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Day 3: Lunar Encounter Journal Home Page Day 4: Lunar Orbit 2

Apollo 8

Day 4: Lunar Orbit 1

Corrected Transcript and Commentary Copyright © 2003-2021 by W. David Woods and Frank O'Brien. All rights reserved.
Last updated 2021-02-27
Apollo 8 has reached another historic milestone in its voyage as its crew of Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders become the first humans to be captured by an gravitational field other than Earth's. Having passed behind the Moon, they fired the spacecraft's large engine for a little over four minutes, slowing them down enough to stay in lunar orbit. The manoeuvre complete, they have just reappeared to the antennae of Earth and a highly relieved Mission Control are talking to them and looking at the telemetry that the spacecraft is sending down.
This is Apollo Control, Houston. We have a crew report of an orbit of 60.5 nautical miles by 169 nautical miles [112 by 313 kilometres]. Standing by, continuing to monitor. This is Apollo Control.
069:34:14 Borman (onboard): Are we on the High Gain, Jim? Bill?
069:34:18 Anders (onboard): Give me a Verb 64, Frank.
Verb 64 is called up on the DSKY (Display and Keyboard) which brings up a routine to operate their High Gain Antenna and properly acquire a link with Earth.
069:34:20 Borman (onboard): What are you doing here? Let's get rid of that.
069:34:26 Lovell (onboard): Houston, Apollo 8.
069:34:28 Borman (onboard): Verb 64.
069:34:30 Borman (onboard): I don't think we...
069:34:32 Lovell (onboard): Roger. You are coming in very weak. Our orbit is 169 by 60.5.
069:34:38 Borman (onboard): Give them the whole [burn] report there, Jim.
069:34:42 Lovell (onboard): I think I'm talking to myself.
Jim doesn't think that Houston is reading them yet.
069:34:44 Borman (onboard): Why don't you get a Roger for the [DSE] dump we sent then?
069:34:49 Anders (onboard): Okay, that's - Let me go into High Gain.
069:35:24 Carr: Apollo 8, this is Houston. Verify your evaporator water control [is] in Automatic. Over. [Long pause.]
Environmental Control System experts in the back room at Mission Control are noticing that the cooling radiator temperatures are higher than normal. Normally, this would cause a water evaporator system to come online, and provide additional cooling by the sublimation of water. Houston suspects that the system has either "dried out", or is manual mode. Normally, the system is in Automatic mode, and support crews need to confirm this.
069:35:31 Borman (onboard): Can you get them, Bill?
069:35:32 Anders (onboard): We got them.
069:35:35 Borman (onboard): Houston, Apollo 8. How do you read? How do you read Apollo 8, Houston?
069:35:37 Anders (onboard): They've got a ground problem.
069:35:43 Lovell (onboard): You taking that at one frame per second?
A 16-mm movie camera is aimed, we believe, out the left-hand rendezvous window. The Flight Plan calls for a frame rate of one frame per second. When replayed on Earth usually at the standard 24 frames-per-second, the effect will be to apparently speed up the motion across the lunar surface. One reason for the slow rate is to maximise the capture of photographic data with the minimum expenditure of scarce film.
069:35:46 Anders (onboard): Yes, that's what it says to.
069:35:49 Borman (onboard): Houston, Apollo 8.
069:35:51 Borman (onboard): I hear - They're reading us now.
069:35:56 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Over. [No answer.]
069:35:57 Lovell (onboard): There we go. Houston, Apollo 8. Over.
069:36:08 Borman (onboard): Are we hooked on with the High Gain?
069:36:10 Lovell (onboard): Yes, sir.
069:36:09 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Over. [No answer.]
069:36:14 Lovell (onboard): They came through at one time, didn't they?
069:36:16 Borman (onboard): Yes.
069:36:24 Carr: Apollo 8. Apollo 8. This is Houston, Houston. Over.
069:36:30 Lovell (onboard): Okay.
069:36:32 Borman: Roger, Houston. We read you loud and clear. How do you read us?
069:36:35 Carr: Apollo 8, This is Houston. Reading you loud and clear now. And verify your evaporator water control panel switch to the Auto position. Over. [Long pause.]
069:36:48 Lovell (onboard): Is it?
069:36:49 Borman (onboard): It is in Auto.
069:36:50 Lovell (onboard): Roger...
069:36:51 Borman: Roger. I am sure it is in Auto.
069:36:53 Borman (onboard): Go ahead, Jim, with it.
069:36:54 Carr: Roger.
069:36:58 Borman (onboard): Well, look here - this DSKY is way up.
Though the transcript mentions the DSKY, this may be a reference to one of the meters on panel 2 that monitors the spacecraft's cooling systems.
Close-up photo of dual gauges from Panel 2 of the Main Display Console in the Apollo 13 Command Module Odyssey.
As will become apparent, the evaporator is prone to drying out. At this time of high activity in the spacecraft, many systems have been powered up for the LOI burn and the evaporator ought to be helping to remove the extra heat generated. If it has dried out, we would expect the temperatures at its outlet to rise. Bill will have to service the evaporator to restore its function.
069:37:00 Lovell: Burn status report as follows: Burn on time. Burn time 4 minutes, 6½ seconds; VGX, minus 1.4; attitude's nominal, no trim, VGY was zero, VGZ was plus 0.2, Delta-VC was minus 20.2, orbit 169.1 by 60.5.
069:37:45 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Roger. The burn on time. Burn time of 4:06.5. VGX is minus 1.4. [Long pause.]
069:38:05 Borman (onboard): Bill, how come this is so high here now?
069:38:08 Anders (onboard): [Garble.]
069:38:10 Borman (onboard): Huh?
069:38:12 Anders (onboard): I'm checking the fan out.
069:38:13 Borman (onboard): Is it alright?
069:38:14 Anders (onboard): I'll let you know.
069:38:19 Carr: Apollo 8. Houston. Verify your Evap. water control on panel 382 is Auto. Your Evap. Out temperature is high. Over.
On the left-hand side of the spacecraft is a blank panel that covers panel 382. Behind that are controls for the ECS (Environmental Control System).
Drawing of Panel 382 of the Environmental Control System.
The two controls near the bottom are those for the evaporators.
069:38:33 Anders: Roger. Standing by. [Pause.]
068:38:40 Anders: Houston. Apollo 8. Roger. Primary Evap. is Auto. H2 flow Auto. Do you recommend activating the secondary water boiler?
069:38:51 Carr: Roger. Copy. Stand by. [Long pause.]
This is Apollo Control Houston. The conversation taking place is with Bill Anders aboard the spacecraft.
069:38:57 Borman (onboard): Now, Jim, let's get this problem squared away here, or we won't be going anywhere.
069:39:03 Borman (onboard): We're not boiling, Ji - Bill?
The crew tend to refer to the evaporators as 'boilers' because that is essentially what they do. Readers should be aware that this does not mean they operate at 100°C. The vacuum in which they operate means that the water boils at a low temperature, cold enough to form ice. This was a worry in the Command Module evaporators because if the water supply were to ice up, it could crack the pipes within the ECS unit and breach the spacecraft's pressure integrity.
