo 8, Houston.
051:53:47 Borman: Go ahead, Houston. Apollo 8.
051:53:49 Collins: Roger. Downlink data shows that on star 33, Jim is using the lunar far horizon when he should be using the lunar near horizon. Over.
Diagram to show the difference between a near-horizon and a far-horizon measurement.
051:54:02 Borman: Okay. Thank you. 220?
051:54:07 Collins: Roger. 220.
051:54:14 Borman: Let us check it.
051:54:16 Collins: Roger. [Long pause.]
051:54:58 Borman: You want the far horizon now, Houston?
051:55:01 Collins: Roger. Far horizon.
051:55:06 Lovell: We have far horizon in now, Mike, on 220. I will check again, though.
051:55:12 Collins: Yes. That is right. We are requesting the lunar near horizon as per the Flight Plan, the lunar near horizon. We show that you are using the lunar far horizon.
051:55:27 Lovell: Okay. Roger. I thought that you had copied up 220 to me. I will put it in the near horizon.
051:55:34 Collins: Roger.
051:58:50 Anders: Houston, Apollo 8. Over.
051:58:52 Collins: Apollo 8, Houston. Go ahead.
051:59:03 Anders: Mike, it's getting kind of damp - we're getting a playback, Mike. It is getting kind of damp in here. It might be a good idea to go back into Auto on the temp in - the glycol temp in for a while to try and get some of this moisture out of the cabin.
051:59:21 Collins: Roger. Stand by, Bill.
051:59:28 Anders: Roger. [Long pause.]
052:00:08 Collins: Apollo 8, Houston.
052:00:13 Anders: Go ahead.
052:00:14 Collins: We concur. We would like you to go back to Auto on the glycol temp inlet valve. Over.
052:00:22 Anders: Okay. When was our lowest radiator Out Temp during the last couple of hours while we have been in Manual?
052:00:28 Collins: I will get it for you.
052:00:33 Anders: And we are back in Auto.
052:00:35 Collins: Roger. Back in Auto, and 29 degrees (F, minus 2° C) is as low as we've seen.
052:00:43 Anders: Okay. We are showing a cabin temp of about 76. It is very comfortable, but we are getting a lot of condensation on the walls now.
052:00:54 Collins: Roger. Understand.
052:05:00 Borman: Houston, Apollo 8.
052:05:04 Collins: Apollo 8, this is Houston.
052:05:08 Borman: Roger, Mike. While we are waiting for the spacecraft to maneuver to the Moon, I might note that as we get closer to the Moon, the light from the Sun comes right into the scanning telescope, and it is impossible to use. You have to rely on the sextant alone.
052:05:35 Collins: Roger, Jim. Understand that light from the Sun is coming into the scanning telescope making it impossible to use, and you have to rely on the sextant alone. Can you attach any angle to that?
052:05:55 Borman: Well, Mike, I am right now at the substellar point of [star] 33 [Antares]. I don't know where the Sun is exactly from there, but that is about the angle. We're - the optics are pointed right at the Moon now.
052:06:10 Collins: Roger. Understand.
052:08:47 Collins: Apollo 8, Houston. We are going to be changing our antennas in a couple of minutes. You can expect a comm switch-over.
052:08:57 Borman: Thank you.
052:19:22 Anders: Houston, Apollo 8. Over.
052:19:26 Collins: Apollo 8, Houston. Go.
052:19:30 Anders: Roger. The LMP is going to take a little snooze here for a while. I am wondering, can you give me a quick - your view of the system status here before I depart, and, also, give me an idea of when the next cryo stir is due?
052:19:48 Collins: Roger, Bill. Will do; stand by. [Long pause.]
052:20:23 Collins: Apollo 8, Houston.
052:20:27 Anders: Go ahead.
052:20:29 Collins: Roger. Your systems remain unchanged. They are all looking good. You can go ahead and stir up the cryo starting right now.
052:20:38 Anders: Okay. Will do.
This is Apollo Control, Houston. 52 hours, 21 minutes into the flight. ... Very shortly we expect to query the crew on their medical status. We have had some communication regarding the system status. That is reported to be in excellent shape. Dr. Berry, and his people on the medical console are wondering about the water intake and the food intake which seems to be off. We don't understand the sleep cycle, The crew are grabbing naps or better when they can. We don't have a very good plot of just how much sleep each man has had. So he has prepared a list of questions which I think will be relayed to the crew within the hour. I believe that brings us up to date. ...
052:25:19 Collins: Apollo 8, Houston.
052:25:23 Borman: Go ahead, Houston.
052:25:25 Collins: Roger. Before Jim makes his next mark [his last on Antares], could he call up Verb 1 Noun 91? We missed the last trunnion. Over.
052:25:36 Borman: Roger. The last trunnion was 10660.
052:25:41 Collins: 10660. Thank you.
052:26:53 Collins: Apollo 8, Houston.
052:26:59 Borman: Go ahead.
052:27:00 Collins: Roger. Before Bill gets his snooze, we would like him to give us a PRD read-out on all three crewmembers. Over.
052:27:12 Anders: Roger. CDR is 0.06, CMP is 0.64, and LMP is 0.64.
052:27:51 Collins: Roger. Thank you, Bill. [Pause.]
052:28:00 Borman: Looks like I'm the only one that is radioactive.
052:28:02 Collins: Understand. [Long pause.]
052:28:18 Lovell: Okay. Houston, we got three sets [of marks] on 33 [the star Antaries]; we are going now to 34 [the star Atria] lunar far horizon for one set. Don't you agree?
052:28:26 Collins: We agree. Star 34, lunar far horizon, for one set.
052:29:48 Anders: Houston, the cryos have been stirred, and could you also give me a quick rundown on how the SPS line temps are doing?
