The view of the Earth (over the Pacific Ocean) from Apollo 10 at 180:00:00.
This is Apollo Control at 180 hours, 33 minutes. Apollo 10 presently 70,246 nautical miles [130,096 km] from Earth, and traveling at a speed of 7,776 feet per second [2,370 m/s]. We've had no further conversation with the crew since they reported they were going to begin their rest period at 77 hours, 40 minutes, just a little less than 3 hours ago. The crew is scheduled to end their sleep period at 185 hours, about 1 hour earlier than shown in the Flight Plan. They also began a sleep period tonight earlier than the Flight Plan called for. At 180 hours, 34 minutes this is Mission Control, Houston.
This is Apollo Control at 181 hours, 34 minutes. The crew is still apparently sleeping. At this time, we've heard nothing from them since they began their sleep period. And rest period scheduled to end at 185 hours, or a little less than 3½ hours from now. At this time, Apollo 10 is traveling at a speed of 8,044 feet per second [2,452 m/s], and the spacecraft is 65,562 nautical miles [121,421 km] from Earth. The spaceflight meteorology group said this evening that weather conditions in the end of mission landing area, located 300 nautical miles [556 km] east of Samoa, are expected to be satisfactory at landing time. Partly cloudy skies, east southeasterly winds at 12 knots [6.17 m/s] and temperature of near 81 degrees [F, 27°C] is predicted. Reports from weather reconnaissance aircraft in the landing area confirm that weather is acceptable at this time. At 181 hours, 35 minutes; this is Apollo Control, Houston.
This is Apollo Control at 182 hours, 33 minutes. The crew now has some 2½ hours left in their sleep period. We've had no conversation since beginning of the sleep period, and it appears that the crew has been sleeping the entire duration. We have biomedical information on Gene Cernan only, and the Flight Surgeon reports that Cernan has been asleep since 178 hours. At the present time, Apollo 10 is 60,872 nautical miles [112,735 km] from Earth, and the spacecraft velocity is 8,344 feet per second [2,318 m/s]. At 182 hours, 34 minutes; this is Apollo Control.
This is Apollo Control at 183 hours, 45 minutes. We're now about 1 hour, 15 minutes from the scheduled crew wake up time. And at the present time, Apollo 10 is 55,026 nautical miles [101,908 km] from Earth. The velocity up now to 8,766 feet per second [2,435 m/s]. Here in Mission Control on the large center display, we're beginning to see a curvature of the ground track which, since Trans-Earth Injection, was a straight line tracing across the Earth at about 11, 11 or 12 degrees north latitude, and that line is now beginning to curve southward due to the increasing effect of gravity on the spacecraft, and we're also beginning to see a more rapid increase in the velocity as the spacecraft comes ever closer to Earth. This velocity will increase dramatically in the last couple of hours prior to Entry Interface. At 2 hours prior to entry, the speed will be about 14,500 feet per second [4,030 m/s]. One half hour later it will have increased by 2,000 feet per second [556 m/s], up to about 16,120 [fps, 4,478 m/s], and in another half hour, 1 hour prior to entry, the velocity will be up to 18,696 feet per second [5,193 m/s]. Then in the final hour, the velocity will double, nearly double, reaching 36,314 feet per second [10,097 m/s]. The Flight Surgeon reports that all three crew members apparently have been sleeping soundly for the total duration of the sleep period. We only have biomedical instrumentation on one of the crewmen, Gene Cernan, but he has been sleeping soundly throughout the sleep period. At 183 hours, 48 minutes; this is Apollo Control.
This is Apollo Control at 184 hours, 30 minutes. The Flight Surgeon reported just a few minutes ago that the biomedical data showed that Gene Cernan was awake now and we might anticipate a call from the crew before too much longer. At the present time Apollo 10 is 51,156 nautical miles [94,741 km] from Earth and the velocity has just gone over the 9,000 foot (per second, 2,500 m/s] mark; presently at 9,080 feet per second [2,522 m/s]. Here in Mission Control, we're having our change of shift. Flight Director Pete Frank is coming on to replace Flight Director Milton Windler. Frank and his team, his Orange Team of flight controllers will be handling the re-entry and splash. The CapCom on the upcoming shift will be astronaut Jack Lousma. At 184 hours, 32 minutes; this is Apollo Control.
Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.
184:38:27 Houston Comm Tech: Honeysuckle, this is Houston Comm Tech, 1 2 3 4, 4 3 2 1, give me a short count.
184:38:32 Honeysuckle Comm Tech: This is Honeysuckle on GOSS, 1 2 3 4 5. 5 4 3 2 1.