069:39:04 Anders (onboard): No.
069:39:10 Carr: Apollo 8, this is Houston. Re-verify manual valve on panel 382, Evaporator water control, Automatic. Over.
069:39:22 Anders: Roger. Verified. [Long pause.]
069:39:25 Lovell (onboard): Any help down here?
069:39:26 Anders (onboard): Well, you might reverify it again. It's the one next to the secondary one that you had turned on.
069:39:32 Lovell (onboard): Okay.
069:39:36 Carr: Apollo 8, this is Houston. Recommend you activate your secondary water evaporator. [Long pause.]
069:39:54 Anders: Secondary Evap. coming online.
Since the primary water evaporator isn't working, Houston is recommending that the secondary cooling system be turned on. This will certainly take care of their immediate cooling problems, but the long term solution is to get the primary evaporator working again. The secondary system has it's own evaporator which is entirely automatic.
069:39:56 Carr: Roger. [Long pause.]
Apollo Control, Houston. Ground data closely coincides with that aboard the spacecraft.
069:40:01 Lovell (onboard): Secondary evaporator is in Auto.
069:40:03 Anders (onboard): Primary is the main one.
069:40:05 Lovell (onboard): In Auto.
069:40:07 Borman (onboard): It [the primary evaporator] dried up.
069:40:09 Lovell (onboard): Can you get water to it?
069:40:21 Borman (onboard): How's the secondary one - primary one doing - secondary one doing, Bill?
069:40:25 Anders (onboard): Secondary one is doing great.
069:40:27 Borman (onboard): It's operating?
069:40:40 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Turn off your DSE and we'll go to high bit rate. Over.
069:40:49 Anders: Roger.
069:40:52 Carr: Apollo 8. This is Houston. I'll continue my readback of the burn status report. Copied VGX, zero; VGY, zero; VGZ, 1.2; Delta-V Charlie, minus 20.2. Over. [Pause.]
069:41:15 Anders: Stand by; he's getting the chart out again.
069:41:21 Lovell: Delta-VGZ was 0.2.
069:41:26 Carr: Roger. Understand; 0.2 on VGZ. [Long pause.]
069:41:53 Anders: Houston. This is Apollo 8. We're on malfunction 1 of 6, going through step 1 to step 2. Over.
069:42:02 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Roger. Copy.
069:42:08 Anders: Correction. That's to step 4.
069:42:10 Carr: Roger. Copy. To step 4. [Long pause.]
069:42:41 Anders: Now to step 13.
069:42:44 Carr: Roger. Step 13. [Long pause.]
Apollo Control, Houston. What you are hearing here is checkout procedure of the Environmental Control System. The voice principally from the spacecraft, that of Bill Anders, the systems engineer member of the team aboard.
069:43:14 Anders: Now to step 14.
069:43:18 Carr: Houston, Roger. [Pause.]
069:43:25 Anders: Looks like the boiler dried out somewhere along the line.
Ground crews had noticed the tendency of this evaporator to dry out. Their conclusion, stated during the Flight Readiness Review of 19 November 1968 was that it wasn't a problem because the crew could always reservice the unit.
069:43:28 Carr: Roger, Bill. [Long pause.]
Apollo Control, Houston. Our ground readings on this orbit; 168 nautical miles apolune, perilune of 60.4 nautical miles [311.1 by 111.9 km].
This determination of their orbit made by analysis of their range and Doppler effect as measured by the Earth stations agrees very closely with the on-board solution.
069:44:01 Borman: Houston, this is Apollo 8. I'd like to confirm that burn status report. VGX was minus 1.4. VGY, zero. VGZ, 0.2, minus .2 that is. Delta-VC was minus 20.2.
069:44:26 Carr: Apollo 8.
069:44:27 Borman: Apogee, 169.1; perigee, 60.5.
069:44:36 Carr: Apollo 8. This is Houston. Roger. I'll read back again. The burn was on time, 4 minutes and 6½ seconds; VGX, minus 1.4; trim nominal; VGY, 0; VGZ, minus 0.2; Delta-V Charlie, minus 20.2. Over.
069:45:05 Borman: That's Roger.
069:45:06 Carr: Roger. We copy your apogee and perigee. [Long pause.]
069:45:24 Anders: Steam pressure's coming up.
Bill is looking at the pressure generated by the water evaporation process. Technically, it is correct to say that the water vapor created is "steam", but this is not the hot, 100 degree C we think of when we say steam. Rather, it is cold water vapor, under very slight pressure (under 0.2 psi).
069:45:27 Carr: Roger, Bill. [Long pause.]
This is Apollo Control, Houston. So you've had the first status report from an Apollo crew in lunar orbit. The unmanned Lunar Orbiter spacecraft traversed the Moon, perhaps 10,000 times but this is the first man aboard, in this case Frank Borman, reported to his compatriots here on Earth.
069:46:37 Anders: Step 15.
069:46:39 Carr: Roger. Concur.
069:46:41 Anders: Very good. [Long pause.]
At times when the crew are not talking directly to Earth, their onboard conversation can be heard breaking through onto the comm circuit. Though highly distorted, occasional words can sometimes be discerned, Bill's reply here being an example.
069:46:58 Anders: Evap. Temps coming down.
069:47:04 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Roger. We concur. [Long pause.]
069:47:20 Anders: Okay. Houston, keep a good eye on it.
069:47:23 Carr: Roger, we're watching.
069:47:28 Anders: Okay. Nice job on the malfunction procedures.
069:47:32 Carr: Roger, Bill. Thanks. [Pause.]
069:47:39 Anders: You, too.
Comm break.
069:49:02 Anders: Give us a call when you think we ought to stop the secondary boiler, Houston.
069:49:06 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Wilco. [Long pause.]
069:49:40 Lovell: Houston, Apollo 8.
069:49:41 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Go.
069:49:47 Lovell: Roger. For information, we're passing over just to the side of the crater Langrenus at this time, going into the Sea of Fertility.
069:49:57 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Roger.
Comm break.
As you heard, Apollo 8 approaching the Sea of Fertility.
Langrenus is a striking, large crater on the southeastern shore of Mare Fecunditatis (Sea of Fertility).
Crater Langrenus, as imaged from Earth by David Woods.
Crater Langrenus, as imaged from Earth by David Woods.
This photo, taken by the author (Woods), shows Langrenus with the Sun shining from the west. This low lighting shows the complex topography of the crater. Being sited near the eastern limb of the Moon, for Apollo 8, the Sun is already quite high over Langrenus, making its topography more difficult to distinguish. It is 132 kilometres in diameter, has a collection of central peaks and a complex system of terraces inside its rim, the result of large-scale slumping of its walls soon after its formation. The crater carries the latinised name of Michel Florent van Langren (circa 1600 - 1675), a Flemish mapmaker who pioneered the production of lunar maps.