052:29:58 Collins: Roger, Bill. Understand you stirred the cryos. Last time we checked, the SPS line temps were excellent; they were nice and warm. We will give you another number right now.
052:30:10 Anders: And a PU valve. [Long pause.]
052:31:05 Collins: Apollo 8, Houston.
052:31:10 Anders: Go ahead.
052:31:12 Collins: Roger. On your SPS system, your oxidizer is running 75 degrees (F, 24°C); fuel, 74 degrees (F, 23°C); and PU valve between 78 and 82 (°F, 25.5°C and 28°C) depending on where we measured it. Over.
052:31:27 Anders: Real good. Everything really is working fine, Isn't it?
052:31:30 Collins: Yes, it's really humming along, Bill.
052:31:37 Anders: Okay. See you later.
052:31:39 Collins: Adios.
Okay. Apollo Control, Houston. 52 hours, 33 minutes. We will just shut [the line] down to save wear and tear on the eardrums.
052:37:57 Borman: Houston, Apollo 8.
052:38:01 Collins: Apollo 8, this is Houston.
052:38:05 Borman: I understand you want two sets on [star] number 40 [Altair], lunar near horizon. Is that right?
052:38:08 Collins: That's affirmative. Two sets on number 40, lunar near horizon.
052:42:25 Collins: Apollo 8, Houston.
052:42:30 Borman: Go ahead, Houston.
052:42:32 Collins: Roger. We missed your last trunnion angle, Frank.
052:42:41 Collins: Roger. 21450, and Paul tells me Valerie is over here and wishes Bill a happy nap.
052:42:52 Borman: Okay. Thank you. Tell her that he makes us tired sometimes too, will you?
052:43:13 Collins: Roger. I will deliver a modified version of the message.
052:43:20 Borman: Thank you. [Long pause.]
052:43:58 Collins: Apollo 8, Houston.
052:44:04 Borman: Go ahead, Houston.
052:44:07 Collins: Roger. On star number 40 that you are doing now, the Flight Plan only calls for one set of marks. You called down two sets, and it's really your choice. Only one is required. We are glad to have the data if you do a second set. Over.
052:44:24 Borman: We will only do one then, if you want to. Our Flight Plan has been updated to include two sets. That is why I called it down.
052:44:32 Collins: Roger. One set is - will suffice.
052:47:28 Collins: Apollo 8, Houston. We missed the last trunnion [angle].
052:47:34 Borman: Very well, I will read it to you; 21455.
052:47:39 Collins: 21455. Thank you. Just a matter of interest: it is taking your voice about 1.6 seconds to get down to us.
052:47:51 Borman: I'm a little hoarse, that's why. [Long pause.]
052:48:19 Borman: Okay. Houston, do you want us to go back to the PTC attitude now and start the rotisserie again?
052:48:25 Collins: That is affirmative, Frank. We will have the PTC attitude for you in just a second here. [Long pause.]
052:48:48 Collins: Apollo 8, Houston.
052:48:53 Borman: Go ahead.
052:48:55 Collins: Roger. Those PTC attitudes remain pitch, 224 degrees; yaw, 020 degrees. On the next page, page 2-39 of your Flight Plan, those PTC numbers should be changed to reflect that.
052:49:12 Borman: Pitch 224 and yaw 20.
052:49:15 Collins: That's affirmative.
052:52:23 Collins: Apollo 8, Houston. Over.
052:52:29 Borman: Go ahead, Houston. Apollo 8.
052:52:31 Collins: When you have a few minutes, we would like to hear the detailed crew status report from you.
052:52:40 Borman: Like what?
052:52:42 Collins: Well, like we would like to know, in the last 24 hours, has anybody had any symptoms similar to Frank's. We would also like to know - You know, we told you the other day to take Marezine as you like - we would like to know if anybody had taken any drugs, and then we would like to talk over there about sweet breads and water and such.
052:53:01 Borman: Okay. Nobody has taken any other drugs; nobody took any Marezine; nobody is sick. Bill took one of those pills, a sleep Seconal pill, last night. Everybody had breakfast this morning and ate most of a meal - 1 day 3 - meal a day 3. What else do you want?
052:53:31 Collins: We would like to tell you to drink plenty of water. We think that your water intake may be down. We copied your dosimeter readings. The only other thing is we just were wondering how in general you feel. We show you to have about 15 hours sleep total - Frank or Bill about 10 and Jim about the same, and we were wondering just how you are feeling in general.
052:53:58 Borman: We all feel fine; we are going to fix it now so that we all have one more rest period before the LOI.
052:54:04 Collins: Roger. Thank you. [Pause.]
052:54:11 Lovell: Happiness is bacon squares for breakfast.
052:54:18 Collins: If you don't eat them all, bring them back, and we'll polish them off here. [Long pause.]
052:54:34 Borman: Okay, Houston. Apollo 8 here. I stand corrected, William had one Marezine. He didn't tell me about it; he snuck it.
052:54:40 Collins: Roger. Understand Lovell took the Marezine. Understand.
052:54:43 Borman: That's Bill Anders, and he took one when he took the - with the Lomotil, when the doctors told him to.
052:54:54 Collins: Roger. We copy that. Thank you.
052:56:06 Borman: Okay. We are back on the barbecue attitude, starting PTC.
052:56:10 Collins: Roger, Apollo 8. Thank you. [Pause.]
052:56:21 Borman: Mike, we ran the latest state vector we have through the P21, and it showed the pericynthion at 69.7 miles.
052:56:30 Collins: Yes, we were all having big talks about that down here. It looks like you are giving us a real good comparison on our system. Looking - looking extremely good.
052:56:45 Borman: We've got the navigator,
par excellence.
052:56:50 Collins: I believe. [Long pause.]
052:57:28 Collins: Apollo 8, Houston.
052:57:33 Borman: Go ahead.
