Apollo 8
Day 4 & 5: The Black Team
Corrected Transcript and Commentary Copyright © 2001-2021 by W. David Woods and Frank O'Brien. All rights reserved.
Last updated 2021-02-27
This is Apollo Control. At the present time here in Mission Control, we're involved in a change of shifts. Flight Director Glynn Lunney is coming on to replace Milton Windler and his team of flight controllers. And Lunney, at present, is consulting with the - his team of flight controllers, getting status report - getting up to date on the status of spacecraft and mission. At 92 hours, 14 minutes into the flight of Apollo 8, this is Mission Control, Houston.
092:22:22 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston in the blind. Select Omni Charlie. Over. [No answer.]
092:24:29 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Apollo 8, Houston in the blind. We've lost all data on you and request you select us a good Omni antenna; try Charlie. Over. [No answer.]
092:28:09 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston in the blind. Your yaw is 42 degrees. Recommend you set pitch and yaw to Attitude Hold for PTC Over. [No answer.]
092:29:58 Carr: Apollo 8, Apollo 8, this is Houston in the blind. Switch to antenna Alpha. Over. Antenna Alpha. [No answer.]
092:32:56 Carr: Apollo 8, Apollo 8, Houston in the blind. Select antenna Alpha, antenna Alpha. Over. [No answer.]
092:35:13 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Over. [No answer.]
092:35:34 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Over. [No answer.]
092:37:37 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Over. [No answer.]
092:37:56 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Over. [No answer.]
092:39:04 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Over. [No answer.]
092:39:22 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Over. [No answer.]
092:41:24 Carr: Apollo 8, Apollo 8, this is Houston, Houston. Over. [No answer.]
092:41:45 Carr: Apollo 8, Apollo 8, this is Houston, Houston. Over. [No answer.]
092:42:24 Carr: Apollo 8, Apollo 8, Houston, Houston. Over. [No answer.]
092:43:20 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Over. [No answer.]
092:52:46 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Over. [No answer.]
092:53:22 Carr: Apollo 8, Apollo 8, this is Houston, Houston. Over. [No answer.]
092:53:38 Carr: Apollo 8, Apollo 8, this is Houston, Houston. Over. [No answer.]
092:54:01 Carr: Apollo 8, Apollo 8, this is Houston, Houston. Over. [No answer.]
092:55:27 Carr: Apollo 8, Apollo 8, this is Houston, Houston. Over. [No answer.]
092:57:28 Anders: Houston, Apollo 8.
092:57:30 Carr: Apollo 8, this is Houston. How do you read?
092:57:36 Anders: I read you loud and clear; my comm here must have come unconnected.
092:57:42 Carr: Roger, Bill. We lost data on you for 15 minutes and voice comm for about 45 and were beginning to get a little itchy. Is your PTC set up for Rate Command attitude hold?
092:58:05 Anders: Roger. Pitch and roll is in PTC
092:58:09 Carr: Roger. [Pause.]
092:58:18 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Set up Omni Charlie. Over. [Long pause.]
092:59:01 Anders: Roger. Omni Charlie.
092:59:04 Carr: Roger. [Long pause.]
092:59:26 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. We're showing yaw 54.5. Over.
092:59:41 Anders: Roger. It's been deadband right around there the whole time. [Long pause.]
093:00:38 Anders: You can take command P00, also, if you want to. You might have to use it again.
093:00:44 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Say again. [Pause.]
093:00:59 Carr: Apollo 8, Apollo 8, Houston. Say again.
093:01:08 Anders: You can take over command P00; you might have to use it again.
093:01:14 Carr: Roger, Bill. [Pause.]
093:01:23 Anders: I'm trying to be quiet so the other guys can sleep, Jerry.
093:01:28 Carr: Roger, Bill.
This is Apollo Control Houston at 93 hours, 2 minutes now in the flight of Apollo 8. Apollo 8 is now 11,290 nautical miles away from the Moon, Current velocity, 5,110 feet per second. We placed several calls in the blind to Apollo 8 and it took a while before we got a response from Bill Anders ... This sequence, somewhat dramatic sounding, was more a matter of curiosity than concern here in Mission Control since we were and are getting in good to the spacecraft with commands, and receiving solid telemetry. The curiosity, quite frankly, we didn't know for sure if Bill Anders had dozed briefly or if he had gone to the Lower Equipment Bay, or just what. The solution, as Bill himself explained, he had a loose connector. So, at 93 hours, 6 minutes into the flight of Apollo 8, continuing to monitor, this is Apollo Control, Houston.
093:06:24 Carr: Apollo 8, Apollo 8, Houston. Over.
093:06:36 Carr: Apollo 8, this is Houston.
093:06:39 Anders: Go ahead.
093:06:40 Carr: Switch to Omni Bravo, and we'll try the Bravo-Delta switching again. Over.
093:06:53 Anders: You got it.
093:20:58 Anders: You blew it.
093:22:00 Anders: We're on Omni B now, Houston.
093:22:03 Carr: Roger, Bill. [Pause.]
093:22:09 Anders: Looks like B couldn't quite hack it; I'll put it back there in a minute.
093:22:12 Carr: Roger. [Pause.]
093:22:18 Anders: Houston, if your EECOM's need any more help, just tell them to give me a call.
093:30:57 Anders: We're going on Omni Bravo now, Houston.
093:31:05 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Say again.
093:31:11 Anders: Omni Bravo.
093:31:12 Carr: Roger. Omni Bravo.
093:32:58 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Looks like we're getting pretty far off in both pitch and yaw. Showing about 50 degrees in pitch and about 25 in yaw.
093:33:13 Anders: Roger. I get that.
This is Apollo Control, Houston; at 93 hours, 49 minutes into the flight of Apollo 8. Apollo 8 now 13,635 nautical miles out from the Moon on its trip home. Current velocity 5037.4 feet per second. We've had brief conversations with Bill Anders aboard the Apollo 8 spacecraft ... As you heard, the conversations dealt primarily with communications procedural matters. At the present time, our Apollo 8, by the way, considerably lighter than on the trip out, current weight reading 31,739 pounds, this reflecting the two major Service Propulsion engine burns on this day of lunar orbit. I should say yesterday's day of lunar orbit, this is Christmas Day and we are past midnight, So, at 93 hours, 52 minutes into the flight of Apollo 8, this is Apollo Control, Houston.
094:13:08 Carr: Apollo 8, this is Houston. All systems looking good. Over.
094:13:15 Anders: Apollo 8. Roger.
This is Apollo Control, Houston; at 94 hours, 29 minutes now into the flight of Apollo 8. Apollo 8 now 19,662 nautical miles away from the Moon, and it's heading back towards Earth. Current velocity stands at 4,056 feet per second. Since our last report, we've only had a very brief exchange with the crew. I believe some 7 seconds in duration. A systems check. ... The acknowledgment from Bill Anders was in response to a statement that all systems looked good. Perhaps we should qualify our last remark about two major SPS burns around the Moon. Since the Service Propulsion System Engine was certainly fired 3 times. LOI-2 was indeed a major burn as a mission event but expended considerably less Delta-V than the Lunar Orbit Insertion number 1 and the TEI burns did. So at 94 hours, 30 minutes, it's quite peaceful is perhaps the best terminology, calm in Mission Control Center on this early Christmas morning. We will continue to monitor any future conversations. At this time we will sign off. This is Apollo Control, Houston.
094:53:20 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. [No answer.]
094:54:10 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Over.
094:54:16 Anders: Go ahead, Houston.
094:54:18 Carr: Apollo 8, this is Houston. Your systems are all looking good. Got a Flight Plan update for you: at time 96, you can delete P52. Your drift rates are real small.