Apollo Control, Houston. Our first batch of ground tracking data shows agreement in velocity within one foot per second with that of the spacecraft.
069:51:04 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. What does the ole Moon look like from 60 miles? Over. [Pause.]
069:51:16 Lovell: Okay, Houston. The Moon is essentially grey, no color; looks like plaster of Paris or sort of a grayish beach sand. We can see quite a bit of detail. The Sea of Fertility doesn't stand out as well here as it does back on Earth. There's not as much contrast between that and the surrounding craters. [Pause.] The craters are all rounded off. There's quite a few of them, some of them are newer. Many of them look like - especially the round ones - look like hit by meteorites or projectiles of some sort. [Pause.] Langrenus is quite a huge crater; it's got a central cone to it. [Long pause.] The walls of the crater are terraced, about six or seven different terraces on the way down. [Long pause.]
Jim's impressions of what he sees have been replayed many times on documentary films of the Apollo program, especially his first sentence. Though his words are honest, they predate NASA's emphasis on science and geology that led to later commanders, Jim included, becoming accomplished field geologists themselves and enthusiasts of what the Moon's landscape has to offer. Perhaps as a consequence, his portrayal of the lunar surface as grey and colourless set a tone for the public's subsequent perception of the Moon as uninteresting.
069:52:35 Carr: Roger. Understand.
069:52:40 Lovell: And coming up now (in) the Sea of Fertility are the old friends Messier and Pickering that I looked about so much on Earth.
Crater Pickering has since been renamed Messier A. It and Messier are a distinctive pair of craters in the middle of Mare Fecunditatis. Both are elongated with their long axis roughly aligned. A striking pair of rays splay across the mare surface to the west while fainter rays are cast north and south at right angles to these. The curious geometry of this pair have led to a range of formation scenarios, the most popular of which invokes a bouncing impactor. This holds that an object hit at an extremely shallow angle, travelling east to west. It gouged out Messier, flew a further 25 kilometres before forming Messier A. The craters are named after Charles Messier (1730-1817) who was a prolific discoverer of comets. To aid his work, he compiled a catalogue of fuzzy celestial objects for which he is now far better known.
069:52:49 Carr: Roger.
069:52:50 Lovell: And I can see the rays coming out of blaze [?] Pickering. We're coming up now near our P-1 initial site which I'm going to try and see. Be advised the round window, the hatch window, is completely iced over; we cannot use it. Bill and I are sharing the rendezvous window. [Long pause.]
The hatch window is not literally iced over. Rather, an outgassing of fumes from the sealant materials around the large windows is fogging them up.
One of the tasks assigned to Apollo 8 is to take a close look at one of the favoured sites for a future Apollo landing. Apollo site selection was, by this time, constraining the number of suitable sites to just five, two of which were smooth areas to the east of the Moon's near side. The easternmost site, east of the crater Maskelyne and near the southern shore of Mare Tranquillitatis, is the prime target for Apollo 8 even to the extent that the time of launch from Earth was chosen so that the lighting at the site would be similar to that expected on a real landing mission.
The second site in Mare Tranquillitatis was originally selected to be 12° further west from P-1, this being the distance the Moon's terminator moves in an Earth-day. Then, if the launch of a landing mission had to be postponed for a day, the lighting conditions would be repeated further west. In seven months, Apollo 11 would land at this second, more westerly site.
069:53:15 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Roger. Got any more information on those rays? Over.
069:53:24 Lovell: Roger. The rays out of Pickering are quite faint from here; there are two different groups coming - going to the left, they don't appear to be - have any depth to them at all, just rays coming out.
069:53:42 Carr: Roger.
069:53:45 Lovell: They look like just changes in the color of the mare. [Long pause.]
The rays coming from the Messier craters, like most rays on the Moon, are caused by shock-fractured rock being sprayed out over the mare. The fracturing exposes crystalline surfaces that catch the sunlight. Lovell seems to have been looking out for the rays adding a hummocky topography to the mare surface. Instead, he observes that they add only a thin veneer.
069:54:08 Carr: Bill, if you can tear yourself away from that window, we'd like you to turn off the secondary evaporator. Over.
Coolant temperatures have now lowered to a point where the backup radiators are no longer needed.
069:54:16 Anders: Roger. Going Off. [Long pause.]
069:54:45 Carr: Apollo 8, this is Houston. You can leave that secondary pump on for just a few minutes. Over.
069:54:54 Borman: Stand...
069:54:54 Anders: Roger. Remind us. [Long pause.]
069:55:28 Lovell: Okay over to my right are the Pyrenees Mountains coming up and we're just about over Messier and Pickering [Messier A] right now. Our first initial point is easily seen from our altitude. We're getting quite a bit of contrast as we appear - as we approach the terminator. [Pause.] The view appears to be good, no reflection of the Sun back to our eyes; it appears that visibility at this particular spot is excellent. It's very easy to pick out our first initial point; and over this mountain chain we can see the second initial point, the Triangular Mountain. [Pause.]
Jim is looking towards the southern side of their current ground track, and as they pass across the centre of Mare Fecunditatis, he can see the mountain range that borders the eastern shore of Mare Nectaris.
The approaches to the landing sites included a couple of recognisable points the crews could use to check the timings of a landing trajectory. Jim has just called the second one of these the Triangular Mountain but later in the mission, he will label it Mount Marilyn after his wife. Though not official, it is a name that is likely to stick, especially having been included in the storyline of the 1995 movie Apollo 13.
069:56:33 Anders: Now we're coming upon the craters Colombo and Gutenberg. Very good detail visible. We can see the long parallel faults or grabens. [Pause.] And they run through the mare material right into the highland material. [Long pause.]
The principal speaker that you've heard during most of this discourse has been Jim Lovell but that last voice was that of Bill Anders.
The Mission Report includes a list of all the Target of Opportunity Bill has been tasked to photograph if possible.
SW Mare Fecunditatis, composited from AS08-13-2215 to AS08-13-2227
SW Mare Fecunditatis, composited from AS08-13-2215 to AS08-13-2227.
Target of Opportunity 72 is a cluster of craters east of the crater Colombo, or to its left in this photograph composited from AS08-13-2215 to 2227 using low-resolution index scans. Colombo and Gutenberg are two large craters between Mare Fecunditatis and Montes Pyrenaeus. Also of note in this area is Goclenius. Gaudibert is beyond these three. Note that perspective effects mean that the top and bottom of this pan will have large geometric distortions. The target is the cluster of craters beyond and including Crozier. These craters all have a similar size yet have different floor morphologies. To the right of Crozier is one of only a handful of "doughnut craters" on the Moon. It is far from clear how these unusual crater-within-a-crater features formed. They all have a similar shape and size and both the outer and inner crater seem to have been formed together.
AS08-13-2225 - Crater Goclenius and the rille system in SW Mare Fecunditatis
AS08-13-2225 - Crater Goclenius and the rille system in SW Mare Fecunditatis.
