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Apollo 11

Day 8, part 1: The News and Spacecraft Checks

Corrected Transcript and Commentary Copyright © 2009-2021 by W. David Woods, Kenneth D. MacTaggart and Frank O'Brien. All rights reserved.
Last updated 2021-03-06
Index to events
Crew wake up 170:59:56
Entry PAD 171:07:19
Apollo 11 equidistant between Moon and Earth 174:24:07
After wake-up, the crew of Apollo 11 have the daily news read up to them, update their Flight Plan, and check various aspects of spacecraft. They pass the half-way distance point between the Moon and Earth.
Download MP3 audio file. PAO loop. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.
This is Apollo Control at 162 hours, 28 minutes. The Apollo 11 spacecraft Columbia is 138,674 nautical miles [256,824 km] from Earth, approaching at a velocity of 4,692 feet per second [1,430 m/s]. Spacecraft weight, 26,000 pounds [11,800 kg]. Flight Director Glynn Lunney has just completed a status check with all of the flight controllers here. Gotten very good reports from all of them. The Retrofire Officer reports that on the present trajectory, Columbia's entry angle is minus 6.56 degrees. The nominal entry angle is minus 6.51 degrees. Retro expects entry velocity to be 36,194 feet per second [11,032 m/s]. He calls these entry conditions excellent. Flight Dynamics Officer says that tracking is looking very good. Guidance Navigation and Control officer reports the Passive Thermal Control stable, operating very well. Reaction Control System looking very good. EECOM, the Electrical, Environmental and Communications officer, reports cryogenics well balanced, the Environmental Control System looking good. All of the antennas and the power status in good shape. And the Flight Surgeon reports the crew sleeping soundly. His data indicates all three crewmen were asleep by 160 hours, 42 minutes; and he reports they've taken no medication. And recovery reports; the weather looks very good in recovery area, and all conditions there are ready for a successful recovery. This is Mission Control, Houston.
Download MP3 audio file. PAO loop. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.
Flight Plan, page 3-116.
This is Apollo Control at 163 hours, 28 minutes. Apollo 11 is 135,920 nautical miles [251,724 km] from Earth. Velocity; 4,758 feet per second [1,450 m/s]. Crew's been asleep almost three hours now. All systems still performing well. This is Mission Control, Houston.
Download MP3 audio file. PAO loop. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.
This is Apollo Control at 164 hours, 28 minutes. Apollo 11 is 133,131 nautical miles [246,559 km] from Earth; approaching at a velocity of 4,827 feet per second [1,471 m/s]. Crew is asleep. Performance of all systems continues to be normal. We're 30 hours, 34 minutes, 37 seconds away from entry of Apollo 11 into the Earth's atmosphere. This is Mission Control, Houston.
Download MP3 audio file. PAO loop. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.
Flight Plan, page 3-117.
This is Apollo Control at 165 hours, 28 minutes. Apollo 11 is 130,306 nautical miles [241,327 km] from the Earth. Velocity; 4,900 feet per second [1,494 m/s]. Crew is still asleep and all systems are still performing well. This is Mission Control, Houston.
Download MP3 audio file. PAO loop. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.
This is Apollo Control at 166 hours, 28 minutes. Apollo 11 is 127,431 nautical miles [236,002 km] from the Earth. Velocity; 4,975 feet per second [1,516 m/s]. Crew still sleeping. All systems still normal. The weather bureau's space flight meteorology group reported today that weather conditions for the landing of Apollo 11 tomorrow are expected to be acceptable. Some showers have been reported near the landing area, but these are expected to move westward, leaving the recovery area with partly cloudy skies, east-north-easterly winds, 10 to 15 knots, and 4-foot seas. Although tropical storms will not affect weather in the landing area, the Apollo 11 crew should get a good view of the tropical storm Viola, located in the western North Pacific, and also the remains of tropical storm Claudia, located southeast of Hawaii. This is Mission Control, Houston.
Download MP3 audio file. PAO loop. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.
Flight Plan, page 3-118.