094:54:36 Anders: Roger. And I'd like to do the chlorination at about 95:30 if I could.
094:54:43 Carr: Roger. Understand; chlorination: 15:30. Okay? [Long pause.]
094:55:41 Anders: Houston, we're on Omni C and going to Bravo now - correction, Dog.
094:55:50 Carr: Roger. Understand; going Delta.
094:55:59 Anders: We're on Charlie now.
094:56:03 Carr: Roger. Understand you're on Charlie. Break. Verify your Up TLM switch at Command Reset is at Norm. Over.
094:56:16 Anders: Roger. It's in Normal. I've had the Command Reset since we broke lock there, and I have to get back and control the omnis, so why don't you go command it over to Dog. Then give it back, and I'll set the other one on Bravo.
094:56:30 Carr: Roger. [Long pause.]
094:56:56 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. We have you on Delta; you can go to Bravo. Break. Give us a call when you've finished your chlorination. Over.
094:57:06 Anders: Okay. Everybody seems to be stirring around, so we'll probably do it on time.
094:59:26 Anders: Houston, and the other two space aces are up now, and LMP's going to hit the pad and like to take a Seconal prior.
094:59:36 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Roger. Permission granted, Bill. Have a good sleep.
094:59:44 Anders: Thank you. [Pause.]
094:59:51 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Looks like you need about 3 more hours on that battery A charging. Over.
095:00:00 Anders: Okay. Well, my cohorts can handle it.
095:00:04 Carr: Roger. [Long pause.]
095:00:34 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Can we get a crew status report on Bill before he goes to sleep?
095:00:44 Anders: He's feeling fine; a little sleepy.
095:00:56 Anders: And had a meal about - had a meal about 2 hours ago; drinking lots of water.
095:01:05 Carr: Roger, Bill. Thanks.
095:01:12 Carr: Good night.
095:01:18 Anders: Good night. Wish everybody a Merry Christmas for me.
095:01:21 Carr: Sure will, Bill. Same to you.
095:01:38 Anders: Thanks. [Pause.]
095:01:48 Carr: Make sure Bill hangs up his stocking before he goes to bed.
095:01:58 Anders: I've got it right next to my teddy bear.
095:05:34 Borman: Houston, Apollo 8.
095:05:36 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Go.
095:05:41 Borman: Roger. We're up on all the jobs; Bill's going to sleep; he's already down.
095:05:46 Carr: Roger, Frank. Good morning.
095:05:51 Borman: Good morning.
This is Apollo Control, Houston; at 95 hours, 7 minutes into the flight of Apollo 8. Although the Apollo 8 spacecraft won't enter the Earth's sphere of influence until it's at an altitude of 175,528 nautical miles above the Earth, our displays here in Mission Control have now switched to an Earth reference system. At the present time, relative to the Earth, we read an altitude of 189,133 nautical miles. Our velocity reading, relative to the Earth, currently reads 4,055.9 feet per second. As we picked up conversation with the crew, we find that spacecraft Commander Borman and Command Module Pilot Jim Lovell are just waking up and Bill Anders is tucking in for the night or we should say early morning. And we'll pick up that conversation now.
095:09:56 Carr: Apollo 8, this is Houston. I have a little feature news and sports news for you if you'd like to hear it. [Long pause.]
095:10:40 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston.
095:10:44 Borman: Go ahead, Houston. Apollo 8.
095:10:47 Carr: Roger, Frank. I have some feature page and sports page news if you'd like it.
095:10:56 Carr: Roger. First of all, Frank, the guys down here on the consoles want to spread their appreciation for a beautiful television job done.
095:11:10 Borman: Thank you.
095:11:12 Carr: Roger. We'll start out with the sports news. Los Angeles Dodger pitcher, Sandy Koufax, and Ann Widmark, 23-year-old daughter of actor Richard Widmark, plan to marry sometime in the near future. Koufax said Tuesday that no date for the wedding was set, but he and Miss Widmark have been dating for some time. At Springfield...
095:11:40 Lovell: (Garbled.)
095:11:44 Carr: Say again.
095:11:49 Lovell: Morning. How do you read?
095:11:51 Carr: Good morning, Jim. [Pause.]
095:11:55 Carr: Let's see. In Springfield, Missouri, Mickey Gwen, the old-time catcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers who made the record books by dropping a third strike that led the New York Yankees to a victory over the Dodgers in the '41 World Series, decided that he would be remembered by more than just his sports record. Forty-five boys and girls have been the recipients of ponies that he offered. These youngsters were requested to send letters in telling him how they would care of a pony. When the letters poured in, he added five ponies to the 20 he already offered; and other donors pitched in 20 more. And said Mickey Owen, "I thought I'd have about 45 letters, but I ended up with about 900." Now on the feature page: Wellington, New Zealand, about fifty men sat down to the traditional turkey and cranberry sauce at the South Pole today, but the Christmas had an Oriental flavor, as well. It included Sukiyaki cooked by members of a Japanese party who are crossing the Antarctic continent and stopped for the day with the U.S. Navy Polar base. In San Diego, California, the crewmen of the captured intelligence ship Pueblo donated their first paychecks to the workers at San Diego's Balboa Naval Hospital. They had all been given twenty dollars each, and - when they landed in San Diego - and they felt that this was a good demonstration of their feelings for those who had done so much to make her welcome here.
095:14:11 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. We read your antenna change. Are you still reading us?
095:14:18 Borman: Roger. This is Apollo 8, Houston.
095:14:21 Borman: We just now changed antennas, or you must have.
095:14:26 Borman: You lost...
095:14:30 Carr: In Reno, Nevada. Oh, that's affirmative, Frank. We changed the antennas from here.
095:14:41 Borman: Thank you.
095:14:43 Carr: In Reno, Nevada, because there is no fireplace in his home, [garble] a little boy wrote Santa Claus in care of the local newspaper and suggested, "Would you please use the front door. You will have to kick the bottom a little bit because it sticks." In Little Rock, Arkansas, babies born at St. Vincent Infirmary during the week before Christmas and through Christmas Day are being released to their mothers at discharge time in huge red Christmas stockings. Here is one in ecumenical cooperation. In Indio, California, the Chief of Police was armed, Christmas Day, with a prayer book. Rabbi Phillip H. Wienburg has taken over as Chief for a day so the real Police Chief, Homer Hunt, a Methodist, could spend the holiday with his family. This is the third straight Christmas the Rabbi has filled in for Hunt, The previous 6 years, Rabbi Weinburg did the same for the Roman Catholic Police Chief of Reno, Nevada.
095:16:00 Carr: From the Associated Press, Americans watch Pope Paul celebrate Christmas Mass in Italy, and Europeans viewed a Christmas greeting from Apollo 8 via the most powerful communications satellite yet sent aloft. The news of Pope Paul and the Apollo 8 crew Tuesday night were the first to be relayed across the Atlantic commercially by Intelsat III, which was launched from Cape Kennedy last Wednesday. That's the one we saw go.
095:16:37 Borman: Roger. I remember that.
095:16:40 Carr: Intelsat is a 63-nation international communication consortium; provides a chart on the first global communications network. The new satellite is scheduled to begin full commercial service on January 2, initially serving North and South America and Europe. Further coverage of the Apollo 8 mission is to be relayed to Europe this week.
095:17:15 Carr: From Washington: "This Christmas, the world is brightened with the hope of peace. When it comes, when hope turns to substance and the guns are quiet once again, it will come because you have pursued it with courage and skill." This was a message from President Johnson to the Armed Forces on Christmas.