184:32:37 Houston Comm Tech: Roger, thank you.
184:32:39 Honeysuckle Comm Tech: Roger.
This is Apollo Control. At 185 hours Ground Elapsed Time, it's time for wake up of the crew of Apollo 10. We're standing by now for the wake up call.
185:01:10 MCC: (Bugle call)
185:01:32 Engle: Hello Apollo 10. Reveille. All hands heave out and face up! Sweepers, man your brooms! Clean sweep down fore and aft! Take all trash and garbage to the fan tails! Standing by, this is Houston.
185:01:47 Cernan: Oh, I love you. Where did you learn that kind of noise.
185:01:53 Engle: It's Navy noise.
185:01:56 Cernan: That's what I mean. Hey, you get a DS, that's 30 minutes early.
185:02:06 Engle: Negative on that.
185:02:09 Cernan: Huh?
185:02:12 Engle: I want to get you up because it's your last day to enjoy out there and I don't want you to miss anything. How you guys feeling today?
185:02:18 Cernan: Hey babe, I've been looking out that window all night long, so you ain't - you know I was waiting for that noise anyway. How are you?
185:02:26 Engle: Hey, real good. Looks like you have been up for a little while.
185:02:30 Cernan: Yes, off and on. Off and on. It gets pretty anxious up here with that world getting so big. It's beautiful, babe, it really is.
185:02:38 Engle: You look like you're just a hair over 50,000 [nautical miles, 92,600 km] out now, Gene-o.
185:02:43 Cernan: 50 grand huh, now? Beautiful!
185:02:48 Engle: Hey, why don't you guys come on home today?
185:02:54 Cernan: You know, I think we will.
185:03:17 Cernan: What have you been doing? Taking lessons from Jack or something? I didn't know you knew that kind of music.
185:03:24 Engle: Jack doesn't know what it means.
185:03:28 Cernan: Oh, here you come, Joe. Oh, my God, you're about - you're about ¾ the size of my side window, you're less than a full Earth. You're curved over at the poles which means we're going behind you which is good, and, oh my golly, are you getting big and beautiful, babe. I never thought I'd say that of you, but you sure do look good.
185:03:52 Engle: You been gone too long.
185:03:58 Cernan: Let me take a look in the monocular and find out where we are. [Long pause.]
185:04:48 Cernan: Joe, I'm looking at the Pacific and Indian Ocean, here. I've got the whole continent of India and Asia and coming over the horizon, it appears to be Africa. Beautiful.
185:05:02 Engle: OK. You got a pretty good looking weather forecast for your recovery area. It looks like about 18,000 [feet, 5,500 meters] scattered, 10,000 [feet, 3,048 meters] broken, high broken, 10 miles [18.5 km] and the wind's out of the east-southeast at about 12 knots [6.17 m/s]. The waves are 4 feet [1.2 meters], 5 seconds [interval]. 81 degrees [F, 27°C], and it says widely scattered showers, but you can probably get a better handle on that from up there.
185:05:29 Young: OK, Joe. What's the present weather?
185:05:34 Engle: We're getting it now, Gene-o.
185:05:51 Cernan: Joe, tell Captain Cruse to put it into the wind. We'll be down there in about 6 hours.
185:06:00 Engle: Say again, Gene-o.
185:06:03 Cernan: Tell Captain Cruse to put it into the wind and we'll be onboard in about 6 hours.
185:06:08 Engle: OK. We'll tell him.
185:07:35 Engle: Apollo 10, this is Houston. The weather - current weather, is just about the same as the forecast. It looks like it may be getting a little bit better. It looks like they're going about 2,000 [feet, 600 meters] scattered high-broken now.
185:08:16 Engle: OK. I'm going to sneak out of here and let the Marines take over. I'll see you guys a little later.
185:08:25 Cernan: Joe, thanks for everything, babe. We'll see you back at home.
185:08:28 Engle: Roger that.
185:08:57 Lousma: Good morning, Apollo 10. Just got off the gate. I wanted Joe to give you that reveille because I figured that if I gave it to you, you'd consider it a harassment.
185:09:11 Young: Oh, Jack, you're just too much.
185:09:25 Cernan: Jack, after 8 days, I got to make a public announcement. You're really a great guy, it's just your choice of services.
185:09:33 Lousma: I think you're talking about the oldest fighting service in the country and the best in the world, aren't you?
185:09:48 Lousma: And watch out for those lightning bolts.
185:09:54 Young: You're talking about that gate-guard branch of the U.S. Navy.