This image, AS08-13-2225, is part of the sequence in the earlier composite image. Note the impressive rille system can be seen within Goclenius. There are many of these large 'fractured floor' craters on the Moon but Goclenius stands out because it also straddles a set of graben-type rilles that border Mare Fecunditatis. By the fact that at least one of these rilles is superimposed on the crater floor, rim and surrounding mare shows how relative ages can be determined from this photograph. The crater itself is the earliest feature here followed by the smooth mare surface that surrounds it and laps against its exterior wall. The interior of Goclenius and the rilles that cross its surface probably also formed around this time. Finally, the immense weight of the dense basalts of Mare Fecunditatis caused the centre of the mare to sink. This stretched the landscape at the shore, forming the large arcuate grabens that now cut across Goclenius.
Goclenius is the latinised name of Rudolf Gockel (1572-1621), a German scientist. The crater, Colombo is named after the seafarer, Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) who discovered America in 1492. Johann Gutenburg (1398-1468) was the German inventor of movable type and the printing press, and Francis Crozier (1796-1848) was a polar explorer.
069:57:41 Lovell: We're directly over our first initial point now for B-1. It's almost impossible to miss, very easy to pick out and we can look right over into the second initial point.
069:57:56 Carr: Roger, Jim. [Pause.]
069:58:04 Lovell: I can see very clearly the five crater star formation which we had on our lunar charts.
069:58:14 Carr: Roger.
069:58:18 Lovell: And right now, I'm trying to pick out visually B-1. [Pause.]
069:58:28 Carr: Roger Jim. Bill, you can turn off the secondary Evap. pump now. [Pause.]
069:58:40 Borman: Houston, this is Apollo 8.
069:58:43 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Go.
069:58:47 Borman: Roger. How about giving us a system status, please?
069:58:51 Carr: Roger. [Long pause.]
069:59:19 Lovell: Okay. I've got B-1 in sight now, Houston.
The reference to B-1 is a landmark, a landmark which relates to a projected landing site.
069:58:30 Carr: Roger, Jim.
069:59:32 Lovell: It's very easy to spot. You can see the entire rims of the craters from here with, of course, the white crescent on the far side were the Sun is shining on it. The shadows are quite lengthy now. Maskelyne B has quite a few shadows off of it, but could be recognized. Just to the west of Maskelyne B, we start going to the terminator. The terminator is actually quite sharp over the Pyrenees, and it's - I can't see anything in Earthshine at this present time. Bill says that he can see things out the side window since he's not looking down on sunshine on the Moon. [Long pause.]
Maskelyne B is a 9.2-km crater about 20 km west of Maskelyne itself. At this time it is virtually on the terminator and since it is about 6° west of Apollo Landing Site 1 (P-1), the landing site is illuminated with a 6° Sun, close to what would be expected on a landing mission.
Apollo Control, Houston. As a matter of interest, spacecraft commander Frank Borman's heart rate has been ranging between 78 and 80 since we acquired.
070:00:50 Carr: Apollo 8, this is Houston. All systems are Go. We're evaluating the strip charts on your SPS burn and we'll give you a read-out on that shortly. Over.
In today's world of real-time computer displays, it is often surprising that data in Apollo was usually recorded with pens drawing traces on long strips of paper. Rather than seeming archaic, this was considered a reasonable way of recording data, which allowed engineers to look at data in real-time and even mark up points of interest, as well as making a permanent record of the data.
070:01:03 Borman: Roger. Thank you. It's seemed smooth. Do you need high bit rate anymore? [Pause.]
070:01:15 Carr: Roger. We'd like high bit rate. We have dumped your DSE, and we'd like to stick with high bit rate for a while.
Ground controllers still want to take a look at the data in more detail.
070:01:26 Borman: Roger. [Long pause.]
070:01:45 Lovell: Well, we're just about over Maskelyne B now, and our target is just directly below us. [Long pause.]
070:02:32 Carr: Apollo 8, this is Houston. If you want the recorder now, it's yours. [Pause.]
070:02:41 Anders: Roger. Thank you. [Long pause.]
Apollo Control, Houston. Our tracking data from the ground still compares very well with the guidance and navigation computer on the spacecraft.
070:02:58 Anders (onboard): We completed target 72 strip and target 90 strip and the terminator photography to the south.
Target of Opportunity 90 is a 49-km crater Capella within the Montes Pyrenaeum range for which Bill took frames AS08-13-2228 to AS08-13-2237.
Montes Pyrenaeus and Crater Capella, composited from AS08-13-2228 to AS08-13-2237
Montes Pyrenaeus and Crater Capella, composited from AS08-13-2228 to AS08-13-2237.
Most of these frames have been composited together to produce the above montage. The view looks right across the terminator towards the Capella. The low lighting shows the topography of the area well, especially the raised rims of the craters and the lines of the various rilles that make up Rimae Gutenburg.The crater was named after a fifth century lawyer who postulated that Venus and Mercury orbited the Sun.
Bill finishes his photography with mag E on this rev with three frames.
AS08-13-2241 to 2243, looking south towards Fracastorius
The near wall of Fracastorius, a large, 124-km walled plain, is missing and the lavas within open out onto Nectaris. Being right on the terminator, only its rim is illuminated. The spacecraft is now flying over the night-time side of the Moon though they are still in sunlight.
070:03:13 Lovell (onboard): Okay, we're going to get updates. And a P52.
070:03:17 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. MSFN [Manned Spaceflight Tracking Network] tracking is comparing very well with your onboard nav.
070:03:26 Borman: Roger. [Pause.]
070:03:29 Anders (onboard): Can I have the other lunar flight plan there, Jim?
070:03:31 Borman: Houston, for your information,...
070:03:33 Lovell (onboard): Yes.
070:03:34 Borman: ...we lost radio contact at the exact second you predicted.
070:03:40 Carr: Roger. We concur. [Pause.]
The reference there was to Loss Of Signal as they went over the back side of the Moon.
070:03:47 Borman: Are you sure you didn't turn off the transmitters at that time?
Frank had been amazed at the accuracy of the predictions by Mission Control, eliciting a joke from Bill that their boss had probably ordered the signal to be cut so as not to worry the crew if there was a slight error.
070:03:52 Carr: Honest Injun, we didn't. [Pause.]
070:04:00 Borman: While these other guys are all looking at the Moon I want to make sure we got a good SPS. How about giving me that report when you can?
070:04:06 Carr: Sure will, Frank. [Pause.]
070:04:14 Borman: And we want a Go for every rev, please; or otherwise, we'll burn in TEI-1 at your direction.
Writer Robert Zimmerman, in his book 'Genesis: The Story of Apollo 8', ascribes Frank's exhortation to a desire to ensure Mission Control are concentrating on the state of the spacecraft and the mission. Frank will return to Earth if there is any reason to doubt the integrity of CSM-103 and Mission Control must actively agree to allow each orbit to commence. There is no doubt who is in control of the spacecraft. TEI-1 is the next opportunity to return to Earth, and there is less than one hour to LOS. Frank is exercising his prerogative as commander of the mission to come home early if the spacecraft is not in perfect shape.