052:57:36 Collins: Roger. What was the time you used on that P21?
052:57:42 Borman: 69:10 [GET] there, Mr. Slide Rule.
052:57:46 Collins: Thank you. [Long pause.]
052:58:01 Borman: Mike, I wonder if Buzz wants us to change the time?
052:58:04 Collins: No, that is fine.
052:58:07 Borman: Oh, okay. Thank you.
053:03:07 Borman: Houston, Apollo 8.
053:03:11 Collins: Apollo 8, Houston.
053:03:15 Borman: Roger. Are you going to give us an update for a maneuver PC plus 2 that does not assume a flyby maneuver?
053:03:26 Collins: Roger. Stand by.
This is Apollo Control, Houston. 53 hours, 5 minutes into the flight. The spacecraft is 171,360 odd [nautical] miles [317,358 km] from Earth. Its velocity, in feet per second; 3,356 [1,023 m/s]. We have heard from the crew in the last 20 minute time period, a rather complete medical status. They reported that Bill Anders had taken 1 Marezine. They say they are all feeling all quite well now as opposed to yesterday. They also explained their sleep and rest cycle. As a general reference, the spacecraft is proceeding on sort of a nose-down - in a nose-down attitude. If you consider in your mind's eye, the Earth, Moon and Sun all on a flat plane and along with the spacecraft of course. The spacecraft is proceeding in a nose-down attitude toward an intersection with the Moon and at the same time the spacecraft is rotating about 1 revolution per hour. It has held this attitude for some time and will continue in that attitude. ...
053:08:03 Collins: Apollo 8, Houston.
053:08:12 Lovell: Go ahead, Houston. Apollo 8 here.
053:08:14 Collins: Roger. Here is a rather brief summary of the updates that you will be getting. The one that you have now for PC plus 2 following an LOI minus 8 flyby maneuver is still good. That will not be updated. The next update you will get will be MCC [Mid-Course Correction]-4. After that, you will get two PC plus 2 maneuvers, that assume MCC-4 completed. One will be a minimum Delta-V, and the other will be a fast return. Do you copy?
053:08:50 Lovell: Roger. Understand, and also I take it for MCC-4 you are going to give us a new alignment. Is that correct?
053:08:57 Collins: That is affirmative.
Apollo Control here. ... Our present distance, 171,699 [nautical] miles [317,986 km]. Velocity, in feet per second, 3,349 [1,021 m/s]. An update on the passage into the lunar gravitational field: that event to occur at an [Ground] Elapsed Time of 55 hours, 38 minutes, 46 seconds. The - our present weight of the spacecraft is 62,915 pounds, Earth pounds [28,538 kilograms]. At 53 hours, 16 minutes into the flight, this is Apollo Control, Houston.
053:26:31 Collins: Apollo 8, Houston.
053:26:36 Borman: Go ahead, Houston. Apollo 8.
053:26:38 Collins: Roger, Frank. I've got a lot of talking to do regarding TV cameras and brackets and what not. I would like to start in on it whenever you are ready to talk about it.
053:26:52 Borman: Let me get a piece of paper out.
053:26:54 Collins: Okay. [Pause.]
053:27:06 Borman: Go ahead.
053:27:08 Collins: Okay. First a question. Are you planning to show us TV pictures of the Earth today?
053:27:18 Borman: Well, that is what we wanted to do. It seems that would be the most interesting thing we can show you, but we - you know, we had trouble with the lens.
053:27:25 Collins: Well, okay, that's good. All this procedure that I am going to give to you here is relative to what we hope are fixes to the lens and for looking out your rendezvous window at the Earth, and all the gimbal angles and all that good stuff is based toward looking out the window at the Earth rather than at the Moon. Over.
053:27:50 Collins: Okay. First, unstow the red filter, the polarizing filter, the red and blue filter holder, and some tape. Over.
053:28:07 Borman: Okay. Let me write this down.
053:28:09 Collins: Roger. I'd suggest that. I've got a whole page full. [Long pause.]
053:28:35 Collins: Alright. Tape the red filter to the telephoto lens. That red filter is the 25A red filter, not the one that is in the red and blue filter slider.
053:28:49 Collins: Attach telephoto lens to the camera.
053:28:56 Borman: Okay. We can figure out how to do that. Roger.
053:29:00 Collins: Ensure that the automatic light control, the ALC switch on the camera, is in the In position. Over.
053:29:11 Borman: ALC In. Roger.
053:29:14 Collins: Roger. Attach camera to the adjustable TV bracket and attach the bracket to the TV mounting point on the Commander's side of the hatch to point out rendezvous window number 2.
053:29:43 Collins: Okay. There is a note here that says use dovetail on top of camera, rather than the side dovetail. Use the dovetail on the top of the camera for mounting to bracket and place the locking nut on the bracket down, and down means toward your minus-X direction.
053:30:18 Collins: Okay. They say this step I just got through giving you is somewhat complicated. You might want to get the cameras set up early using the instructions I just gave you. When it's properly...
053:30:31 Borman: We are not reading you.
053:30:34 Collins: Roger. I say again, the instructions that I just gave you should end up having the camera looking out the window and about 30 degrees yawed left from your plus X-axis, so I suggest you get the camera set up that way early; and if there are any problems, come back to us; we will talk them over. These mounting instructions are sort of complicated.
053:31:03 Collins: Okay. The next step: dim the interior lights. Over.
053:31:12 Borman: Dim interior lights.
053:31:14 Collins: Roger. Next, stop Passive Thermal Control at gimbal angles pitch 224, yaw 020, roll 270. Over.
053:31:36 Borman: Pitch 224, yaw 020, roll 270.
053:31:41 Collins: Roger. Next, acquire on High Gain Antenna, switch to Auto Track, Narrow Beam upon acquisition. Over.