185:10:17 Cernan: I guess you're right, Jack. I don't know what the Navy would do if it wasn't for the Marines existence.
185:10:32 Lousma: Don't forget your astrocast from yesterday. It's the same today.
185:10:45 Cernan: Yes, and I'm not going to say anything about anybody today. This has got to be a good day.
185:10:50 Lousma: Roger.
185:19:15 This is Apollo Control, still monitoring air-ground with the spacecraft, now some 46,867 nautical miles [86,798 km] out from Earth, approaching velocity of 10,000 feet per second [3,000 m/s]. Actually 9,470 [fps, 2,886 m/s]. The reveille bugle call was played up from mission control for the last day of the mission. Gene Cernan had been awake for some time observing the Earth grow bigger in his window. There was a certain amount of banter back and forth between the ground, or the spacecraft communicator, Joe Engle and later Jack Lousma, here in Mission Control and Cernan. Weather in the landing area shows cloud decked at 1,800 feet [550 metres] scattered. Wave height, 4 feet [1.2 metres], wind 12 knots [6.17 m/s] out of 120 degrees, visibility 10 miles [18.5 km], scattered showers over about 10 percent of the area. Our touch down clock now showing 6 hours, 28 minutes mark till splash. We've still got midcourse correction burn number 7 sort of hanging fire as it were. No firm decision has been made yet, whether to do midcourse number 7. Midcourse number 6 was omitted during the night. If midcourse 7 is done it would be primarily to adjust the flight path angle by some 15 hundredths of 1 degree. We're continuing to stand by to monitor air to ground. The crew likely at the present time is eating breakfast. Going through all the housekeeping chores in the spacecraft cabin prior to powering up for today's activity. We'll leave the circuit live at this time and catch any bits of conversation as they take place.
Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.
185:24:07 Cernan: Hello, Houston. This is 10.
185:24:09 Lousma: Roger, 10.
185:24:11 Cernan: Jack, the LM CO2 canister is in the sleeping bag with the suit on the right-hand side, and it's at the foot of the sleeping bag, right next to A6.
CSM A6 storage compartment below the foot of the right hand crew couch.
185:24:33 Lousma: Roger. Copy. Thank you, Gene.
Long comm break.
185:30:32 Lousma: Apollo 10, Houston. If you're eating breakfast and got time to listen, I've got some newspaper reports; otherwise, I've got some PADs, and so forth. Over.
185:30:49 Cernan: OK. Go ahead, Jack; we'll listen.
185:30:52 Lousma: OK. One technical item first, the hydrogen tank fans: we'd like number 1, Off, and number 2, On. Over.
185:31:01 Cernan: Number 1s coming off and number 2's on.
185:31:06 Lousma: OK. The Orange Bugle. Pasadena, California: Scientists have found minute forms of life on a volcano-racked Antarctic island. They believe it much like the polar regions on Mars. Dr. Roy E. Cameron, Jet Propulsion Laboratory microbiologist, said in a report released Monday that algae, fungi, and bacteria had started to grow in lava rubble a year after Deception Island was rocked by volcanic blasts in December 1967.
185:31:35 Lousma: Kansas City: The weather bureau Sunday night said that it had received many calls from people in Missouri and Kansas inquiring about a bright object seen to the left of the Moon. Many thought it possibly might be the Apollo 10 on its return trip to Earth. At first a recording from the weather bureau informed callers the bright object was the planet Mars but amateur astronomers in Kansas City said it was the planet Jupiter. In St. Louis, the weather bureau said it had been advised by the president of the Astronomical Society of St. Louis that the bright object near the Moon is definitely Jupiter.
185:32:08 Lousma: Aboard the USS Princeton: About $750,000 is being spent on live color television of Apollo 10's Monday splashdown in the Pacific. But the networks are uncertain about the quality of the pictures. The pictures will be beamed by communications satellites to Brusterflat, Washington. From there they will be transmitted by microwave circuit to New York. The trouble is nobody has ever tried to send a picture that far says Carl Hoffenberg, a National Broadcasting Company producer assigned to the TV pool aboard this prime recovery ship.
185:32:45 Lousma: Washington: President Nixon celebrated the sixth anniversary of the signing of The Organization of African Unity Charter in a colorful diplomatic reception Sunday evening and promised to work for the future progress and prosperity of that continent.