This is Apollo Control at 167 hours, 28 minutes. Apollo 11 is 124,520 nautical miles [230,611 km] from the Earth; approaching at a velocity of 5,055 feet per second [1,541 m/s]. All still going well aboard Apollo 11. Maintaining a stable Passive Thermal Control mode, nose pointed toward the Earth, rotating 3 revolutions per hour. This is Mission Control, Houston.
Download MP3 audio file. PAO loop. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.
This is Apollo Control at 168 hours, 28 minutes. Apollo 11's distance from the Earth is 121,550 nautical miles [225,111 km]. Velocity; 5,138 feet per second [1,566 m/s]. All systems still performing well. The crew still asleep. Clock here in the Control Center shows 26 hours, 34 minutes, 37 seconds until entry into the Earth's atmosphere. This is Mission Control, Houston.
Download MP3 audio file. PAO loop. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.
Flight Plan, page 3-119.
This is Apollo Control at 169 hours, 28 minutes. Apollo 11 is 118,542 nautical miles [219,540 km] from Earth; approaching at a velocity of 5,225 feet per second [1,593 m/s]. Crew is still asleep. Performance of all systems continues to be normal. Midcourse Correction number 6, which was scheduled for an elapsed time of 172 hours, has been canceled. The trajectory is such that it will not be required. From the Manned Space Flight Network we have a report of a contribution to the Apollo 11 mission from a 10-year-old boy in Guam. The Guam tracking station is receiving telemetry from this mission. Had a problem with one if its antennas - a bearing. The bearing was replaced with the assistance of a 10-year-old boy named Greg Force who had arms small enough that he could work through a 2½ inch diameter hole to pack the new bearing. We're now showing Entry Interface with the Earth's atmosphere; 25 hours, 33 minutes, 30 seconds from now; and the Green Team of flight controllers led by Cliff Charlesworth is now taking over from Glynn Lunney and his Black Team of flight controllers. This is Mission Control, Houston.
Greg's father Charles Force was Director of the Tracking Station on the island of Guam. At about 10pm on July 23rd he recalls his father had him picked up from his home, where he was with his mother and brothers, and brought to the station. A stuck bearing meant the antenna could not move. Greg did not actually replace the bearing, but he greased it through a narrow hole where an adult arm could not reach. That was sufficient to allow the antennae to move again and continue tracking Apollo 11. Greg later met Neil Armstrong, who thanked him in person. Charles Force died in 2007.
Download MP3 audio file. PAO loop. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.
This is Apollo Control at 170 hours, 28 minutes. The Flight Surgeon reports that all three crew members apparently are still sleeping, and there are no immediate plans to awaken them at this time. Apollo 11 is presently 115,470 nautical miles [213,850 km] from the Earth and the speed is up to 5,317 feet per second [1,621 m/s]. In about 4 hours; at 174 hours, 24 minutes Ground Elapsed Time, Apollo 11 will be in terms of distance half way home. At that point it will be 102,888 nautical miles [190,549 km] from the Moon, and 102,888 nautical miles [190,549 km] from the Earth. All systems on the spacecraft continue to function normally at this time. The spacecraft weight is almost an even 26,000 pounds [11,793 kg]. At 170 hours, 29 minutes; this is Apollo Control, Houston.
Download MP3 audio file. PAO loop. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.
This is Apollo Control at 170 hours, 54 minutes. The Flight Surgeon reported a few minutes ago that telemetry data now indicates all three crewmen are awake after about 10 hours of rest. We expect we will be hearing from them shortly. Apollo 11 at this time is 114,146 nautical miles [211,398 km] from the Earth and the spacecraft velocity is 5,359 feet per second [1,633 m/s]. A press conference with the principal investigators for lunar samples is scheduled to begin in about 4 or 5 minutes and during that press conference we will tape-record any conversations with the crew and play them back following. At 170 hours, 55 minutes; this is Apollo Control, Houston.
Download MP3 audio file. PAO loop. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.
170:59:56 Garriott: Apollo 11, Houston. Are you up and at them yet? Over.
Flight Plan, page 3-120.
171:00:04 Armstrong: Well, we're up, at least, Owen.
171:00:09 Aldrin: Eyeballing my Magellanic Clouds. Over.