053:32:02 Borman: Got it.
053:32:04 Collins: Okay. Yaw spacecraft left to get good view of Earth in your rendezvous window number 2. You may have to pitch slightly as well, but primarily a left yawing maneuver to get a good view of the Earth.
053:32:20 Borman: Got it.
053:32:22 Collins: This maneuver is going to put you very close to your scan limits for the High Gain Antenna, so while you are making the maneuver, check your lights. If your scan limit light comes on, you still have got 15 degrees to play with. But the only message is, should you break lock, then you are going to have to go back and reacquire and do that maneuver over again, because you are going to be very close to the edge of your High Gain Antenna capability.
053:32:52 Borman: Thank you.
053:32:54 Collins: And then finally, now that you have got the spacecraft over there, aim the camera as required to include the Earth in the field of view, and do not touch the body of the lens while televising. Apparently, if you put your hands on the lens itself, it causes electrical interference. Over.
053:33:26 Borman: Okay. Aim camera and do not touch lens while televising.
053:33:30 Collins: Right. And in all this stuff in all these pictures using the ALC, it is important that you let the camera stabilize for at least 10 or 20 seconds, to let the ALC do its thing.
053:33:58 Borman: Stabilize for 10 to 20 seconds. Thank you.
053:34:01 Collins: Right. Now we have some additional instructions in case this does not work. They say a full 20, Frank, on that ALC. It requires a full 20 seconds undisturbed for the ALC to properly do its thing. Now if these procedures that I've given you do not work, then we will be giving you some more, and they have to do with other filters and various combinations thereof. So I'd have the polarizing filter and the red and blue filter holder at hand because we will be attempting to use those in addition to the red filters if this procedure doesn't work.
053:34:43 Borman: All very well, Mike.
053:34:46 Collins: That's all we have right now. We will have a few more remarks on the TV coming up to you later. I would suggest that you get set up for this early, and if you have any questions on it, shoot them down to us. We have a bunch of experts down here to help out.
053:35:03 Borman: Thank you; will do.
This is Apollo Control, Houston at 53 hours, 34 minutes into the flight. Mike Collins is passing on a procedure to the crew, involving the use of that telephoto lens which we couldn't get to work yesterday. It will certainly be of interest to the broadcast media and hopefully, an interest to a lot of other people too. ...
054:06:18 Collins: Apollo 8, this is Houston. Over.
054:06:23 Borman: Go ahead, Houston. Apollo 8.
054:06:25 Collins: Roger. Just a voice check, Frank.
054:06:30 Borman: Roger. You're loud and clear.
054:06:32 Collins: Thank you.
054:18:50 Collins: Apollo 8, Houston.
054:18:55 Borman: Go ahead, Houston. Apollo 8.
054:18:57 Collins: Roger. We would like some high bit rate data when you can get it locked up on the High Gain. We haven't had any of that for a while.
054:19:06 Borman: Roger. We will do that.
054:19:09 Collins: Thank you. How is that camera bracket thing working out?
054:19:13 Borman: We are doing it right now. [Long pause.]
054:19:53 Borman: Houston, this is Apollo 8 transmitting to you on the High Gain. How do you read?
054:19:57 Collins: Read you loud and clear, Frank. Thank you. [Pause.]
054:20:08 Borman: Apollo 8 transmitting on the High Gain Antenna.
054:20:11 Collins: Apollo 8, Houston. You are loud and clear. Thank you for the High Gain.
This is Apollo Control, Houston back. During the television pass this afternoon, we don't know exactly what the crew is going to do, but you know from the earlier discussion that they are going to work with the telephoto lenses again with a filter application which we hope will enhance the image of the Earth and it is also entirely possible they will swing it around - swing that camera around and take a picture of the Moon. If we are successful we should see approximately about a quarter Moon - the eastern limb of the Moon - and in what detail, it is impossible for us to estimate. But those are the general plans to take a long look of the Earth and hopefully a quick look at the Moon. They will be about 45,000 [nautical] miles [83,000 km] away from the Moon at that time. They are presently 174,000 [nautical] miles [322,000 km] from Earth. They are moving at a velocity of 3,300 feet per second [1,000 metres/second]. This is Apollo Control, Houston.
054:32:59 Borman: Houston, this is Apollo 8. Are you getting high bit rate all right?
054:33:08 Collins: That is affirmative, Apollo 8. We are getting a good high bit rate.
054:33:14 Borman: Thank you. [Long pause.]
054:33:36 Collins: Apollo 8, Houston.
054:33:40 Borman: Go ahead.
054:33:42 Collins: Roger. I've got some more talking to do about the TV any time it's convenient for you.
054:33:48 Borman: Go ahead.
054:33:50 Collins: Okay. First thing, we've made no provisions in these instructions for taking pictures of the Moon. If you get some Moon shots after it's all over by looking out a different window or by making some small maneuver, of course, we would be happy to have them, but the show as scheduled is just out the window at the Earth only. Over.
054:34:17 Collins: The second point is, of course, when you stop your Passive Thermal Control, you are about 90 degrees to the Earth line, so when you make that yaw left, you are going to have to yaw left until your middle gimbal angle is in the vicinity of 60 degrees. You will get the additional 30 degrees by offset between where the camera is pointed and your plus-X axis. But the two together are going to total up around 90. We just wanted to make sure that you understood you were going to be working with a large middle gimbal angle. Over.
054:34:52 Borman: Roger. We understand that. We also are looking at the Earth right now, and there is a spectacular long thin band of clouds. Looks like it may be a jet stream. It's absolutely spectacular - going almost all the way - or halfway around the Earth.
054:35:12 Collins: Roger. Well, you might want to repeat that during the TV narrative, and we would like you, if possible, to go into as much of a detailed description as you poets can on the various colors and sizes of those things and how the Earth appears to you, in as much detail as you can possibly muster. Over.