185:33:03 Lousma: London: Two Soviet Scientists Sunday congratulated the Apollo 10 astronauts for contributing to man's knowledge of space. Soviet astronomer Nikolai Kartochev said on the Moscow radio's English service, "I should like to believe that the American Moon flight and the Soviet Venus probes will promote further progress in space exploration. I wish the crew of Apollo 10 successful completion of their space mission." Professor Ela Messovitch, a Soviet space researcher, said on the same broadcast, "Soviet and American space probes are advancing world science."
185:33:45 Lousma: In the sports news, in baseball: Atlanta 4, Phillies 1; the Astros licked the Mets 6 to 3, having won 17 of the last 21 games; I don't think you want to hear about the Cubs; San Diego took a double-header from the Cubs - correction - San Diego 10, Cubs 2 - first game, Cubs 1, San Diego nothing in the second game. And in the golf world, Atlanta: Bert Yancey, America's lone hope on a day dominated by foreigners, sank his third consecutive birdie putt on the second hole, in a sudden death playoff Sunday, to edge Australian Bruce Devlin for the Atlantic Gold Classic's championship. Yancey and Devlin both sank 10-foot birdie putts on the final hole of regulation play to post matching 11-under-par 277s that enabled them to finish one stroke ahead of South Africa's Gary Player, who also closed with a birdie, and to put them into a sudden death playoff. Both had three-under-par 69s in the final round. And that's the news.
185:35:00 Young: OK, Houston. This is 10. We just picked up three more guys. We've got the suits stowed flat. The CMP suit is under the left couch with the helmet on it up in the - excuse me - up in the right couch with the helmet on it, as per directed yesterday, in the sleep bag. The LMP suit and the CDR suit are under the center couch, stowed as per directed by the North American document that shows one suit with its head stowed footward, the other head stowed toward the head of the couch with the hat on the top of it. Over.
185:35:53 Lousma: Roger. Copy. Thank you.
Comm break.
185:38:10 Lousma: And, Apollo 10, Houston. We have another bit of information here. Spacecraft 106 had a harness which would not release after latching, and the recommendation in your case is to, if you have time and can't get one released, to take it apart at the harness adjusters, or if you have to get out of it in a hurry keep a pair of scissors handy nearby to cut the straps, and both of these methods have been attempted and verified to work. Over.
Tests on the crew harnesses in CSM 108 (erroneously identified as CSM 106, which the crew of Apollo 10 are flying in) due for Apollo 12, had found one of them would not release from the latch position. Following splashdown, the crew may need to release themselves from the couches in a hurry, so MCC-H are giving advice, just in case they too have a problem.
185:38:55 Young: Do you mean which wouldn't let go at the buckle? Over.
185:38:58 Lousma: That's right.
185:39:00 Young: I'll be darn! How about that. Do you know which harness it was?
185:39:08 Lousma: No. I don't, but I can attempt to find out here.
185:41:15 Lousma: Apollo 10, Houston. We will make midcourse 7. It will be approximately 1½ feet per second [0.46 m/s] in order to bring the g-level down. Over.
185:41:27 Cernan: OK, Jack.
Long comm break.
Following additional tracking, MCC-7 has been decided on to fine tune the re-entry flight angle and reduce the g-loading on the spacecraft and its occupants. This implies that currently the flight path angle is on the high side of perfect so that the spacecraft would re-enter at a slightly steeper angle (6.65° as stated by PAO below) and reach the denser parts of the atmosphere more quickly.
185:43:45 This is Apollo Control. The decision has been made to do midcourse correction burn number 7. RCS burn of about 1½ foot per second [0.46 m/s]. It will reduce the flight path angle to - from 6.65 degrees, -6.65 degrees to -6.5 degrees; about 15 hundredths of a degree change, which will thereby reduce the entry deceleration from a little over 7 gs to about 6.7 gs. Continuing to monitor air ground for resumption of conversation. A few moments ago the Entry Interface time was incorrectly identified as splash time. The clock identified as ET is time to Entry Interface or 400,000 feet [121,920 meters]above the Earth surface. Now showing 6 hours, 4 minutes, 40 seconds; Mark 6, 4, 40. Continuing to monitor air-ground.
185:47:19 Young: Houston, this is Apollo 10. Over.
185:47:21 Lousma: Go ahead.
185:47:24 Young: Roger. When you give us this new REFSMMAT and we go to realign to it, can you give us that attitude which we will be able to avoid the prospect of gimbal lock Program Alarm to maneuver to, to do the realign? Over.
185:47:43 Lousma: Roger. I understand you want some angles to avoid the Program Alarm.
185:47:49 Young: Yes, sir.
185:47:55 Young: And some good angles to see the stars.
185:47:59 Lousma: Roger. Stand by. We'll get...