095:17:46 Carr: Here is a feature by Harry Rosenthal of Associated Press. It says: from Houston. Two Santas brighten the Christmas Eve for 2-year-old Jeffrey Lovell. The first one knocked on his front door and brought presents. The second started his daddy home from the Moon. The first wore a red suit and a white beard and ho, ho'd loud enough to be heard down the block. The second was a huge engine spitting flame behind the Moon, and thousands of people were awaiting word that it had fired. "Please be informed that there is a Santa Claus." were the first words from Apollo 8 as it emerged from radio silence to inform an anxious world 15 minutes after the fact that the engine had performed its critical burn. "None of us ever expect to have a better Christmas present than this one." said Ken Mattingly of Mission Control. "Thank everyone on the ground for us. You know we couldn't have done it without you," came the reply from Col, Frank Borman, spacecraft commander. At this point, a Christmas the tree came aglow in front of the consoles in Mission Control, and Astronaut Harrison Schmitt read a space version of "A visit from Saint Nicholas" to the crew. "'Twas the night before Christmas, and way out in space, the Apollo 8 crew had just won the Moon race," it began. The Mission Control crew had delayed the celebration until Jeffrey's daddy, Navy Captain James Lovell, along with Air Force Major William A. Anders and Col. Borman were safely on their way home. Any other Christmas Eve, the families of the astronauts would have been in church for Christmas services, but this year they were all glued to their television sets. The homes all near the Manned Spacecraft Center were decorated. The lawns around the Lovell home and throughout his community of Timber Cove were lined with Mexico style luminarios, and the four Lovell children came out to light them about 7:30. They were just in time. At 8:00, a car drove up carrying a tall Santa Claus with a large sack on his back. He ho ho'd up to the door and knocked loudly. It opened, and there stood Jeffrey Lovell, who will be 3 on January 14. Jeffrey recoiled at the sight. His mother held him up, and Jeffrey clung to her, still shying away. "Last year he ran away crying," saying his 15-year-old sister Barbara. Earlier, she had to run after him to prevent his blowing out all the luminarios. The other Lovell children, 13-year-old James and 10-year-old Susan watched with great amusement. Finally, the Santa and the children disappeared inside; the presents were put under the tree; presents not to be opened until today. Mrs. Lovell prepared eggnog and cookies for the guests, and they watched a 25-minute televised tour of the Moon conducted by the three astronauts. Later, friends took Mrs. Lovell, Barbara, and Jeffrey on a tour of the neighborhood, brightly lighted for Christmas. Above them in a clear sky, the quarter moon shone brightly, and the three astronauts, who more than any other men have seen the fruits of creation, pause in their scientific exploration there to beam to the Earth the majestic word; from Genesis. "And God created the firmament heavens, and God called the dry land, Earth, and God saw that it was good."
095:21:22 Borman: Thank you, Jerry.
095:21:25 Carr: Roger. We have a newspaper coming in after while; we will give you a little more news later.
095:21:33 Lovell: Thank you, Jerry; that's nice. [Long pause.]
095:22:02 Borman: Jerry, we have chlorinated the water, and we're changing the canister now.
095:22:06 Carr: Roger, Frank. Copy.
095:23:13 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Would you put the Biomed switch to the left, and...
095:23:22 Carr: We would like to get a crew status report on Jim and Frank when you get a chance.
095:24:04 Lovell: Both Frank and myself had a meal before bed last night, and I believe that we had about 20 clicks of water, and a good night's rest. Just getting up.
095:24:04 Carr: Roger, Jim. Thank you.
Apollo Control, Houston. As you heard, Bill Anders, just before retiring, requested and received permission to take a short-acting sleeping pill. Borman and Lovell now up, listened to their early morning deep space newscast. After Jerry Carr completed his newscast to the crew, Flight Director Glynn Lunney grinned and said, quote, there's a new item on the wire, Jerry, they want you to take a job in New York as a newscaster. And so at 95 hours, 27 minutes into the flight of Apollo 8, this is Apollo Control, Houston.
095:29:01 Borman: Jerry, this is Frank. Do you have any later word on our trajectory and how the charging looks?
095:29:08 Carr: Roger. Stand by, Frank, and we'll give you an update. [Long pause.]
095:30:07 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. We are looking at a midcourse correction at 104 hours of about 5 feet per second. The tracking is real good. We got you in the center of the corridor and on target.
095:30:24 Borman: Understand; 5 feet per second at 104 hours.
095:30:27 Carr: That's affirm. [Long pause.]
095:30:50 Carr: Frank, did you get the word that we deleted the P52 at 96 (hours)?
095:30:57 Borman: Roger. Do you mind if we go ahead and do it now?
095:31:02 Carr: Negative; we've deleted it. Your drift rates are small that you don't even need to unless you want to do it.
095:31:13 Borman: Okay. We won't.
095:37:19 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston.
095:37:24 Borman: Go ahead, Houston.
095:37:26 Carr: Roger, Frank. In 3 minutes, we are handing the control from Honeysuckle over to Madrid. Over.
095:37:34 Borman: Thank you.
095:41:46 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Buenos dias from Madrid.
095:41:53 Borman: [Garble] reading [garble] now.
095:42:00 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Reading you loud and very noisy.
095:43:47 Borman: Houston, Apollo 8. How do you read?
095:43:49 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. You're loud and clear. How me?
095:43:54 Borman: You are loud and clear now.
095:45:05 Borman: Hey, Jerry, this is Frank. Do you read me?
095:45:07 Carr: Roger, Frank.
095:45:11 Borman: Okay. I wasn't sure we were lined up. Thank you. Enough [garble].
095:51:37 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. If you don't need the computer, we would like to have you call up Verb 64 Enter so that we can do the B-D antenna switching from the ground. Over. [Long pause.]
095:52:17 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston.
095:52:22 Lovell: Go ahead.
095:52:24 Carr: Jim, if you don't need the computer, would you call up Verb 64 Enter, and we will take care of the antenna B-D switching down here. Over.
095:52:37 Borman: We just did an automatic maneuver and then get on back to PTC attitude.
This is Apollo Control, Houston; at 96 hours into the flight of Apollo 8. The Apollo 8 spacecraft at this time is 187,043 nautical miles away from Earth. Its velocity, relative to Earth, now reads 4,063 feet per second. ...
(Referring back to 095:30:07.) This is Apollo Control, Houston. This 5-feet-per-second midcourse correction at 104 hours is performed perpendicular to the radius vector or roughly this would be perpendicular to the flight path. So at 96 hours, 4 minutes into the flight of Apollo 8, this is Apollo Control, Houston.
096:26:15 Carr: Apollo 8, this is Houston. All your systems looking good. Over.
096:26:22 Borman: Thank you, Houston. Apollo 8.
096:26:24 Carr: Roger, Frank. I got some more newspaper you if would like to hear it.
096:26:31 Borman: We would enjoy it.
096:26:32 Carr: Roger. We will start out with the world news. On page 1 of the Houston Post: praise for America's Apollo 8 astronauts and hopes for international cooperation in space exploration with the worldwide Christmas Eve messages as the tiny spaceship orbited the Moon. Even in the Communist world, there was enthusiasm for man's first voyage to the Moon. In Moscow, Soviet scientist Anatoly Besaranov recalled his country and the United States had shared space knowledge before and predicted the Apollo 8 flight would lead to more cooperation. In Cuba, Radio Havana rebroadcast the Voice of America program to tell its listeners of the Apollo 8 speech. Voice officials said it was the first time that any of the U.S. agencies' programs had been carried by Havana radio. Czechoslovakia saw the Moon flight through extensive television coverage; and in Budapest, Hungary, people talk of little else on the trains and buses. In the non-Communist world, office workers and Christmas shoppers held their breath as the spacecraft was readied for the blast toward Earth. Frenchmen in the street praised American know-how and the space feat, and some viewers watch television lunar photos cheer "Magnifique!". In London, swarms of Christmas shoppers crowded into shops and pubs to watch television photographs of the Moon's craters. Britain's foremost space astronomer, Bernard Lovell, who until a few weeks ago criticized the Apollo 8 project on the grounds that instruments could do the job without risking the astronauts' lives, made it clear that he was deeply impressed by the Moon flight. Pope Paul VI said honor to those pioneers of the extension of man's intellect and activity. There were only a few scrooges that "pooh pooh-ed" the Christmas voyage, however. The most notable was Samual Shenton, secretary of London's Flat Earth Society, who said the public are being balihooed, taken for a ride. How does that grab you, Frank?