054:35:36 Borman: Roger. I figure we will have to do that because I bet you - I won't bet - but I bet the TV doesn't work.
054:35:44 Collins: Well, we won't take that bet, but anyway, we are standing by for a nice, lurid description, and we would suggest that you talk a little bit slower than you did yesterday. Over.
054:35:58 Collins: And the only other thing on this TV is that the experts tell us that - do not point - with the wide angle lens on the camera, do not point at either the Earth or the Moon. It comes close to damaging [the] interior of the instrument due to the fact that it's too bright. Over.
054:36:18 Borman: Understand.
054:36:20 Collins: Thank you.
This is Apollo Control, Houston at 54 hours, 35 minutes into the flight. We have established contact and Frank Borman says, among other things, that they have a spectacular view of the Earth. He goes into some little detail regarding a jet stream that they are observing. Mike Collins tells him he hopes that will hold up for at least another hour so we can all see it on television. ...
054:41:23 Anders: Houston, Apollo 8. We're going to have to switch to an Omni.
054:41:28 Collins: Roger, Apollo 8.
054:52:57 Collins: Apollo 8, Houston. Over.
054:53:03 Borman: Go ahead, Houston. Apollo 8.
054:53:05 Collins: Roger. Just checking the voice comm, Frank.
054:53:09 Borman: Thank you.
This is Apollo Control, Houston. 54 hours, 50 -- almost 54 minutes into the flight and the spacecraft presently 174,800 nautical miles [323,700 km] from the Earth. A word or two here on a change in our charts and a change in our reporting procedure which will come up following the passage of what we call MSI or Moon Sphere of Influence. That event to take place in about a half an hour from now. We've been reading - the reporting we have given you on distance and velocity is coming from a chart called the Command Service Module Space Digitals and it presently uses, as a reference, the Earth. Now at some point shortly after we pass the - pass into the sphere of influence of the Moon, the reference will become the Moon and we will have rather sharp and dramatic change of the velocity reference. For instance, the velocity at - precisely at the passage in relative to Earth terms will be 3,261 feet per second [994 m/s]. Relative to the Moon, that same velocity reading will be 3,989 feet per second [1,216 m/s]. And from that point we will be giving you velocities in relation to the Moon, which will be exercising the gravitational effect at that point. Our present estimate is that at MSI, the Moon's sphere of influence point, the Moon will be 33,821 [nautical] miles [62,636 km] from the spacecraft and the spacecraft will be 176,275 [nautical] miles [326,461 km] from Earth. Both of those are nautical miles. In the last 10 to 15 minutes the crew has put in one call simply to establish communications. We have had nothing more than a 'Roger, we read you loud and clear.' And at 54 hours, 56 minutes into the flight; this is Apollo Control, Houston.
054:57:39 Collins: Apollo 8, Houston.
054:57:44 Borman: Go ahead, Houston.
054:57:46 Collins: Roger. We'll be switching antennas from Madrid to Goldstone in another 3 minutes. You can expect a glitch on your comm.
054:57:56 Borman: Thank you.
055:02:38 Borman: Houston, how do you read? Apollo 8.
055:02:41 Collins: Apollo 8, Houston. We're reading you loud and clear through Goldstone. Over.
055:02:46 Borman: Okay. We have the television On now, and we're trying to maneuver to the - to the Earth.
055:02:55 Collins: Roger. Understand.
055:04:11 Lovell: Houston, Apollo 8.
055:04:15 Collins: Apollo 8, Houston. Over.
055:04:20 Lovell: Roger. We're maneuvering to position now for the TV. Bill's got it set up in Frank's left rendezvous window, and I'm over in Bill's spot looking out the right rendezvous window, and the Earth is now passing through my window. It's about as big as the end of my thumb.
055:04:45 Collins: About as big as the end of your thumb at arm's length, huh?
055:04:51 Lovell: That's right. I think what we see now is South America down below us.
055:04:55 Collins: Roger. Is the TV camera pointed about 30 degrees yaw left from the plus-X axis?
055:05:05 Lovell: Stand by a moment. We're checking it. We think we've got it in the right position. We're going into position now.
055:05:13 Collins: Okay. [Long pause.]
055:05:33 Anders: Houston, are you getting any sort of a picture? [Long pause.]
055:05:52 Collins: Apollo 8, Houston. Negative; not yet. [Long pause.]
055:06:32 Anders: Okay. Houston, Apollo 8. We should have...
055:07:36 Borman: Hello, Houston; this is Apollo 8. We have the television camera pointed directly at the Earth now and have followed the instructions you gave us.
055:07:45 Collins: Roger, Frank. We're picking something up on our TV. It's not very good so far, but let it sit for a second, and we'll have more instructions for you. [Pause.]
This is Apollo Control, Houston. Frank Borman has come up a little bit earlier - a little earlier than anticipated, but let's buzz this picture out. It is - The bright blob on the upper right is the Earth.
055:08:00 Collins: Okay. It[Earth]'s coming into view now, Frank.
055:08:08 Collins: Yes. We have it in the corner of our screen. You're slightly off on your pointing, but we're getting a darn good look at the corner of it. [Pause.]
055:08:21 Collins: It's moving off, Frank. It's moving off our - 3 o'clock on our TV screen. I have no idea what to tell you about which way to point. [Pause.]
055:08:32 Collins: It's moving further away. We've lost it now. [Long pause.]
055:08:57 Collins: Apollo 8, Houston. Receiving nothing now. Over.
055:09:05 Collins: We're receiving the picture; we're just not seeing the view of the Earth.
055:09:11 Borman: Roger. I got you.
055:09:16 Collins: Okay. We are just picking it up at 3 o'clock on our screen.