185:48:01 Young: If possible about 180 from the Sun.
185:48:04 Lousma: OK. Thank you.
Comm break.
185:49:11 Lousma: And, 10. That lap belt business. We don't know which seat that occurred in, but it was in spacecraft 108. Over.
185:49:25 Young: OK. Well that's no problem then. That's spacecraft 108's problem.
185:49:32 Lousma: Roger. I wasn't sure that I gave you the right number. But we just wanted to alert you to this potential problem that arose.
Comm break.
185:53:31 Young: Houston, according to my star chart, that thing out beside the Moon is Jupiter.
185:53:37 Lousma: Roger. Then the expert from St. Louis is correct, right?
185:53:45 Young: Also, according to the optics that little rascal has about three or four Moons running around it right now that you can see through the optics.
The crew can see the Galilean moons of Jupiter through the 28-power sextant in the LEB.
185:53:56 Lousma: Roger.
185:54:06 Young: Or maybe it's a fleet of - maybe it's one great big spacecraft with a fleet of a bunch of little ones. I guess we'd better not put that word out.
185:54:20 Lousma: Yes. Like somebody said before, you guys have been up there too long.
Comm break.
185:55:50 Stafford: Hello, Houston. Apollo 10.
185:55:53 Lousma: Morning, Tom.
185:55:55 Stafford: Roger. Say, how did the Soviet Venus probe go? Did it land OK? Over.
185:56:02 Lousma: Say again, please.
185:56:05 Stafford: Roger. What about the Soviet Venus probe? Did it land all right? Over.
185:56:09 Lousma: Let us research that and get some word.
185:56:20 Young: See if you can find out anything about the temperature measurements.
185:56:45 Lousma: Stand by on the Venus probe: we've got a - some super sleuths working on that.
This is Apollo Control; 186 hours, 5 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. Apollo 10 now 42,616 nautical miles [78,924 km] from Earth; 9,909 feet per second [2.7 m/s] velocity. The prime recovery ship, Princeton, USB Princeton in the southwest Pacific, is now on station at 15.04 south latitude, 15.04 degrees south latitude; 164.41 west longitude. The Princeton reports the sea is as still as a mill pond. We're anticipating the maneuver PAD being passed to the crew before too long for midcourse correction number 7, the only one to be made during the return leg from the Moon; slightly over 1 foot per second [0.3 m/s]. Some comparisons with Apollo 8. On the return leg from the Moon Apollo 8 did the first outbound midcourse correction number 5 in the sequence at Trans-Earth Injection +15 hours. It was one, the only one made, 5 feet per second [1.52 m/s]. Entry velocity on Apollo 8 was 36,221 feet per second [11,040 m/s] at Entry Interface. We're anticipating 36,314 feet per second [11,069 m/s], slightly less than one hundred feet per second [30.5 m/s] faster entry on Apollo 10 than on Apollo 8. Continuing to monitor air to ground from Apollo 10 at 186 hours, 8 minutes; leaving the circuit live.
186:10:04 Cernan: Hello, Houston. This is 10.
186:10:07 Lousma: Go ahead.
186:10:10 Cernan: Jack, you still want us to cycle the H2 and O2 fans, or just leave them in this configuration.
186:10:55 Lousma: Apollo 10, Houston. Leave the H2 tank - or the tank fan configuration about the same as it is except that we'd like you to stir up the O2 tanks for a minute or so. Over.
186:11:10 Cernan: OK. Thank you.
Comm break.
186:16:40 Cernan: Hello, Houston. This is 10.
186:16:44 Lousma: Roger I knew it was you calling.
186:16:47 Cernan: Oh, yes. In addition to those other angles that John was talking to you about earlier, can you gin us up some TV angles, please?
186:17:00 Lousma: Roger. I've got the TV angles right here. We'll get John's angles - oh, about the time we have the TV pass - but you ready to copy?
186:17:11 Cernan: Yes. Go ahead.
186:17:13 Lousma: OK. TV at 186:50, left-hand side window, looking at the Earth. Roll is all balls, pitch is 090, yaw is all balls. And your High Gain angles will be plus 18 degrees in pitch, and 268 degrees in yaw.
186:17:44 Cernan: Jack, what will our distance from the Earth and relative velocity be placed, at that time?
186:17:52 Lousma: Stand by one. We'll extrapolate that.
186:17:58 Young: OK, Houston. This is 10 again. The lithium hydroxide canister, for purposes of determining the c.g., is butt up against A6, between A6 and A11. It's wedged in there and the half a bag of water is stored in A5. Only it's 25 percent of that half bag of water is probably going to be bubbles. I don't know how you weigh that.