096:29:00 Borman: It doesn't look too flat from here, but I don't know; maybe something is wrong with our vision.
096:29:07 Carr: Roger. Elsewhere in the world news, the Pueblo crew landed at NAS Miramar yesterday afternoon at 14:00, and they will spend a few days there in Balboa Hospital with their families celebrating Christmas. On the local scene here, the Retail Merchants' Association has announced that its Christmas gift exchange policy is going to be the same this year as it was last year; that is, very liberal. Fellows, we will be glad to replace any broken items that you might bring back, too; but, sorry, there won't be any cash refunds.
096:30:57 Carr: Another little bit of local news: the County Court House at Huntsville burned down before dawn yesterday, so it looks like they will go in the construction business there again. On the feature page: got a little bit about the waiting families. This one is by Ann James, Post reporter. "We rest on the backside of the Moon," said Valerie Anders on Christmas Eve, as she and her family waited for Apollo 8 to get out of the Moon orbit and head back toward home. Mrs. Anders had been up since 2:00 a.m. Tuesday, and neighbors had just collected all the youngsters so the family could get some rest while the spacecraft was behind the Moon and out of communication. Colonel Frank Borman's home was decorated with four big evergreen wreaths outdoors and sprinkled with powdery snow and decorated with red bows. A tree in the den awaits his safe return, and his pretty blond wife Sue and husky sons, Frederick and Edwin, plan to stay home for the midnight blast out of Moon orbit. Ordinarily, they would attend midnight services at St. Christopher's Episcopal Church. The plans were for the family to go to Christmas Day service at 7:00 a.m. Since there are no young children in the Borman home, family Christmas gift giving will simply wait until Colonel Borman comes back with his fantastic holiday gift of the flight to the Moon and back. Marilyn Lovell's four youngsters will have an absolutely normal Christmas as far as the kids are concerned, the busy wife of Captain Lovell reported; but talking about presents was out because two of them were sitting right there next to her. "I haven't even had time to change my clothes that I wore last night," Mrs. Lovell said. Adult-to-adult gifts, however, and the Christmas tree will still be right there when Lovell comes home. Here is a good one on the Action Line. There is a little letter to the Action editor. It says, "We intended to pay you Earthlings a surprise visit by a flying saucer last night. We got scared off by some crazy antics of a fat man and a sleigh and three guys in a rocket-powered bucket drag racing around the Moon. Is that any way to run a planet?" Signed the boys from Mars. Frank, it looks like the only people around here who aren't impressed by the Apollo 8 is the stock market. Its 30 industrials are down 1.43.
096:32:43 Borman: Neil will be crying.
096:32:45 Carr: (Laughter) You bet. On the sports page, not too much activity. U.C.L.A. is tops in both basketball polls. If you got any particular one you want to ask about, let me know, and I'll tell you if they are in the top ten on either poll. As far as the North - the college All Star game that is going to be played tomorrow is concerned, the North is a slight favorite over the South. Ara Parsegian is the coach of the North team, and he's got six of the Notre Dame troops working for him, so they ought to be pretty tough. The coach of the South team is Frank Howard of Clemson. He says it ain't easy, he quips, to build a team in 4 days to play Notre Dame. Another little item of interest in the sports page is Woody Hayes from Ohio State was named Coach of the Year by the Football Writers' Association. Well, that's about it. Any questions?
096:33:49 Borman: No. Thank you very much, Jerry.
096:33:51 Carr: Okay, Frank.
096:33:52 Lovell: Jerry, you can do this every Sunday.
096:33:56 Carr: Do you want me to read you the funnies?
096:34:02 Lovell: No, thanks. [Long pause.]
096:34:17 Carr: Hey, Frank, did you get the word that Fred made all-district football team?
096:34:26 Borman: Yes, thank you. I heard about that before - before the lift-off.
096:34:30 Carr: Yes. I thought you heard about that. Now, back to the workday; we need a cryo fan cycle from you.
096:34:43 Borman: We're starting right now.
096:34:44 Carr: Roger. [Long pause.]
096:35:17 Lovell: Houston, Apollo 8.
096:35:21 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Go.
096:35:25 Lovell: Jerry, in a little while, I would like to try out a little P37 exercise based on minus MA. I'll just run one through, and maybe we can get a solution from the ground and see how they compare.
096:35:38 Carr: Okay, Jim. [Long pause.]
096:35:55 Carr: Retro says they are ready to copy.
096:36:02 Lovell: Roger. [Pause.]
096:36:11 Borman: That performance at LOI was absolutely fantastic. You all really hit it on the money; I just couldn't believe it.
096:36:26 Carr: Roger. That kinda surprised us, too.
096:36:32 Borman: Uh-uh. I hope you're not getting close to the Earth. We got another corridor to hit, you know.
096:36:39 Carr: We haven't quit yet.
096:42:25 Lovell: Houston, Apollo 8.
096:42:30 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Go.
096:42:35 Lovell: We'd like to use the computer now if you don't need it now.
096:42:40 Carr: Roger, Jim. It's yours.
096:42:45 Lovell: Thank you.
096:42:46 Borman: If you can switch it down there without Verb 64, well, go ahead and do it.
096:42:56 Carr: We'll give it a whirl, Frank.
096:43:01 Borman: Okay. [Long pause.]
096:43:58 Borman: [Garble] are all [garble] of the Earth.
096:44:03 Carr: Roger. Thank you, Frank.
096:46:42 Borman: Houston. (Garbled) pitch and yaw of 10 and 45, aren't you?
096:46:57 Carr: That's affirmative, Frank. Pitch, 10; yaw, 45.
096:53:29 Carr: Apollo 8, this is Houston with a battery status report.
096:53:36 Borman: Go ahead. We were just talking about the batteries.
096:53:39 Carr: Roger. At 96 hours GET, battery A has 38.95 amp-hours; battery B has 36.35 amp-hours; battery C has 38.46 amp-hours. Your total, 113.7 amp-hours. At 97 plus 50, battery A will be fully charged and will have 40 amp-hours, and you can terminate charge at that time. Over.
096:54:15 Borman: At 97:50.
097:02:12 Lovell: We'll give you back Verb 64, Houston. [Long pause.]
097:02:39 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Say again.
097:02:45 Lovell: We gave you back Verb 64. I wonder if you could have Guidance figure out a corridor correction at 114 hours for us, with a minus 648 gamma.
097:03:03 Carr: Okay, Jim. We copy, and now we see we've got Verb 64 back. We'll be back with you in a minute.
This is Apollo Control, Houston; at 97 hours, 20 minutes into the flight of Apollo 8. The Apollo 8 spacecraft is now 183,882 nautical miles away from Earth. At the present time, the velocity of Apollo 8, relative to Earth, reads 4,085 feet per second. Although Apollo 8 won't reach the Earth's sphere of influence until it's 175,528 nautical miles away, our displays here in the Mission Control Center - and this includes the world map - are referenced to the Earth. The velocity, for example, while decreasing relative to the Moon, is shown on our display as increasing relative to the Earth, but it's a creeping increase, we must admit - at this point about 1 nautical mile (means feet per second) every 3 minutes. At present, aboard Apollo 8, Jim Lovell has been exercising the G&N computer and Program 37, this being the return-to-Earth onboard program, and what he has been doing here is working with the onboard system and figuring midcourses for return home. The Manned Space Flight Network, of course, is the prime (source of) the actual numbers used. ..."