055:09:23 Collins: It is moving up toward 1 o'clock and in toward the center; keep it going in that direction.
055:09:31 Collins: It's looking better. You're holding it about 1 to 2 o'clock. Looking better.
Collins (continued): Give us a little more in that same direction. You're down at 3 o'clock now. We see about half of what you see. Too much. It is disappearing at our 5 o'clock. Now it is coming back. It is half off - screen at our 2 o'clock. [Pause.]
055:10:05 Collins: And it's disappeared off to our 3 o'clock. There, it is coming back in now. It is headed toward the center of our screen.
055:10:15 Collins: It is right in the center of our screen. Just hold her - hold her steady. It is really looking good. Okay. We have...
Still frame from the first live TV images of the Earth sent by humans.
055:10:28 Lovell: What you're seeing, Mike, is a - Houston, what you are seeing is the Western Hemisphere. Looking at the top [left in this image] is the North Pole; in the center - just lower to the center is South America - all the way down to Cape Horn. I can see Baja California and the southwestern part of the United States. There's a big, long cloud bank going northeast, covers a lot of the Gulf of Mexico, going up to the eastern part of the United States, and it appears now that the east coast is cloudy. I can see clouds over parts of Mexico; the parts of Central America are clear. And we can also see the white, bright spot of the subsolar point on the light side of the Earth.
055:11:28 Collins: Roger. Could you give us some ideas about the colors, and also, could you try a slight maneuver? It's disappearing. We're seeing about half of it. It's going off to our 12 o'clock. Now it is going off to our 3 o'clock. That is the wrong direction. Yes, that is a good direction. [Pause.]
055:11:50 Collins: We need another small correction to bring it to our center screen. If you could maneuver toward the terminator, that is the part of it we are missing. We are getting the lighted portion. There you go; that's fine. Stop it right there.
055:12:17 Lovell: Okay. For colors, the waters are all sort of a royal blue; clouds, of course, are bright white; the reflection off the Earth is - appears much greater than the Moon. The land areas are generally a brownish - sort of dark brownish to light brown in texture. Many of the vortices of clouds can be seen of the various weather cells, and a long band of - it appears cirrus clouds that extend from the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico going straight out across the Atlantic. The terminator, of course, cuts through the Atlantic Ocean right now, going from north to south. [The] southern hemisphere is almost completely clouded over, and up near the North Pole there is quite a few clouds. Southwestern Texas and southwestern United States is clear. I'd say there are some clouds up in the northwest and over in the northeast portion.
055:13:25 Collins: Roger. Could you maneuver toward the terminator again, please? [Pause.]
055:13:34 Collins: A little bit more. Stop her right there and hold it. [Pause.] It keeps slipping up a little bit; could you maneuver slightly more toward the terminator? [Pause.]
That is the North Pole at the lower left portion of the Earth. At about 8 o'clock.
055:14:02 Borman: How is that, Houston?
055:14:05 Collins: We are getting about half of the Earth, Frank. The top half - our top half which includes the dark portion it - is obscured.
055:14:19 Borman: How is the definition on the picture?
055:14:23 Collins: Looks pretty good.
055:14:28 Lovell: Can you see cloud patterns at all?
055:14:31 Collins: That's affirmative. [Pause.]
055:14:39 Anders: Are you still seeing it, Houston?
055:14:42 Collins: Yes, we are seeing it. We are missing the portion of the Earth that is over toward the terminator. The dark portion of the Earth is what we are not picking up. We are getting about three-quarters or four-fifths of the rest of it.
055:14:56 Anders: Roger. I will move it, and tell me when I am getting better or worse please.
055:15:01 Collins: Good. [Pause.]
055:15:08 Collins: Stop right there. That is worse, Bill. Go back where you were. You made it disappear to our 3 o'clock. Now it's coming back. [Pause.] Okay. Stop right there. Now you are back where you were, and we need a motion that is about 90 degrees to that last one you gave us. [Pause.]
055:15:38 Collins: That is the wrong 90 degrees. 180 degrees away from that one. [Pause.]
055:15:47 Collins: Stop right there. [Pause.] Okay. Now we have lost a different half of it. I need a motion 90 degrees to that last one. [Long pause.]
055:16:24 Collins: That is good right there, Bill. That is good right there. [Pause.]
055:16:42 Collins: Apollo 8, Houston. If you can stick your polarizing filter in front of the camera without disturbing anything else, it might improve the quality slightly.
055:17:02 Anders: Stand by.
055:17:04 Collins: Roger, Bill. [Pause.]
055:17:12 Anders: Okay. The polarizing filter is in front. [Pause.]
055:17:24 Anders: How is it now, Mike?
055:17:28 Collins: It's still looking good. That didn't make much of a change one way or another, but in general, considering how far away, it's looking excellent. [Pause.]
055:17:51 Anders: Well, I hope that everyone enjoys the picture that we are taking of themselves. [Pause.] How far away from Earth now, Jim, about?
055:18:03 Collins: We have you about 180,000 [nautical miles].
055:18:11 Anders: You are looking at yourselves at 180,000 miles out in space. [Pause.]
055:18:22 Lovell: Mike, what I keep imagining is, if I'm a - some lonely traveler from another planet, what I think about the Earth at this altitude, whether I think it'd be inhabited or not.
055:18:31 Collins: Don't see anybody waving; is that what you are saying?
055:18:36 Lovell: I was just kind of curious whether I would land on the blue or the brown part of the Earth.
055:18:44 Anders: You better hope that we land on the blue part.
055:18:48 Collins: So do we, babe.
055:18:49 Anders: Jim is always for land landings.
055:18:55 Collins: Roger. This picture is drifting off center again. If you could make another correction to bring it back. I couldn't tell you which direction, but that - you're going the right way, you're going the right way. A little bit more; a little bit more. Ah, whoa, stop right there. That's the best centering we have had, Apollo 8. If you could just hold that, that's perfect.