186:18:30 Lousma: Roger. We got some experts here that can figure out how much the bubbles weigh.
186:18:35 Young: OK. And it's half - half filled with water.
186:18:39 Lousma: Roger.
186:18:43 Cernan: They don't hardly weigh more than the water at zero g. [Long pause.]
186:19:23 Lousma: Gene, this is Houston. At 186:50, about TV time, you're going to be at 38,435 miles [71,182 km]. And your velocity will be 10,402 feet per second [3,171 m/s].
186:19:39 Young: Finally starting to pick up a little.
186:19:42 Lousma: Yes, you're getting there. You just crossed the 10,000 foot per second [3,000 m/s] mark right now and you're really starting to move out now.
186:19:53 Stafford: We were going so slow there for a while, Jack, I thought we were about to stall out. Over.
186:19:58 Lousma: Yes. I was kind of wondering about all of that mathematics and automechanics, you know. I thought maybe you were going to fall through this time, but it looks like it's going to hang in there.
186:20:07 Young: OK, Houston. On the upper hatch, there is considerable water up there, and I guess if I was going to design a water separator, this would be a good place to put it.
186:20:21 Lousma: Roger. We copy.
Comm break.
186:26:47 Lousma: Apollo 10, Houston. On the Venus probe, Venus 5 landed on 16 May. Venus 6 landed on 17 May. Both were launched in January, 6 days apart, as you recall, and Soviet Scientists say that they are fully satisfied with results. Each probe has returned much new information which indicates and I quote: "Man will never go there" unquote. Their probes made a soft landing, lasted about 30 minutes after landing, measured a temperature of 537 degrees Fahrenheit [280°C]. Over.
186:27:27 Stafford: Roger. We'll look into the manned aspect later, but the crew of Apollo 10 wish you would give them our congratulations on their total engineering and scientific success. Over.
186:27:39 Lousma: Roger. Copy. Congratulations to the Soviets on their engineering success with the Venus probes.
Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.
186:31:14 Lousma: Apollo 10, Houston. I have a Flight Plan update.
186:31:23 Cernan: Go ahead, Jack.
186:31:25 Lousma: OK. At 189 plus 10 hours, we'd like you to read out the Command Module RCS temperatures off the system test meter. Because if preheat is required, we'll want to bring fuel cell 1 back on the line. And at 189 plus 20, we'll reservice the primary evaporator, using 3 minutes of water - 3-minute service. And I have a change to your entry checklist, as a result of the fuel cell situation. And the change is on page E-Echo 2-2, step 6, line 12, change fuel cell 2 main A and B Off to read instead, fuel cell 1 main A and B Off. And in addition we're standing by for your crew status reports and we'd like some PRD readings before you go through the radiation belt, so we can compare them with those afterwards. Over.
186:32:39 Cernan: OK. On that - On that checklist now, I just want to make sure, the preceding line says fuel cell pumps, parentheses 3, Off. Corrected line now says fuel cell 1 Main A and B, Off, and then it says verified loads balanced. Right?
186:33:00 Lousma: That is affirmative. You've got that right.
186:33:04 Cernan: OK. We'll we have fuel cell 1, Main A, Main B, Off right now.
186:33:12 Lousma: Roger, 10. If we bring fuel cell 1 on, then this note will apply. Over.
186:33:20 Cernan: OK, Jack. I'm with you and at 1 - At 189 20, we're going to reservice the Evap for 3 minutes, and at 189 10, we'll read off the CM RCS temps and at that time well decide on fuel cell 1, and stand by for those RAD readings.
186:33:39 Lousma: Roger.
186:34:20 Cernan: OK. Crew status check. The CDR took 1 'Lomo' last night and he's going to take a decongestant just precautionary prior to re-entry. The crew slept well last night, from anywhere to 4 to 8 hours sleep apiece. The RadD readings are 26048, 05049, and 15050, and we've completed breakfast. The spacecraft is about 90 percent - 95 percent stowed, and we'll be in the couches here, and probably remain pretty much so there from now on in.
186:35:03 Lousma: Roger. We copy, Gene. Thank you.
Very long comm break.
186:47:00 Cernan: Houston, this is 10.
186:47:02 Lousma: Go ahead, 10.
186:47:04 Cernan: I'm going to High Gain Antenna at this time.
186:47:07 Lousma: Copy. [Long pause.]
186:47:48 Cernan: Hello, Houston. When do you want to conduct a Simplex checks?