Apollo Control, Houston. Right now, aboard Apollo 8, cabin temperature reads 78 degrees, which is a bit warmer than on the trip out to the Moon. Also, we've just been handed our first weather advisory for the prime recovery area, and this reads as follows: that the spaceflight meteorology group advises that weather conditions in the planned landing areas are expected to be satisfactory for the next 3 days. Both ocean areas should have partly cloudy skies, moderate winds, seas 3 to 4 feet and the temperature from 78 to 82 degrees. Scattered showers are forecast for the Pacific area. So at 97 hours, 24 minutes into the flight of Apollo 8; this is Apollo Control, Houston.
097:29:08 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Over.
097:29:13 Lovell: Go ahead, Houston.
097:29:15 Carr: Roger. We have a comparison now on your P37.
097:29:26 Carr: Okay. Based on your vector, the CMC vector, the ground computes 15.3 feet per second on the midcourse, V
EI of 36221, a gamma
EI of minus 6.51 so it looks like your P37 program is pretty good. Applying your P37 solution to our MSFN vector, however, we get a gamma
EI of minus 10.32. We expect these two solutions to converge with a little more tracking and after you get some Earth horizon sightings. Over.
097:30:11 Lovell: Roger. How valuable do you think that the lunar (sightings) we did just after TEI are, as compared to your MSFN tracking? Go ahead, Houston.
097:30:46 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Repeat your question, please.
097:30:52 Lovell: Roger. I was getting curious of the value of onboard tracking in the P23 course close to the Moon, in regards to the MSFN tracking that close to the Moon. I think there might be a trail-off for onboard navigation, and I think it might be a little bit better than MSFN tracking.
097:31:20 Carr: Roger. Stand by.
097:33:00 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston.
097:33:04 Lovell: Go ahead.
097:33:06 Carr: Roger. I guess the experts would say that the MSFN data was probably best based on the number of sightings that you have taken. However, that's going to be the subject of quite a bit of evaluation, I think, after the mission. Over.
097:33:24 Lovell: (Garbled.)
097:33:27 Carr: Roger, Jim. Be advised that we are beginning to read you very weak, and with a rather loud background noise.
097:33:38 Lovell: Understand. (Garbled.) [Pause.]
097:33:59 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. How do you read now?
097:54:04 Lovell: I'm reading - I'm reading you loud and clear.
097:54:06 Carr: Roger. Still reading you weak but clearer. [Long pause.]
097:54:55 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. You can turn off the battery charger. Over.
097:55:02 Lovell: Roger. Will do.
This is Apollo Control Houston at 98 hours into the flight of Apollo 8. Apollo 8, at the present time, is 182,270 nautical miles away from Earth. Current velocity relative to Earth now reads 4,100 feet per second. We've had some conversation with the Apollo 8 spacecraft, specifically with Jim Lovell. ... What you've heard was the ground, via Jerry Carr, talking to Jim Lovell aboard the spacecraft Apollo 8 critiquing the P37 return-to-Earth onboard computer program. Meanwhile, here in Mission Control, we have switched our space digitals display to reference the Moon again. Relative to the Moon, our altitude shows that we are 26,049 nautical miles away from the Moon, at the present time. And our velocity - this is velocity relative to the Moon - reads 4,871.6 feet per second. And 98 hours, 5 minutes into the flight of Apollo 8, this is Apollo Control Houston.
098:04:22 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston.
098:04:27 Lovell: Go ahead, Houston.
098:04:29 Carr: Roger. Is this Jim?
098:04:36 Carr: Roger, Jim. Christmas morning around your house was kinda quiet, says Marilyn. She said that they are all thankful the mission has gone so great. They missed having you around the tree this morning, but they wanted to reassure you that your presents are waiting, and the roast beef and Yorkshire pudding will be on the table when you get home.
098:04:58 Lovell: Hey, that sounds good, Jerry - good old roast beef and Yorkshire pudding.
098:05:02 Carr: Yeah, man. Is Frank listening?
098:05:04 Lovell: Say hello to them for me, will you?
098:05:05 Carr: Sure will. Is Frank listening?
098:05:06 Lovell: Frank's not on the line yet; he will be shortly.
098:05:12 Carr: Okay. How about Bill? Is he still asleep?
098:05:18 Lovell: Bill is still asleep.
098:05:20 Carr: Okay. Have Frank give me a holler when he is ready. I've got a message for him, too.
098:05:28 Lovell: Okay. Sounds good. How is your Christmas, Jerry?
098:05:31 Carr: Real good, Jim. Santa Claus struck last night before I came in here on the shift, and I guess we will finish off the unwrapping this morning when I get back.
098:05:45 Lovell: Right. He was looking for a chimney on (spacecraft) 103 here, but he didn't see any.
098:05:50 Carr: (Laughter.) You could have left the hatch unlocked for him. [Pause.]
098:06:08 Lovell: I'll think about that one.
098:06:10 Carr: Think real hard, Jim. EECOM says he could have slid down the steam duct.
098:06:37 Lovell: Sounds good. About that time, Bill would have been boiling water. [Pause.]
098:06:53 Borman: Hey, Jerry, this is Frank. What's up?
098:06:55 Carr: Hi, Frank. Christmas morning has come at the Borman house. And the boys and Susan and your Mom and Dad all send their love. They say for you to stay in there and pitch. Over.
098:07:11 Borman: Okay. Thank you. Please reciprocate for me.
098:07:16 Carr: Sure will, Frank. [Pause.]
098:07:27 Carr: Frank, when Bill wakes up, give me a holler. I've got a message for him, too.
098:15:23 Lovell: Houston, Apollo 8.
098:15:26 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Go.
098:15:31 Lovell: Roger. Are the Guidance boys busy this morning?
098:15:41 Carr: They say they are. [Pause.]
098:15:49 Lovell: I just worked out an answer to move my landing longitude 6 degrees east. I just want to compare with what they've got based on the same burn time of 114 hours, based on the bias impact longitude determined from the P37 which is wrong. I've indicated that I need 600 foot per second Delta-V
C burn plus, and my Delta-V
X changes from a minus 11.6 feet per second. I'd like to have them verify that if I could.
098:16:29 Carr: Roger Jim. Stand by, and I'll see if they copied all that. [Long pause.]
098:17:30 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston.
098:17:34 Lovell: Go ahead.
098:17:35 Carr: The voice isn't too great right now, and the Guidance troops didn't get all of that. How about waiting about 2 or 3 minutes? We'll swap Omni antennas, and then we should get good voice transmission from you and then repeat it. Would you, please?
This is Apollo Control, Houston; at 98 hours, 21 minutes now into the flight of Apollo 8. Our space digital displays now again referenced to the Earth. Our distance away for Apollo 8, distance away from the Earth at this time 181,428 nautical miles. Current velocity relative to the Earth, 4,108.5 feet per second. Capsule Communicator Jerry Carr has just passed along family Christmas messages to two of the Apollo 8 crew members, Jim Lovell and Frank Borman. ...
098:22:55 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. How do you read? Over.
098:23:00 Borman: Loud and clear.
098:23:01 Carr: Roger. We're reading you much better now. Jim can go ahead with his transmission to the guidance troops. They have one question before he starts. They would like to know what his GERU was at T
IG, 114 hours. Over.
098:23:21 Borman: Roger. Wait one. The GERU at T
IG was plus 07972.
098:23:35 Carr: Roger. Plus 07972.