055:19:25 Lovell: To give you some idea, Mike, of what we can see: We can - I can pick out the southwest coastline of the Gulf and where Houston should be, and also the mouth of the Mississippi; I can see Baja California and that particular area. I'm using a monocular which we have aboard.
055:19:50 Collins: Rog. Understand.
055:19:55 Lovell: This is an 8-power instrument I have.
055:19:58 Collins: Right. Well, we are seeing the entire Earth now including the terminator. Course we can't see anything past the terminator at all. Are you able with your binoculars to see the dark horizon? Anything past the terminator?
055:20:13 Lovell: Negative. Mike. We can't see anything past the terminator with the binoculars or without them. This Earth is just too bright, and it cuts down the night adaptation to see anything on the dark side.
055:20:31 Collins: Rog. Understand.
055:20:33 Anders: Since this is winter - since this is winter time in the northern hemisphere, we can see all of the South Pole and the southern ice cap, and not too much of the North Pole.
055:20:48 Borman: Hey, you and Jim better get together. Jim just said he saw the North Pole.
055:20:54 Collins: He is looking out a different window.
055:20:57 Borman: That's what makes it different.
055:20:59 Collins: Do you still have the...
055:21:01 Lovell: [Garble] the monocular upside down.
055:21:03 Collins: Do you still have the polarizing filter in front of the camera?
055:21:08 Anders: Negative.
055:21:12 Collins: Try putting it back in front of the camera one more time.
055:21:18 Anders: [Garbled.] Okay?
055:21:25 Collins: And once again, we need a small attitude correction. Our Earth is disappearing up and to the right. Our Earth and your Earth. The wrong way, wrong way. A little bit more. [Pause.] Okay. That's fine if you can hold it right there. Oops! No, it's slipping back off again. [Pause.] Okay. Keep coming a little bit more, a little bit more. Okay. Ninety degrees to that direction; that's the wrong 90, the other way. There we go. A little bit more. Nope, no, wrong way, wrong way; I'm sorry. Keep coming in that direction. [Pause.] No, it is gone up at our 12 o'clock, to that last - There we go, it is coming back down, it's coming back down. Bring it down more. Okay. Stop. Now we need 90 degrees to that direction again.
055:22:54 Anders: I hope that the next camera has a sight on it.
055:22:58 Collins: Rog. [Long pause.]
055:23:11 Anders: How's that?
055:23:13 Collins: Well, that has disappeared, just practically. We were wondering if there was any chance of your looking out one of the other windows and seeing the Moon? Hey, it's coming back in now, Bill. Okay. Hold it right there. That - that - that's fine for the Earth right where you are. That - that's extremely good on the Earth if you can just hold that.
055:23:35 Borman: I don't think we have - It has the polarizing filter in front of it now, Mike.
055:23:43 Collins: Roger. Thank you, and it's centered very well. We get a very slight improvement with this, but in general, it is very good considering the distance.
Our present distance from Earth is 175,803 [nautical miles, 325,587 km] - 175,803.
055:23:57 Collins: How about the Moon, Frank? Is it visible through one of your other windows? Could you get it visible with a small maneuver?
055:24:05 Borman: Negative. I think we will have to save the Moon for another time.
055:24:08 Collins: Roger. I understand.
055:24:26 Collins: You're still very well centered with your picture. We noticed a couple of jumps in the apparent intensity. Did you make some filter changes?
055:24:37 Borman: Roger. We tried to put that other red filter in front of it, but it didn't seem to fit.
055:24:43 Collins: Roger. [Pause.]
055:24:49 Collins: We'd - On a final test when you get down to the end of your allotted time here, we would like you to remove all filters and let us see how it looks with all filters removed, and then we would like to get several spotmeter readings at the very end after the test.
055:25:13 Borman: Okay. We will be removing the red filter now.
055:25:15 Collins: Roger. [Long pause.]
055:25:50 Borman: Do you still have us, Mike? The lens [means filter] is off now.
055:25:53 Collins: Roger. We have it, and if you could maneuver it toward the terminator slightly, we - you would again center our picture. [Long pause.]
The spacecraft is almost directly over dead center South America. This picture is being received simultaneously through our antenna at Madrid and at Goldstone, California.
055:26:11 Borman: Okay. Stand by. [Pause.] How's that? Is that the right direction?
055:26:21 Collins: That's the right direction. Keep coming. [Long pause.] Now that's the wrong direction, Frank. Did you...
055:26:44 Borman: How is it now, Houston?
055:26:46 Collins: Well, negative. I need another maneuver toward the terminator. [Pause.] It's drifting off the screen to our 11 o'clock. We appear to need a maneuver toward the terminator, Frank.
055:27:08 Borman: Thank you. [Pause.]
055:27:17 Collins: No, that is apparently the wrong way, Frank. We are starting to lose the picture. There you go. That's the correct way. [Pause.]
055:27:35 Borman: Okay, Houston. How's that for today?
055:27:39 Collins: That's just fine, Frank. That's great. We would like to, at the conclusion here, take three spotmeter readings. You can do that at any time at your convenience. We'd just like to get some after-the-fact readings on the Earth's intensity.
055:27:55 Borman: Roger. Jim has got the spotmeter on now.
055:27:57 Collins: Thank you.
055:27:58 Borman: Is it centered now, Houston?
055:28:00 Collins: Not quite, Frank. [Pause.]
055:28:08 Collins: That's good right there. Hold that right there. That's good. That's perfect. [Pause.]
055:28:24 Borman: Okay, Earth. This is Apollo 8 signing off for today.
055:28:29 Collins: Good show, Apollo 8. We appreciate it. See you mañana.