186:48:05 Lousma: Apollo 10, Houston. We're monitoring the VHF and we'll notify when we need VHF check. Over.
186:48:14 Cernan: OK. Fine. We'll be standing by for it.
186:48:24 Stafford: Houston, Apollo 10. We're all squared away in the attitude for the final TV pass. Over.
186:48:30 Lousma: Roger. Copy, Tom.
186:48:36 Stafford: And, Houston, are you going to be receiving this live at MCC? Over.
186:48:44 Lousma: Stand by one.
186:48:59 Lousma: 10, Houston. TV will be live here.
186:49:03 Stafford: OK.
186:49:16 This is Apollo Control. As mentioned in the conversation between Jack Lousma and the crew, coming up on a television pass in less than a minute, according to the Flight Plan. It'll be routed through the Honeysuckle Creek, Australia tracking station over S-band relayed by satellite back to Mission Control, where it will be converted into color and distributed from there. Standing by for this morning's television pass, the final one of the mission, to begin.
186:50:04 Stafford: Houston, Apollo 10. We're ready to go with the TV, if you are.
186:50:07 Lousma: Stand by one.
186:50:12 Lousma: OK, Apollo 10. Houston. We're going to TV at this time. Over.
186:50:39 Cernan: OK, Houston. You ought to be starting to pick up a view of the Earth at this time. We're coming to you on our final TV pass. Let us know when you're getting it, Jack.
186:50:56 Lousma: Roger, Gene. We'll tell you when we're getting it here.
186:51:40 Stafford: Houston, Apollo 10. How does the screen look? Over.
186:51:45 Lousma: Roger, 10. We're not getting it yet. Apparently everything isn't quite warmed up yet. Oh, here she comes.
186:52:02 Lousma: OK. We're getting TV of the Earth. We see the terminator, and you're getting it centered up pretty good right now.
186:52:16 Stafford: Good morning from Apollo 10. We're now approximately 38,000 miles [70,376 km] from the Earth and we're starting to accelerate rapidly as the Earth's influence becomes felt more and more the closer we get. We're doing now approximately 7,500 miles an hour [3,353 m/s], and we're 5 hours out from final entry into the Earth's atmosphere. This morning as we look out there we can see part of China, India is the most predominant feature. But also we can see Saudi Arabia, the Gulf of Oman, and the Indian Ocean at this time. And I'll try to give you a little zoom here in on Saudi Arabia and India.
186:53:08 Young: Tom's going to zoom the TV into the Gulf of Oman, now. See what you can see, there. OK. That's full zoom into the Gulf of Oman.
186:53:31 Young: The Gulf of Oman is in the center left part of your picture. How does it look down there?
186:53:36 Lousma: OK, 10. The globe is about centering the screen at this time, and we can see the darker landmasses and the Gulf of Oman is not apparent to a novice I guess you might say. But it's a beautiful picture and it's coming through well.
186:53:55 Young: Sure is a beautiful picture.
186:54:00 Lousma: I guess you might say that the artist that painted that one is a master.
186:54:12 Lousma: I know that looks real good to you guys, and the closer you get the better it looks.
186:54:19 Cernan: Jack, one reflection that we felt very strong about is when we show you our last telecast here of the Earth, is that we felt very strong about sharing with you some of the adventure, the excitement, the challenges, and the rewards of these 8 days, and through this endeavor, we have hoped that we made you and millions of people of the world, more of a part of the history that's being made in our day and age.
186:54:47 Lousma: I know everybody around the world has appreciated the TV pictures and all the effort you went to make them good. They've all been excellent and I know it's given everyone a better feeling for what we're actually doing and a better appreciation of the program in general.
186:55:05 Stafford: OK. Some final just color thoughts as we look in there. India appears to us to be a purplish tan over - I see that the - the Sun - the solar subpoint is right in the Gulf of Oman, now. It is nearly a yellowish bronze. Beyond that we have Saudi Arabia. And Saudi Arabia to us looks a sandy orange. Up to the right, up to the very top of your screen is covered mostly with clouds and this has been the cloud cover that has existed over the northern part of the world ever since we left Cape Kennedy nearly 8 days ago. Down below to the left, the long straight cloud is part of the ITC you can see it, or even down farther than that into the Indian Ocean. But throughout these telecasts, as you can see that the majority of the world is usually covered with clouds. Over.
186:56:03 Lousma: Roger, Tom. And I think the people around the world are kind of sad to see this to be the last TV shots from space for a while, and I know that they've been very interested and enthusiastic about the pictures and the total flight.