098:25:07 Carr: Apollo 8, this is Houston. We are ready to copy your data. Over.
098:25:14 Lovell: Okay, Houston. Based on the P37 with minus MA solution, I got an impact longitude of minus 160.95. I biased it to get an impact latitude - longitude of 163.75. I wanted to change my impact point 30 degrees to the east, and I tried to determine what my P30 burn parameters would be to do this, and I got a Delta-V
X burn of minus 11.6 and a Delta-V
C of plus 600, Delta-V
Y of zero. Now that changed my previous Delta-V
X burn from minus 50.2. I just want to know whether that meets with their approval.
098:26:15 Carr: Roger, Jim. We copy and will run it through the mill and give you an answer.
098:49:35 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston.
098:49:40 Borman: Go ahead, Houston. Apollo 8.
098:49:42 Carr: Apollo 8, this is Houston with a Flight Plan update.
098:49:48 Borman: Go ahead.
098:49:50 Carr: Roger. At 100 hours, 30 minutes, change star number 02 from one set to two set. Over.
098:50:05 Borman: Roger. Star 02 from one set to two set.
098:50:08 Carr: Roger. Also, set number 2, set number 2, change star number 11 to star number 7. Over.
098:50:21 Borman: Roger. Eleven to Seven.
098:50:23 Carr: Roger. Then after star set number 3, initiate PTC again; pitch, 10; yaw, 45. Over.
098:50:36 Borman: Pitch, 10; yaw, 45.
098:50:38 Carr: Roger. Then at 101 hours, 30 minutes; delete the Earth horizon settings. Over.
098:50:53 Borman: 101:30, delete the earth horizons sightings.
098:50:57 Carr: That's affirmative. The folks here are evaluating the thermal situation. Looks like you will be out of PTC rather at an extended period of time. That's the reason we have you initiating PTC again there around 101 as soon as you finish those three star sightings. We are still working on the - about the next 10 hours after 100 hours. We are looking at the thermal situation, and the star sighting situation, and we will be giving you more updates later on. Over.
098:51:32 Borman: Roger. We don't have a thermal problem at all now, do we? All our indications here are normal in here.
098:51:40 Carr: Roger. Everything looks okay. I think they're just kinda trying to look down the track aways.
098:51:47 Borman: I'm all for keeping it that way.
098:51:53 Borman: We deleted them.
098:56:53 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston.
098:56:59 Borman: Go ahead, Houston.
098:57:00 Carr: Roger. Frank, I would like to talk to you for a minute or two about the auto optics funnies that you have been seeing throughout the mission. Over.
098:57:11 Lovell: Go ahead.
098:57:13 Carr: Roger. The problems you have run into so far are due to some unknown source, probably EMI (Electro-Magnetic Interference) or the like loading your CMC trunnion cell which is now 91, so it doesn't really represent your true trunnion angle. Now this loading problem, we don't feel implies any decrease in the reliability in your CMC at all. We think that the best way to circumvent the problem is to cycle the Optics Zero switch first to Off and then On prior to using the optics for any purpose. And with that procedure, I think you probably won't have any more problems. Over.
098:58:01 Lovell: Roger, Jerry. Understand. I do notice one difference. We did preferred REFSMMATs. The first we had trouble with; the last one worked out as expected. I noticed for the first one that when the option came up, it was for nominal option, whereas for the very same procedure for this last REFSMMAT change, we got [garble] preferred REFSMMAT option. [garble].
098:58:27 Carr: Roger, Jim. Copy.
This is Apollo Houston at 98 hours, 57 minutes into the flight of Apollo 8. The Apollo 8 spacecraft now 179,985 nautical miles away from Earth. Current velocity relative to Earth, 4,124.3 feet per second. Capsule Communicator Jerry Carr has passed along some Flight Plan update information to Apollo 8 ..."
Apollo Control, Houston. Apollo 8 is a bit over 4,000 thousand nautical miles away from that point in the flight pad. Will be recaptured by the Earth's influence. So at 99 hours, 1 minute into the flight; this is Apollo Control, Houston.
099:00:56 Carr: Apollo 8, this is Houston with a comeback on your entry navigation calculations. Over.
099:01:05 Borman: Go ahead.
099:01:07 Carr: Roger. We went through the charts and got exactly the same answer as you got. Looks like your procedure is very good; looks like it was real good head. You remembered to average out the velocity. We also went ahead and computed the problem to verify the chart and got a good solution. Over.
099:01:33 Borman: Thank you very much.
099:01:35 Carr: You're welcome.
099:01:40 Lovell: Now if we can get our state vectors to agree, we'll be in business.
099:01:45 Carr: No sweat.
099:19:38 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. [No answer.]
099:19:55 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston.
099:19:59 Borman: Go ahead.
099:20:01 Carr: Roger, Frank. Is Jim listening?
099:20:06 Lovell: Listening.
099:20:08 Carr: Roger. On your question about the option: Program 40 fits the preferred flag such that the next P52 will come up option 1, subsequent alignments after that come up option 2. Over.
099:20:27 Lovell: Roger. Understand. So 40 will have to come up with a T
IG burn with an option 1 for us.
099:20:34 Carr: Roger. Now concerning your restart that happened in lunar orbit, for the peace of mind of the computer people and the MIT folks, we have a question. Did Verb 34 Enter to a flashing Verb 51 in P22 cause your restart? Over.
099:20:56 Lovell: Yes. That sounds like it was it.
099:20:59 Carr: Roger. Thank you, Jim.
099:21:03 Lovell: That must be a "no, no".
099:21:08 Carr: Yes, Yes. That's a "no, no".
099:21:14 Lovell: That almost caused an unscheduled EVA, too.
099:22:29 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Biomed switch center. Over. [Long pause.]
099:22:49 Lovell: Three, two, one...
099:22:51 Lovell: ...Mark.
099:22:52 Carr: Roger. Your mark.
This is Apollo Control, Houston; at 99 hours, 33 minutes into the flight of Apollo 8. Apollo 8 now 178,529 nautical miles away from Earth. It's current velocity, relative to Earth, is now reading 4,141 feet per second. We've had some conversation with Apollo 8, since our last report ... You heard conversation exchanges between Jerry Carr here at the Mission Control Center and both Jim Lovell and the spacecraft commander, Frank Borman. Bill Anders apparently must still be in a rest period. So at 99 hours, 36 minutes into the flight of Apollo 8, this is Apollo Control, Houston.
099:50:59 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston.
099:51:03 Borman: Go ahead.
099:51:06 Carr: Apollo 8, this is Houston. It is about time for us to start keeping track of some Command Module RCS temperatures; so when you get a chance, we'd like the reading now, and we'll try to repeat it about every 8 hours or so.
099:51:22 Borman: Okay. We'll get them for you right now.
099:51:24 Carr: Roger. [Pause.]
099:51:32 Borman: You want the motor off the test meter, right?
099:51:37 Carr: That's affirmative. [Pause.]
099:51:48 Borman: The 5C is pegged high.
099:51:55 Carr: Roger. 5C pegged high.
099:51:56 Borman: 5D is pegged high.
099:51:58 Carr: Roger. D, high.
099:52:00 Borman: So's 5D. 6A is high; 6B is high; 6C is 5 volts; 6D is pegged high.
099:52:27 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Roger. Understand. 5C and 5D are pegged high; 6A and 6B are pegged high; 6 Charlie is 5 volts; and 6 Delta pegged high. Over.
099:52:42 Borman: That's Roger.
099:54:56 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston.
099:55:01 Borman: Roger. Go ahead.
099:55:03 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. We're showing quad A running a little bit warmer than the other quads. If you remember, I mentioned before that we were coming into a period of time here where we were going to spend a lot of time with no PTC going. We'd like for you to try to favor quad A if you can in the shade, and do whatever you can to keep that temperature from getting out of hand. Over.