070:04:21 Carr: Roger. I understand.
Comm break.
070:04:36 Borman (onboard): Are we on high gain, Bill?
070:04:38 Anders (onboard): Yes.
070:04:42 Borman (onboard): Well, this is [garble] see if I can [garble].
070:04:44 Anders (onboard): Yes.
070:05:04 Lovell (onboard): Here's the - I'll bet you that's what we're supposed to do.
070:05:09 Borman (onboard): I wouldn't know.
070:05:11 Lovell (onboard): [Garble.]
070:05:15 Borman (onboard): Have you got the Delta counter over there, please?
070:05:58 Anders (onboard): Those two strips and the terminator photography on camera I were taken on magazine E which is now reading 29 exposures.
Bill is providing a running commentary of his photographic work on the voice recorder that was presumably meant to help researchers determine the context of the images. It certainly helps us in correlating the photographic index with the historic record.
070:06:17 Borman (onboard): How are you doing, Bill?
070:06:18 Anders (onboard): Getting it done.
070:06:21 Lovell (onboard): [Garble.]
070:06:31 Lovell (onboard): I don't think so. Okay, I'm going out [garble].
070:06:36 Anders (onboard): What did you take a picture of, Frank? Do you remember?
070:06:43 Anders (onboard): And Frank took a took a picture on camera 2, magazine A, which is now reading 40.
070:07:04 Anders (onboard): Now we're going to change - take off magazine A.
The photographic index shows the first 29 frames of magazine A were used to take pictures of Earth or the S-IVB third stage of the Saturn V during their outward coast. There was one dark frame, then six frames including four of the 132-km crater Langrenus.
070:07:10 Borman (onboard): Jim, didn't I hand you 4 magazine over there?
070:07:14 Lovell (onboard): Yes, I [garble].
070:07:18 Anders (onboard): Okay, what I meant for you to do [garble].
070:07:22 Carr: Apollo 8. This is Houston. Are you eating?
070:07:28 Borman: Negative. [Pause.]
070:07:35 Lovell (onboard): Okay, we have [garble].
070:07:39 Carr: Apollo 8, this is Houston. Are you eating dinner?
070:07:45 Borman Negative. We'll have breakfast in a little while here.
070:07:49 Carr: Roger. [Long pause.]
070:08:00 Carr: Apollo 8, this is Houston. When you go into the dark in about 7 or 8 minutes, I have some words for you on the filters for the wide-angle lens, for your TV camera. Over.
070:08:19 Borman: We're in the dark now.
070:08:23 Borman (onboard): Well, it looks - sure looks that way.
Despite Borman's comment about being in the dark already, they are still in sunlight.
070:08:23 Carr: Roger. Let me know when you are ready to copy. [Long pause.]
070:08:33 Lovell (onboard): 13. Capella.
Jim is carrying out another realignment of the spacecraft's guidance platform, known as a P52 after the program used for the operation. Capella is one of two stars Jim is sighting on as part of the realignment, the other being Regulus, the dominant star in Leo.
It is planned to complete one of these realignments during the dark pass of every orbit in case the crew have to leave the Moon's vicinity in a hurry. That way they will have an accurately aligned platform ready for the subsequent burn of their SPS (Service Propulsion System) engine. During coasting flight to and from the Moon, realignments are carried out at about 8 hour intervals and it is interesting to note that the figures given for platform drift are roughly the same for 2-hour or 8-hour intervals.
070:08:36 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Any words on Earthshine? Over. [Long pause.]
070:08:48 Borman (onboard): What was it, Bill?
070:08:50 Anders (onboard): Capella.
070:08:53 Lovell (onboard): Okay.
070:09:01 Borman (onboard): Have you charged these batteries, Bill?
070:09:03 Anders (onboard): Never did [garble].
070:09:06 Lovell (onboard): Okay, I'll [garble] lights out [garble] I could just mark them without even...
070:09:13 Anders: Earthshine is about as expected, Houston. Not as much detail, of course, as in the sunlight, but you can see the light craters quite distinctly, and you can see the albedo contacts quite distinctly. And, also, the - there's a good three-dimensional view of the rims of the larger craters.
070:09:42 Lovell (onboard): [Garble]. Wait a minute.
070:09:43 Carr: Roger. Bill. [Pause.]
070:09:54 Anders: I think our high-speed film will be able to pick some of this stuff up quite well.
070:09:58 Carr: Roger.
Comm break.
070:10:03 Borman (onboard): Oh, right over [garble].
070:10:24 Anders (onboard): Have you got your camera [garble]?
070:10:33 Borman (onboard): All balls.
070:10:43 Lovell (onboard): Okay. Minus 0077, plus 0017, Plus 0065.
Jim's sighting on the stars has been very accurate as the computer has displayed five zeros (five balls) as being the star angle difference. In other words, the angle Jim measured between the two selected stars is identical to the known angle between them.
Jim has also read out the torquing angles from the P52. The gimbals that support the platform must be moved through these angles to restore perfect alignment. They are -0.077°, +0.017° and +0.065°.
070:11:07 Borman (onboard): Okay, the next thing we put up is my [garble].
070:11:13 Anders (onboard): Okay, Jim, go ahead and eat.
070:11:16 Lovell (onboard): Okay, let me see whether I have this [garble].
070:11:21 Anders (onboard): [Garble] are okay, Frank?
Bill is making a check of the spacecraft's systems per the note in his column of the Flight Plan at 070:14.
070:11:28 Anders (onboard): EPS [Electrical Power System] is alright?
070:11:38 Anders (onboard): [Garble] should expect my [garble] later.
070:11:49 Anders (onboard): This thing must be [garble]. Oh no, don't tell me the thing dried out.
070:11:55 Anders (onboard): No, the boiler isn't acting up; it just dried out.
070:12:30 Borman (onboard): Did you verify all the systems?
070:12:33 Anders (onboard): Yes. We have sunset at...
070:12:35 Borman (onboard): Not too long.
Apollo Control, Houston. (As) Apollo 8 passes over the night portion of the Moon, the guidance and navigation - the platform is to be aligned. This during period of darkness, as the spacecraft remains in an inertially fixed attitude for this procedure. This leaves lunar daylight periods for maneuverability needed for photography and visual observations. At 70 hours, 12 minutes; continuing to monitor. This is Apollo Control, Houston.
070:12:44 Borman: Go ahead with your information on the filter, Houston.
070:12:49 Lovell (onboard): Boy, that...
070:12:47 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Roger. We recommend you use a wide-angle lens on this particular TV run. You can use a telephoto lens with the same setup as yesterday's TV show. However, we recommend a wide-angle lens. Step number 1, tape the single red filter to the red filter on the red/blue filter holder; do it so that the filter slide still functions. Over. [Long pause.]
Based on the bright results they had with an earlier TV transmission, it seems likely the red filter is being added simply to reduce the light levels going into the lens.
070:13:38 Anders: Go ahead.