186:56:22 Stafford: Roger. It's kind of a feeling of the same way for us not to see these beautiful views. Of course, we're certainly looking forward to being back on the good Earth in about 5 hours. And it's really been a fantastic overall flight for us, and some of the experiences that we've had all the way, from liftoff on the Saturn V to seeing the Earth and Moon, the lunar orbit work, and the climb out from the Moon and all the way back. And why don't we take you inside the cockpit for one quick minute?
186:57:31 Lousma: OK. We have it inside the cabin now, Tom, and weve got a pretty good look at a clean shaven Command Module pilot there.
186:57:42 Young: This is your old retired philosopher speaking to you from outer space, and telling you that TV is on its way back.
186:57:54 Lousma: Roger. Thank you for those words from the old retired philosopher.
186:57:59 Young: We have a little more work to do and then we'll be back with you and it will sure be great to be back. It's been utterly unbelievable, the mission has. We've really enjoyed every bit of it, so until we see you again, we'll say so long.
186:58:18 Stafford: OK. We'll pan over on the right side of the cockpit where Commander Gene Cernan...
186:58:38 Lousma: Hello, Gene. How about saying a few words into the microphone?
186:58:42 Cernan: OK, Jack. I can't tell you what a rewarding and satisfying experience this has been. It's had its moments, as I said. I'm just thankful that through the medium of television we've been able to share it with so many people in real time. I'm convinced, after this mission, none of them are going to be easy, but nothing is impossible, and I think that the future of manned space flight for now and for many generations to come is going to uncover many, many other new challenges and experiences that we're yet really incapable of even conceiving at this time. It's been a great 8 days, and of course, we're looking forward to get home, and I guess next time we'll be talking to you, seeing you and we'll be back on the ground. Thank you.
186:59:38 Lousma: Hello there, Skipper.
186:59:40 Stafford: Good morning. On the final closeout telecast of Apollo 10, we just want to say that it has just been fantastic - the total views that we've seen on this total mission. Again, like Gene pointed out, no mission's easy, and it's been a lot of work. But we've enjoyed the whole thing greatly. And, also, the main thing is, we've been able to - in real time, on some of the major parts of the mission - to share this with you. Like we pointed out, that fantastic view when we left the Moon, Man has certainly progressed a long ways in such a short few years. And how much we're going to progress in the future is left to your imagination. But if we harness our energies and keep our perspective right, the goals are unlimited. And we want to take you back out to show you one last picture of the world - wait a minute - We want to show you a couple of other people that's been with us here. We can't here - we've got the spacecraft fairly well stowed - In fact, we're running about an hour and a half ahead of schedule onboard the spacecraft.
187:00:54 Stafford: But, as you know, we had the Lunar Module with us, which we nicknamed "Snoopy." And Snoopy the ascent part of Snoopy - is on its way around the Sun now. The descent part is still in an orbit around the Moon, and right now we're in our code nickname of "Charlie Brown." And here's again our little mascot, Charlie Brown, code name for the Command Module, and Charlie Brown has been a real good boy. He's been with us all the way. The spacecraft has been fantastic with respect to its systems and its reliability. It's done a beautiful job for the whole program.
187:01:36 Stafford: And how does the color look for Charlie Brown down there, Houston?
187:01:40 Lousma: The color is perfect, Tom; Good morning, Charlie.
187:01:44 Stafford: And Charlie just wants to say "Good morning" to all you people and it's great to be on the mission. And here is our other friend that went along with us. And for a code name, and as we said, part of him is on the way around the Sun and the other part around the Moon, so he's got quite a split personality. Over.
187:02:02 Stafford: And here's the code name of our Lunar Module, "Snoopy." And Snoopy was a fairly good dog for us. In fact, he's a fantastic vehicle to fly. But again one thing we want to point out about Snoopy, this is a symbol of a manned flight awareness program and represents the good work and efforts of the hundreds of thousands of people who have made the manned space flight program so successful. And from the crew of Apollo 10, we'd just like to give all those people a salute and acknowledgment, and this is one way of doing it, just by naming a spacecraft after their symbol. And so from the five of us, Gene Cernan, John Young, Tom Stafford, Snoopy, and Charlie Brown, we'd just like to say goodbye. And here's out little symbol for the mission, and we'll see you back on the water in the South Pacific. In fact we should land about 300 miles [555 km] east of Samoa in approximately 5 hours. So from the crew of Apollo 10, it's been great being with you and goodbye.
187:03:14 Lousma: Roger. Thank you, Tom. Preparations are well underway for your return and recovery, and we're looking forward to seeing you real soon.