099:55:31 Borman: Roger. I'm only reading 121 on quad A.
099:55:35 Carr: Roger. [Pause.]
099:55:44 Borman: Quad C is the highest temperature we have; it's 142.
099:56:01 Carr: Roger, Frank. We are more interested in the tank temperatures than the quad temperatures. Over.
099:56:10 Borman: Roger. I understand. Now listen, if you think it is that important, we'll just keep PTC-ing it and not even do anything.
099:56:17 Carr: Negative. There's no sweat right now. We're watching it, and we just wanted to let you know that this thing is being looked at. If we get anywhere near a situation where we feel we ought to change, we'll go back to PTC or cool it.
099:56:33 Borman: Okay. Thank you. We'll do our best, but it is kind of hard, though. You are sort of subject of spatial geometry: wherever the stars and the Moon happens to be, that's where you point.
099:56:44 Carr: Roger. We understand. We're going to keep an eye on it down here, and we'll keep you appraised.
099:56:52 Borman: Thank you.
100:03:27 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston.
100:03:39 Borman: Go ahead, Houston. Apollo 8.
100:03:41 Carr: Roger. Pass the word to Jim that on these marks that are coming up, pretty important that he remember to record his Delta-R and Delta-V and trunnion. We are working low bit rate down here, and so we're not going to be able to record that data from here. Over.
100:04:02 Borman: We are recording them all. [Long pause.]
100:04:16 Borman: Houston, Apollo 8. Did you read that we are recording all the Delta-R and Delta-V and trunnion [garble].
100:04:21 Carr: Roger, Frank. Thanks.
This is Apollo Control, Houston; at 100 hours, 12 minutes into the flight of Apollo 8. Apollo 8 is now 176,166 nautical miles away from Earth. Our current velocity reading, relative to Earth is 4,161 feet per second. Let's hark back to one of our earlier air to ground discussions, an earlier reference to restart an unscheduled EVA involved a bit of banter on the part of spacecraft commander, Frank Borman. Apparently, yesterday in lunar orbit, Jim Lovell, working with his computer, got one of his verbs or nouns a bit twisted. The computer reacted predictably by giving a restart. This came as unexpected event to the crew. Frank's reference, in a jesting manner, indicated that they felt a moment or two about tossing Jim out. ...
100:13:56 Borman: Jerry, Apollo 8.
100:13:59 Carr: Roger. Go ahead.
100:14:03 Borman: As luck would have it, we got the Sun almost directly ahead on top of us here.
100:14:10 Carr: Roger. We understand, but tank temperature is holding steady, so we are all right.
This is Apollo Control, Houston. The reference to quads that dealt with the Reaction Control Subsystem engine quads. From the ground we had a reading, or have a reading from quad A which indicates that it is a bit above the temperature level of the other quads, some 7 degrees. We will be watching this and taking steps to balance the temperatures, So at 100 hours, 17 minutes into the flight of Apollo 8, this is Apollo Control, Houston.
100:30:58 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Over.
100:31:02 Borman: Go ahead, Houston. Apollo 8.
100:31:05 Carr: Roger, Frank. The helium tank temperature that we are watching on quad A has only gone up 1 degree in all this work that you are doing, so we don't consider it to be too terribly serious. What we would like to do, as soon as you finish this P23 work, is rather than go back into PTC, let's just roll her over 180 degrees and put quad A on the cool side, and hold it that way until your next activity comes up, which is around 102:30. Over.
100:31:41 Borman: Okay. Fine.
100:41:47 Borman: Okay, Jerry. We're through with Program 23. We're just going to roll here to get the Sun off quad A, if that's what you want.
100:41:55 Carr: Roger, Frank. Good deal.
100:50:21 Borman: It should be getting cool now, Jerry.
100:50:26 Carr: Roger, Frank. So far we haven't seen the temperature start back down again. We expect to see it, though. [Long pause.]
100:51:25 Borman: Houston, Apollo 8.
100:51:27 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Go.
100:51:31 Borman: Roger. Give us the word if you want us to maneuver back here before that time that you [garble], please.
100:51:41 Borman: Thank you.
This is Apollo Control, Houston; at 100 hours, 54 minutes into the flight of Apollo 8. The Apollo 8 spacecraft at this time is 175,220 nautical miles away from Earth. At 100 hours, 47 minutes, 47 seconds, the Apollo 8 spacecraft with its crew passed back into the Earth's sphere of influence. It's current velocity relative to the Earth currently reads 4,184 feet per second. At this time we are in the process of undergoing a change of shift. Cliff Charlesworth and his team now coming aboard. Since our last report, we have had several transmissions from the crew ...
100:53:48 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston.
100:53:52 Borman: Go ahead, Houston.
100:53:54 Carr: Roger, Frank. We have some data that was missed on your P23. We'd like you to read it down to us if you have time.
100:54:04 Borman: Roger. We will in just a minute.
100:54:06 Carr: Roger.[Pause.]
100:54:13 Borman: Go ahead. What do you want?
100:54:15 Carr: Roger. On star number 2, the sixth mark, we missed Delta-R and Delta-V.
100:54:25 Borman: Sixth mark, that's - did Lovell tell you to do this? Come on, Carr; come clean. Did he ask you to ask for this?
100:54:46 Borman: Jim Lovell.
100:54:48 Carr: Negative. Uh-uh. We really missed it.
100:54:53 Borman: It's all zeros, and all zeros.
100:54:58 Carr: Roger. All zeros, all zeros. Okay. On star number 7, we missed the trunnion on marks 1, 2, and 3.
100:55:13 Borman: On 1, trunnion was 03235; on 2, it was 03240; on 3, it was 03241.
100:55:31 Carr: Okay, Frank. And then the last one is on star number 1; we missed the trunnion on mark 5.
100:55:46 Carr: Roger, 04064.
100:55:53 Borman: Righto.
100:55:55 Carr: Thank you, Frank.
100:55:58 Borman: You're welcome, Jerry.
100:56:00 Carr: That Lovell's getting pretty proficient.
100:56:07 Borman: Not bad.
100:57:41 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston.
100:57:46 Borman: Go ahead.
100:57:47 Carr: Was that last number you read down to me mark 2 on star number 1?
100:57:59 Borman: That's right. Star number 1, mark 2.
100:58:03 Carr: Roger. Thank you. Now that one got you on guidance.
101:03:10 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. You're back under our influence again. Over.
101:03:16 Borman: Very good. Things start speeding up now, huh?
101:03:21 Carr: Roger. You've been in for about 20 minutes.
101:03:26 Borman: Very good.
101:03:29 Lovell: Jerry, this is Jim.
101:03:31 Carr: Go ahead, Jim.
101:03:35 Borman: Find out from the Guidance group if a midcourse maneuver of minus 4.8 to access corridor at 14 hours would be better than the 15.2 I came up with first.
101:03:47 Carr: Okay. Minus 4.8.
101:03:54 Carr: We have already started checking it, Jim. I bet you think you sneaked that P37 past us.
101:04:06 Lovell: Big brother is watching.