070:13:40 Carr: Roger. Step number 2, attach the filter holder to the lens with tape on the top and bottom. Do this with the slide forward. Over. [Long pause.]
070:14:04 Borman: Go ahead.
070:14:05 Carr: Roger. Then at the end of your second rev TV pass, or on request from here, we would like you to remove that red filter from the holder and transmit briefly with it that way, then slide it over the blue side for your final transmission. Over.
070:14:27 Borman: We got you.
070:14:28 Carr: Okay, Frank.
Comm break.
About now, Apollo 8 moves into the Moon's shadow, to reappear at about 71 hours GET.
070:14:28 Lovell (onboard): [Garble] wrong with the TV picture [garble].
070:14:40 Anders (onboard): Now don't - Let's not even screw with the telephoto, okay, Frank?
070:14:45 Borman (onboard): Right.
070:14:47 Lovell (onboard): Well, ought to use that wide angle. Then you could really...
The telephoto lens has a narrow, 9° field of view. This makes it particularly difficult to aim accurately at an object that is also photographically significant. With the wide-angle lens, a large vista can be imaged for the audiences on Earth.
070:14:49 Anders (onboard): Jim? Have you got time to get that red filter out of there or not?
070:14:53 Lovell (onboard): Out of where?
070:14:54 Anders (onboard): Out of that other - I'll get it; I'll get it.
070:14:58 Lovell (onboard): Did you see that other map around here someplace?
070:15:00 Borman (onboard): Yes, the - the flat, one?
070:15:02 Lovell (onboard): No, I've got the flat one; the other - folded one.
070:15:26 Lovell (onboard): Well, I'm not worried about these [garble], but I am about the other two.
070:15:35 Borman: Houston, Apollo 8. Standing by to record TEI-1 and TEI-2.
070:15:40 Carr: Apollo 8, this is Houston. Your TEI-1 and -2 PADs you received last pass are still good. Using these PADs, your next midcourse will be less than 20 feet per second. Over.
070:15:56 Borman: Roger. Understand. [Long pause.]
At 067:35:29, before they entered lunar orbit, two PADs were read up that included the information that would allow the crew to return home after the first and second orbits have been completed. These are the TEI-1 and -2 PADs and would only be used in the event of an emergency. Their burn to enter lunar orbit is close enough to what was planned that the original TEI abort PADs are still valid.
070:16:03 Lovell (onboard): Where is the Flight Plan?
070:16:12 Borman (onboard): You're getting that red filter?
070:16:15 Lovell (onboard): Yes, I got it.
070:16:14 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. We have all the SPS experts looking at your data now. The preliminary look is very good, and we'll give you some final words later.
070:16:28 Borman: Roger. We could feel the chug when we threw in bank B - not a chug, but we could feel additional thrust.
The SPS engine has two independent systems for injecting propellants into the combustion chamber. The A bank was brought in first while the B bank was manually started a few seconds later. The engine does not achieve its full thrust until both banks are operating.
070:16:36 Lovell (onboard): Here you go.
070:16:37 Carr: Roger. Copy. [Pause.]
070:16:44 Anders: Houston, be advised on this red/blue filter technique on the TV. You cannot slide the two filters out of the way with them taped onto the TV camera. So I suggest we do red, blue, and then take them off. [Pause.]
070:17:06 Carr: Roger. We concur, but make sure that the little red filter is taped over the big one. Over. [Pause.]
070:17:14 Lovell (onboard): Did you use 83?
070:17:16 Borman (onboard): Huh?
070:17:17 Lovell (onboard): Did you use Verb 83?
Verb 83 brings up numbers on the DSKY relating to parameters used during rendezvous, something that will not be happening on this mission. In this context, one number in particular is of interest as it gives the crew their angle relative to the local horizontal, known as theta. This is required to give the ORDEAL an appropriate starting point for displaying their local attitude on the FDAI (Flight Director Attitude Indicator) or "8-ball".
070:17:20 Anders: Rog. You don't want the red fil - you want the blue by itself. Is that correct?
070:17:25 Carr: That's affirmative, Bill. [Pause.]
070:17:33 Carr: Bill, we'd like you to use the double red filter for the first transmission. Over. [Pause.]
070:17:43 Anders: Roger. In work. [Long pause.]
070:17:45 Anders (onboard): Tape, Jim, please.
070:17:46 Lovell (onboard): Tape?
070:18:02 Lovell (onboard): You got enough there?
070:18:11 Anders (onboard): Now give me an [garble].
070:18:19 Lovell (onboard): Here - I got [garble].
070:18:28 Anders (onboard): Frank, what else have you got, [garble].
070:18:38 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston.
070:18:43 Anders: Go ahead, Houston. Apollo 8.
070:18:45 Carr: Apollo 8, this is Houston. If you should decide that you want to roll heads up on rev 2, one thing to remember, be sure you yaw 45 degrees right in order to maintain your High Gain Antenna comm. Over.
070:19:01 Borman: We will not do that; we're going to stick with the Flight Plan and make the best we can here.
070:19:06 Carr: Roger, Frank. [Pause.]
070:19:12 Borman: As usual, in the real world, the Flight Plan looks a lot fuller than it did in Florida.
070:19:18 Carr: Roger. Understand.
Long comm break.
Out on the end of it's arm, the HGA (High Gain Antenna) has a limited range of articulation, and the Flight Plan was carefully designed to allow it to maintain a link with Earth during lunar manoeuvres. In particular, if the crew are in a "heads-down" attitude, the windows will be facing the surface while the HGA, on the opposite side of the spacecraft, will have easy access to Earth. With the fogged windows affecting visibility, there is a possibility the crew might have wanted to adopt a "heads-up" attitude which would have brought the HGA around to the Moon's side of the spacecraft. Mission Control are reminding the crew that to keep the HGA pointing at Earth in this attitude, they would need to yaw to the right. However, Frank is for minimising changes to their packed schedule.
Apollo Control, Houston. A period of relative quiet; perhaps the crew has decided to start their first meal in lunar orbit.
070:19:26 Lovell (onboard): [Garble.]
070:19:29 Anders (onboard): Well, I know we may need it. I got some more for you. [Garble] remember...
070:19:36 Lovell (onboard): Huh?
070:19:37 Anders (onboard): Did you bring the temporary stowage bag?
070:19:39 Lovell (onboard): [Garble]. Here it is. Yes. (Laughter) [Garble].
070:19:46 Anders (onboard): What other crises by the board?
070:19:49 Anders (onboard): I don't need any if you want to know. After what I've got in my pocket, I (laughter) can go anyplace for a while.
070:19:56 Lovell (onboard): Well, how could they [garble]?
070:20:08 Anders (onboard): Well, that kind of makes [garble].
070:20:22 Anders (onboard): How about just holding that [garble] tape [garble]. The thing is, the damn thing has 16 moving parts.
070:20:39 Anders (onboard): Well, I got it, but [garble] I'll bet - You can just put a piece of tape on it so it stays [garble].
070:20:59 Lovell (onboard): Okay, what's this coming up [garble]? [Garble] coming up here.