055:28:34 Borman: Roger. [Long pause.]
055:28:55 Collins: We have Haney down here following your trajectory, so all is well. He says you're 10 minutes from the Moon's sphere of influence.
055:29:04 Borman: Okay. Good.
This is Apollo Control, Houston. We think that wraps up our television viewing for the day. The picture started - I have to go back and get a hack on it - I would estimate about 5 minutes off 2 [o'clock]. Stand by and we will get an exact start time. We had not anticipated the starting of the pass until about 5 or 6 minutes after the hour. The crew moved in on us a little early as they did yesterday. I guess we should have anticipated it, when we began receiving a signal through Goldstone. Stand by one. We have had word from our station on Goldstone that they suspect that their reception may be even sharper than what we were receiving back here in Houston. We are going to get an early relay on that. We are still awaiting here a start time. Our assistant is trying to get it for us. Well, we go with the estimate of 1:58 pm CST and the signal went off at approximately 2:20 pm CST. Both of them are - The spacecraft now 176,000 [nautical] miles [326,000 km] from Earth. Its velocity, in relation to the Earth, is 3,265 feet per second [995 m/s]. This is Apollo Control, Houston.
AS08-16-2607 - Earth at approximately 326,000 km (based on photo analysis) taken using the 80-mm lens. South is to the right and South America is dominant. North America is to the left.
AS08-16-2608 - Earth at approximately 326,000 km (based on photo analysis) taken using the 250-mm lens. South is to the right and South America is dominant. North America is to the left.
AS08-16-2609 - Earth at approximately 326,000 km (based on photo analysis) taken using the 250-mm lens. South is to the right and South America is dominant. North America is to the left.
055:33:28 Borman: Houston, Apollo 8. Returning to the PTC mode.
055:33:34 Collins: Apollo 8, Houston. Understand; returning to PTC. Thank you.
055:33:41 Borman: Roger. [Long pause.]
055:33:54 Collins: You can tell Jim he is getting pretty ham-handed with that P21; he got a perilune altitude three-tenths of a mile off what we are predicting down here.
055:34:08 Borman: Is that right?
055:34:09 Collins: Roger. Apparently, he got 69.7 [nautical miles], and the RTCC [Real Time Computer Complex] says 70.
055:34:18 Borman: Are we going to leave it at that, or are we going to correct it to make it lower?
055:34:24 Collins: We are talking about it, Frank. [Long pause.]
055:34:50 Borman: We have got a lumen reading [of the Earth] of about between 1 and 1.25 thousand - 1.25 K.
055:35:01 Collins: Roger. Understand; between 1 and 1.25 K. Thank you. [Long pause.]
055:35:31 Lovell: Houston, Apollo 8.
055:35:35 Collins: Apollo 8, Houston.
055:35:40 Lovell: Roger. If you put your CM TLM to Accept, we will send you our state vector.
055:35:47 Collins: Touché.
This is Apollo Control, Houston at 55 hours, 38 minutes into the flight and we have been asked for a reaction here in the Control Center during that television passage. I think the remark from Lovell that got the most reaction was in his description of the blue and brown Earth and not being sure of whether he would land on it. This triggered a tremendous spike of laughter, the likes of which I can't recall, which immediately settled down to business. And in general, the room the - there was just zero talking going on in the room at the time, except for what we all heard from Mike Collins. In an exchange which the crew - And as we have been talking, the Apollo 8 has passed the - into the Moon's Sphere of Influence; and quite literally this is a historic landmark in space flight because, for the first time, a crew is literally out of this world. They are under the influence of another celestial body, the Moon, from which the Earth - 33,820 straight line nautical miles. We indicated earlier our space digital chart, at some point - not yet completely clear - will switch over and start giving us Moon-related values. That switch just took place and we immediately have configured. Velocity is now 3,989 feet per second in relation to the Moon and the last value, in relation to the Earth, was 3,261 feet per second in relation to the Earth. We'll see this number go down off the Moon related figure over the coming period. ...Apollo 8 ... now presently 33,681 [nautical] miles [62,377 km] from the Moon and moving in a Moon related velocity [of] 3,989 feet per second [1,216 m/s]. At 55 hours, 42 minutes into the mission, this is Apollo Control, Houston.
055:45:03 Borman: Houston, Apollo 8.
055:45:06 Collins: Apollo 8, Houston.
055:45:10 Borman: How does everything look, Mike, all our systems and everything? See any switches out of place?
055:45:16 Collins: Negative. I'll take a check around here, but it is looking good. Just a second.
055:45:23 Borman: We are over in the cabin, Mike, like monkeys, and I wanted to make sure we didn't hit anything. [Long pause.]
055:45:51 Collins: Apollo 8, Houston. Everything is looking good down here. All switches and systems are Go.
055:46:00 Borman: Thank you.
055:50:25 Borman: Houston, Apollo 8. How are you reading on Omni D?
055:50:28 Collins: We are reading you loud and clear, Frank.
055:50:32 Borman: Okay. We are reading you like that, also. Thank you.
055:50:38 Collins: We are having a playback of your TV shows and are all enjoying it down here. It was better than yesterday because it didn't preempt the football game.
055:50:57 Borman: Thank you. Don't tell me they cut off a football game; didn't they learn from Heidi?
055:51:10 Collins: Well, you and Heidi are running neck and neck in the telephone call department.
Apollo Control, Houston here. 56 hours, 3 minutes into the flight and in the last 15 to 20 minutes, we have had a most interesting discussion with the crew. Like getting Frank Borman's reactions primarily to the television pass. He was advised by Mike Collins that fortunately today, those spectacular views of the Earth had no competition - had no football games to compete with and Borman allows as how he hopes a football game wasn't stopped to see the view from space. That pretty well sums up Frank Borman's extraordinary interest in the game of football. ...