Now this is Apollo Control, Houston. Since the Black shift is shortly leaving duty, we thought, at this time, that we would summarize the activities that we saw during this 9-hour period. When Glynn Lunney's Black watch came aboard, we were very pleased to see a Christmas tree, a lighted Christmas tree here in the Mission Control Center which we understood was placed up sometime following the Trans-Earth Injection burn. The shift itself was one of relative quiet. When the Black team of controllers took over, Bill Anders was awake. During most of the period, the spacecraft was flying in Passive Thermal Control attitudes. Shortly after taking over, we placed several calls in the blind to the spacecraft, This was not a matter of concern. In fact, it was more a matter of curiosity since we were receiving telemetry solid and getting to the spacecraft very easily with commands. The solution came when the ground reached Bill Anders and it turned out that the situation was probably one of a loose connector. Shortly thereafter, spacecraft Commander Frank Borman and Jim Lovell awoke. And Anders took a short-acting sleeping pill and retired. We passed along a Flight Plan update to the crew that put the first midcourse correction at 104 hours with a Delta-V of 5 feet per second. This burn of a very short delta - a very small Delta-V, we should say - is fired perpendicular to the radius vector and this would make it roughly perpendicular to the flight path itself. A little later, Jerry Carr, our Capsule Communicator, tried his hand again as a newscaster and, in fact, passed up a couple of newscasts during the period of little activity - one based on wire service copy, the other based on a copy of the Houston Post. Then Command Module Pilot Jim Lovell, exercised a computer program, computer program number 37, the return-to-Earth program onboard to practice onboard computations for midcourses. There was considerable conversation played back and forth between the Mission Center and the spacecraft regarding this activity. A little later, Jerry Carr relayed the family Christmas messages to Frank Borman and Jim Lovell who were awake at the time. Bill Anders undoubtedly will receive one later when it's established that he is awake. As we mentioned earlier, we reached the Earth's sphere of influence at 100 hours, 47 minutes, 47 seconds - only a short while ago. Although this event took place only a short while ago, most of the morning, as we viewed our space digitals display, we were reading them in terms of Earth reference. And the latter part of our shift, Jim Lovell worked again with the computer - on the onboard guidance and navigation system, we should say rather - in program 23, the cislunar navigation program. As you heard toward the latter part of the shift, we started looking at temperatures on quad A of the Reaction Control System. And the temperatures in the Service Module Reaction Control System quad A have been running about 10 plus degrees warmer than in the other three quads. In order to maintain balanced temperatures between quads and to avoid reaching any thermal limits in the propellant tanks, propellants the spacecraft just shortly before our flight control team went off duty, it was maneuvered to place quad A on the shady side. When it will be maintained in this attitude until our next period of work activity emerges, So, at this point, with no news conference or change of shift schedule, change of shift briefing scheduled, Flight Director Glynn Lunney would like to extend to all visiting newsmen from all parts of the country a very merry Christmas. And at 101 hours, 5 minutes, 2 seconds into the flight of Apollo 8, this is Apollo Control, Houston.
101:12:29 Borman: Houston, Apollo 8.
101:12:32 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Go.[No answer.]
101:12:43 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Go.
101:12:47 Borman: Roger. I just wondered how temp on quad A tank is doing.
101:12:54 Carr: We have seen no improvement as yet, Frank.
101:13:00 Borman: How hot is it?
101:13:03 Carr: Eighty-six degrees.
This is Apollo Control, Houston; at 101 hours, 17 minutes into the flight, and the Green team has taken over here at the Control Center. In the last few minutes we have noted down here on the ground, temperature - quad A - a Reaction Control System 4-way motor on the Service Module called Quad A is showing a slight rise in temperature. It's about 10 degrees above where it should be. The other Quads are running 70 to 75 degrees. Quad A is presently reading 86 degrees F. So we asked Frank to roll the spacecraft around and put Quad A in the shade for a while. Trying to bring that temperature down. We are going to watch it - as yet it has not dropped. ...
101:17:28 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston.
101:17:32 Borman: Go ahead.
101:17:34 Carr: Roger. Frank, we are going to establish a range sequence now. We would like to keep silence on the net for about 3 minutes. Over.
101:17:44 Borman: Very well.
101:21:21 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Range sequence complete. Over.
101:21:26 Borman: Thank you.
101:28:13 Borman: Hello, Houston. Apollo 8. How do you read?
101:28:16 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Loud and clear. [Long pause.]
101:29:11 Borman: Houston, how do you read? Apollo 8.
101:29:14 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston. Loud and clear by me.
101:29:19 Borman: I wasn't reading you for a while. I read you loud and clear now.
101:29:22 Carr: Roger, Frank. [Pause.]
101:29:28 Borman: I wanted to know what a range sequence test was, Jerry.
101:29:35 Carr: I was afraid you was going to ask that. Stand by.
101:30:53 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston.
101:30:57 Borman: Go ahead.
101:30:59 Carr: Roger. This range sequence is a phenomenon we get on down-voice backup; in this mode, the ranging and the voice share the same channels, so we have to periodically check and make sure that they are not interfering with each other. Over.
101:31:16 Borman: Thank you. These flights are very educational.
101:31:28 Carr: Roger. We are learning a little bit down here, too.
101:31:38 Borman: I hope you're not studying re-entry.
101:31:46 Carr: No, we're fat on those, Frank.
101:39:12 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston.
101:39:16 Borman: Go ahead, Houston.
101:39:18 Carr: Roger, Frank. We would like for you to go back into PTC now. Your helium tank temperature is still holding about the same. And we are going to try PTC to even things out. Over.
This is Apollo Control, Houston at 101 hours, 40 minutes. The next television transmission is scheduled for 104 hours, 15 minutes - in about 2½ hours from now. Should make it about 3 o'clock Houston time. That's pretty close. We will refine that a little later. The rise in quad A, that we noted earlier, is not - is no panic situation at all. It's about 10 degrees above where we plot that it should be. We have rotated the spacecraft around, held it on the dark side for a while. And now the crewmen have been advised to go back to Passive Thermal Control, that gently rolling, barbequeing kind of motion, to see what effect that has on the - uh - Quad A still running about 85 to 86 degrees. ...
101:40:49 Carr: Apollo 8, Houston.
101:40:53 Borman: Go ahead, Houston.
101:40:54 Carr: Is Jim listening?
101:40:58 Borman: He's off the air right now.
101:41:01 Carr: Roger, Frank. Let him know that we've compared his latest P37, and the state vectors have converged to - they are very, very close now.
101:41:13 Borman: Your state vector and our state vector are very, very close.
101:41:16 Carr: That's affirmative, Frank.
101:41:18 Borman: Is that right, Jerry? Okay. I'll tell him. Thank you.
101:41:21 Carr: Roger. [Pause.]
101:41:27 Carr: Don't let his head get big, though.
101:41:32 Borman: You guys are going to make it impossible to live with him. It always was pretty hard.
And this is Apollo Control, Houston, again. We got a little quiet period here, so let's run through some of the charts this morning for this afternoon. The cabin temperature - or the cabin pressure is 4.9 pounds per square inch. We are looking at a cabin temperature of 78 degrees and yesterday I think we ran between 79 and 77. Showing presently 29 pounds of waste water aboard. Have 37 pounds of drinking water which means a full tank. In our oxygen, quantities well up there. Oxygen tank one is 68 percent. Oxygen quantities in (tank) two is 68 percent, Hydrogen quantities is 52 percent in tank one and remaining 54 percent in tank two. Great shape there. Temperatures on the cryogenic: oxygen is minus 174 for tank one and minus 187, tank two. And hydrogen tank one temperature is minus 413 degrees F; tank two, minus 414 degrees, In the weight department, Apollo 8 continues to lose weight at a very dramatic pace, 'cause before we went into lunar orbit just prior to our Lunar Orbiting Insertion burn, we had something on the order of 63,000 pounds. While orbiting yesterday, we were down to 45,000 pounds. Today after our Trans-Earth Injection burn, we were down to 31,739 pounds. And we will continue to see that reduce as we get closer to home, and particularly when we drop that Service Module, just prior to re-entry. So all in all, in 101 hours, 47 minutes; this is - that's our status. This is Apollo Control, Houston.