070:21:03 Lovell (onboard): At 71 hours - exactly - it's 70:21 right now. The realignment has been completed already. It's an eat period for Bill, eat period for myself; prepare to do GDC align to the IMU [Inertial Measurement Unit]. Okay, at 70:55...
The GDC (Gyro Display Coupler) provides a backup attitude reference with information coming from the Gyro Assemblies. By the nature of this system, it is more prone to drift than the gyro system in the IMU, so occasionally, it's knowledge of the spacecraft attitude is updated with that from the IMU by pressing the GDC Align button.
070:21:23 Borman (onboard): [Garble].
070:21:25 Lovell (onboard): Okay, yes, let me [garble]. At 70:55, you're going to pitch up. Your ORDEAL, 180, 250, and 00.
Having held an inertial attitude since they entered lunar orbit, they will begin an orb-rate rotation to keep one side of the spacecraft aimed at the Moon. An initial attitude for this rotation is given in the Flight Plan though the figures given by Jim differ in somewhat in pitch.
070:21:37 Lovell (onboard): Okay. And we're going to have to share a window here, Bill at 71...
070:21:47 Anders (onboard): [Garble].
070:21:49 Lovell (onboard): Yes, because - I've got to get out the [garble].
070:22:01 Anders (onboard): Orbital photos.
070:22:21 Anders (onboard): Well, I was real worried about the evaporator.
070:22:44 Anders (onboard): Frank, that's the best I can do for you. If you can just hold it and - like that and take the picture.
070:22:52 Anders (onboard): Okay, now look, can you - could you stick that [garble] stick it in the holder behind your head. I'll take that film out of your way - ...get a chance, stow it, that'll be the best thing to do.
070:23:36 Anders (onboard): Okay.
070:23:46 Anders (onboard): Jim, did you get that Flight Plan?
070:23:48 Lovell (onboard): Yes, I got it right down here [garble].
070:23:56 Anders (onboard): Why don't we keep it right in here, I guess and...
070:23:59 Lovell (onboard): Well, listen, how about - now [garble]. Okay, [garble].
070:24:04 Anders (onboard): We could use Frank on the keypunch for the control point.
After Apollo 8 reaches the sunlit side of the Moon, Jim is scheduled to carry out a series of sightings through the hatch window of various control points. Of course, the hatch window is fogged over to the point of being useless. We can assume that they are changing their attitude so that the rendezvous windows can be used. Here, Bill refers to the DSKY as a "keypunch". The phrase "keypunch" reflects the ubiquitous way data was entered into computers of the day. Personal computers certainly didn't exist, nor did even the "dumb terminals" that characterized computers in the 1970's. Cards had holes punched onto them that represented data, using machines like the IBM 029 keypunch machine. One of the editors (O'Brien) remembers fondly (yeah, right) of the hours spent keypunching programs on the 029.
070:24:07 Lovell (onboard): Yes, either way, it makes no difference because you have that...
070:24:10 Borman (onboard): I've got a keypunch here. I [garble].
070:24:14 Lovell (onboard): Yes, I think, Frank, [garble] the attitude.
070:24:22 Anders (onboard): Okay, Frank, you want to configure your 16-millimeter camera as follows: you've got two thirds of a magazine in there.
070:25:05 Anders (onboard): Okay, we're sticking - magazine J onto the 16-millimeter camera, and removing magazine H. We had magazine H running at one frame per second, and what was the f-stop - you remember? F/8 all the way through the pass; we didn't get around to changing the f-stop.
070:25:28 Borman (onboard): Alright, through the pass.
070:25:32 Anders (onboard): Okay, now it starts at f/2.8, 1/250th of a second. Sorry, but I got the wrong [garble].
070:25:44 Lovell (onboard): [Garble].
070:25:45 Anders (onboard): One - f/2.8, one frame per second.
070:25:49 Borman (onboard): 2.8?
070:25:50 Anders (onboard): Right.
070:25:55 Borman (onboard): Go ahead?
070:25:56 Lovell (onboard): Yes.
070:26:01 Anders (onboard): Well, Frank, I'm going to have to give you - Would you remind me to give you new exposures every now and then as on this map? I'll have - I'll have the map right in front of me so I can ... without any trouble. The only thing is you have to remind me.
070:26:22 Lovell (onboard): Okay. Tell them I've got the earth in the sextant.
070:26:48 Anders (onboard): Okay, Frank? Would you start the 16-millimeter camera when you're coming across the terminator with the pass. Okay?
070:26:57 Anders (onboard): I'll take the spotmeter readings and be able to tell you what the [garble] when we're all set for TV, and then [garble].
070:27:12 Anders (onboard): I'm ready for a map update.
070:27:18 Lovell (onboard): Man, this is really exciting.
Apollo Control, Houston. We're now less than (break in recording) away from our LOS time on this the first revolution in lunar orbit. Continuing to monitor; this is Apollo Control, Houston.
070:27:19 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. We need an O2 purge now. [Pause.]
Jerry Carr is referring to the O2 purge of the fuel cells, used to clear out impurities in the system.
070:27:27 Anders: Roger. And we're standing by for a map update.
070:27:31 Carr: Roger. [Long pause.]
070:27:43 Lovell: Houston, Apollo 8. Just for your information, after we completed P52, I've acquired the Earth in the sextant. It's quite a sight from here.
070:27:57 Carr: Roger. Bet it is. [Long pause.]
070:27:56 Lovell (onboard): Okay, O2 purge set.
070:28:11 Borman: How are the systems experts on the SPS coming, Gerry?
After emerging from the Moon's eastern limb, engineering data from the spacecraft, including the data from the LOI burn, was replayed to Earth. Once gathered at the Earth station, it has to be passed on to Houston before analysis of the engine's performance can begin. Frank is especially keen to know whether it performed well as they need it to get back home. It has been 15 minutes since Frank's original request for a review of SPS data, and it is 30 minutes until LOS. Frank is likely getting a bit impatient about the time it is taking to get an answer about an update on the status of the engine.
070:28:16 Carr: They are still working, Frank; another five or ten minutes.
070:28:24 Borman: Roger. [Long pause.]
070:28:32 Borman (onboard): Let's put that over there.
070:28:38 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Your SPS data; looking real good. It is just a matter of getting it all in from the site and getting it looked at.
070:28:48 Borman: Thank you.
070:28:49 Carr: So far everything looks copacetic.
Comm break.
070:29:08 Borman (onboard): [Garble]. You've been living on emotions [garble].
070:29:11 Lovell (onboard): [Garble].
070:29:21 Borman (onboard): [Garble] those last two REV's [garble].
Apollo Control, Houston. We've just received data from our Flight Surgeon that Frank Borman's peak heart rate at LOI-1 read 130. The same reading he had, as a matter of fact, that he had at lift off. We would pass that along, continuing to monitor. This is Apollo Control.
070:30:42 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. We would like to take about five minutes of high bit rate. Over.
070:30:50 Borman: Roger. Five minutes of high bit rate coming on.
070:30:52 Carr: Roger.
070:30:56 Borman: You got it.
Comm break.
070:32:14 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston, with a map update.
070:32:15 Borman: Stand by one. [Long pause.]
070:32:52 Borman: Go ahead with the map update.
070:32:55 Carr: Roger, Frank. Map update. Rev 1/2, no change; rev 2/3 follows: 73:04:57, 73:09:37, 73:19:01, 73:48:53, 74:24:23. Remarks: Bravo one, 74:16:24. Over.
Pages 1-18 to 1-20 of the Flight Plan have forms for the crew to take note of these timings. They represent when the spacecraft passes significant points during its orbit and help the crew keep track of when events occur. Though the Flight Plan has many of these times marked, they are only approximate. These times are based on the spacecraft's measured orbit and are accurate. The map update is interpreted as follows: This map update is relevant to the second and third revolutions around the Moon.
070:33:49 Borman: Roger. Copy.
070:33:52 Carr: Roger. We show you 23 minutes to LOS.
070:33:59 Anders: Roger. Are you going to dump the tape? [Long pause.]
070:34:41 Carr: Apollo 8, this is Houston. You are Go for Rev 2. All systems are Go. SPS evaluation is still underway and looking good. Over. [Pause.]
070:34:56 Borman: Understand; Go for Rev 2. Thank you.
070:35:00 Carr: Roger, Apollo 8. We're still using the tape recorder. We'll dump it in a little bit. [Long pause.]
Apollo Control, Houston. You just heard that Go for Rev 2. Flight Director Glynn Lunney...
070:35:35 Carr: Apollo 8, this is Houston. The recorder is yours. You can go to low bit rate.
070:35:43 Borman: Thank you.
Comm break.
Flight Director Glynn Lunney crossed checked with EECOM and Flight and Guidance Control Officers, and told our Capsule Communicator, Jerry Carr, to pass along that Go for Rev 2.
070:37:55 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Request Biomed switch, Center. Over. [Pause.]
070:38:04 Borman: 3, 2, 1...
070:38:08 Borman: Mark.
070:38:11 Carr: Roger, Mark.
Long comm break.
070:43:50 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Put your Telemetry Input switch to Low. Over.
070:43:57 Borman: Roger. Go in Low. [Long pause.]
070:44:38 Borman: Houston, Apollo 8. We're in the process of preparing meal 4, day - correction - day 4, meal A.
070:44:47 Carr: Roger, Frank.
Long comm break.
070:45:29 Borman (onboard): [Garble] get me the hot water [garble].
070:45:44 Lovell (onboard): [Garble] the sextant [garble].
070:46:06 Lovell (onboard): How's that Flight Plan looking [garble]?
070:46:29 Borman (onboard): A little bit of - a little bit of - Left yaw - a little bit.
070:47:16 Anders (onboard): [Garble] we'll just have to get one. But you can't for 30 minutes [garble]. Well, you can [garble].
070:47:28 Lovell (onboard): Who wants hot water, quick?
070:47:29 Anders (onboard): I do. [Garble].
070:48:13 Anders: Houston, Apollo 8. Over.
070:48:15 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Go.
070:48:20 Anders: Are you going to be able to dump that tape prior to LOS? [Pause.]
070:48:30 Carr: Roger. Bill, they say they have already dumped the tape, and it's almost totally clean.
070:48:42 Anders: What does that mean? [Pause.]
070:48:52 Carr: That means you have got about 2 minutes of low bit rate on there, but the rest is clean. Over.
070:48:59 Anders: The high bit rate of the burn wasn't on there?
070:49:03 Carr: Negative. We've already dumped and got that. [Long pause.]
070:49:18 Anders: Okay. Let me know when you're going to dump it next time, Gerry. I understand we are Go now for the DSE. Have you got any voice off of it?
070:49:26 Carr: That's affirmative. We did.
070:49:31 Anders: Okay. Thank you. [Long pause.]
070:50:10 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. The voice quality on your tape was just sort of middling. We were able to monitor your burn and hear most of that pretty well.
070:50:27 Anders: Roger. Did you get a report of the photography accomplished, or is that on the tape at present?
070:50:36 Carr: Negative. We haven't heard that.
070:50:42 Anders: Okay. We'll put it on the tape now.
070:50:46 Carr: Roger.
Comm break.
Having learned that the DSE tape has been dumped to Earth, Bill then uses it to leave a note of the progress of his photography.
070:50:48 Anders (onboard): This is a report of the photography accomplished on Rev 1. We got target 68 [Langrenus], target 72 [craters near Colombo], target 90 [Capella], and the terminator photography - near-side terminator, Rev 1, south. I had cameras 1 and 2 configured properly. Camera - camera 2 now reads - simply one exposure on Mag G. That's the high speed; we've had zero exposures on Mag G.
This is Apollo Control, Houston. Now less than 5 minutes away from Loss Of Signal on our first revolution.
070:51:53 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. You are 4 minutes and 40 seconds from LOS. I would like a reconfirmation on your S-band Aux switch in the Downvoice Backup position. Over.
070:52:09 Borman: Negative; it is in Normal voice. We will go Downvoice Backup.
070:52:17 Carr: Roger. Request you leave it there forever. Over.
070:52:22 Borman: Roger. In Downvoice Backup now. [Long pause.]
070:52:44 Carr: Apollo 8, this is Houston. All systems are Go. You're still Go for rev 2. Over.
070:52:53 Borman: Thank you.
Comm break.
070:54:22 Anders (onboard): Okay, that's up to the right.
070:54:43 Lovell (onboard): Okay, at 70:55, we're going to pass over - [Garble].
070:54:51 Borman (onboard): We've got to get the TV going here now [garble].
070:54:54 Anders (onboard): Okay, Mag D - was on camera 2.
070:54:58 Lovell (onboard): What?
070:55:03 Anders (onboard): One exposure - two exposures at this time. We had one exposure on Mag A.
070:55:25 Anders (onboard): Mag E was used for the targets previously mentioned, and is now indicating 30 - 30 exposures; that's Mag Echo.
070:55:32 Carr: Apollo 8. Houston.
070:55:37 Borman: Go ahead, Houston. Apollo 8.
070:55:39 Carr: Roger. One minute until LOS
070:55:44 Borman: Thank you. [Long pause.]
070:55:55 Anders (onboard): Magazine - magazine J was on the 16-millimeter camera, run at one frame per second, starting about 10 minutes after LOI...
070:56:19 Lovell (onboard): Okay, this is [garble].
070:56:25 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. 10 seconds to LOS. All systems Go.
Very long comm break.
070:56:32 Anders (onboard): Thank you.
Apollo Control, Houston. 70 hours, 56 minutes into the flight. We have had LOS with Apollo 8. At this time we would like to play back those historic first words of insertion into lunar orbit as we heard them here at Mission Control.
The Public Affairs Officer is evidently elated at Apollo 8's achievement and shares the moment with the folk from the media once more.
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