171:00:12 Garriott: 11, Houston. Got your signals loud and clear, here. How are things this morning? Over. [Pause.]
171:00:24 Armstrong: Do you read us, Owen?
171:00:27 Garriott: Roger. Loud and clear, 11.
171:00:31 Armstrong: Okay. Everything seems to be all right here. So far, we haven't been looking in the cockpit yet. We've been spending our time looking outside the cockpit. [Garble].
171:00:42 Garriott: Roger, 11. You're breaking up just a little bit there, Neil. Your signals are loud but are breaking up occasionally. Your spacecraft all looks good here from the ground. We noticed you stirring around the cockpit and thought we'd give you a call. Over.
171:00:59 Armstrong: Good morning. [Pause.]
171:01:07 Garriott: 11, Houston. We do have a few items for you here, Entry PADs, consumables, and so forth. After you've had a chance to get organized, whenever you're ready to start on a few of these items, why, we'll read them up to you. Over.
171:01:22 Aldrin: Okay. Stand by. [Long pause.]
171:01:50 Aldrin: Go ahead, Owen. I've got the books out. Ready to copy.
171:01:52 Garriott: Okay, Buzz. On your Flight Plan items, a few updates first of all. We've cancelled Midcourse number 6. Just remain - remain in PTC. Give you a little more time this morning. Second item on the Flight Plan is we're ready for a Batt B charge any time you want to put it on the line. And third item, we'd like a waste water dump a little differently this time. We'd like to do it on our marks from the ground. The PTC is a little bit ragged, and we would like to make the water dump at a time which we think will hold it in its proper configuration, so it looks like we'll have a desirable opportunity coming along in - between 15 and 20 minutes. And on our mark, we would like to have a waste-water dump down to about 40 percent. I'll give you a more accurate level for the water dump a little later. Over.
171:02:53 Aldrin: Roger. Someone must have stayed up all night figuring this one out.
171:03:00 Garriott: 11, Houston. Stand by just a moment here until we get out of the null position on the antenna.
Comm break.
171:04:14 Garriott: 11, Houston. We're over on Omni Delta now. I think we can read you better. Did you get all those first three items on your Flight Plan update? Over.
171:04:25 Aldrin: I got midcourse correction canceled, Battery B charge and water dump on your call. Over.
171:04:35 Garriott: That's right, Buzz. And the last item here, we do request that we do a P52, even now, though, we're not doing the midcourse correction, and we'll suggest you get to that after the waste-water dump has been complete. We also have a state vector update for you, if you can give us P00 and Accept. Over.
171:05:09 Aldrin: Okay. You have the DSKY now.
171:05:12 Garriott: Roger. We'll be sending that up, and I'll give you your consumables update now. It's - for a time of 170 hours. Your RCS total is minus 3.5 percent, Alpha is minus 14.5, Bravo plus 7, Charlie minus 4.5, Delta minus 3; hydrogen total is minus 1, and your oxygen total is plus 24. Over.
171:05:50 Aldrin: Roger. Copy those. And onboard readouts, D is 69, C is 73, B is - Let me start over again. Okay. A is 51 and B is 62, C is 63 and D is 59. Over.
171:06:47 Garriott: Roger, 11. Copy those, and we've checked them here on the ground, also. One correction to my last transmission. We would like that P52 prior to the waste-water dump, which is coming up in about 30 minutes from now. Will that be possible? Over.
171:07:03 Aldrin: Oh, yeah. We'll take care of that.
171:07:07 Garriott: Roger. And if you're ready for an Entry PAD, I'll read that up to you now also, 11.
171:07:16 Aldrin: Ready to copy.
171:07:19 Garriott: Okay. Entry PAD is area MidPac: 359, 153, 001; 194:46:03, 267; plus 11.02, minus 172.03; 06.7; 36194, 6.55; 1187.5, 36275; 195:03:03; 00:28. DL and VL, all four are not applicable. D0, 4.00, 02:10; 00:18, 03:38, 08:21. 44, 293.2, 38.0. Boresight star is Scorpio Theta, up 31.4, right 3.4, lift vector up. Comments: Entry data assumes no midcourse maneuvers. Your Earth entry minus 30 minutes horizon check, 194 plus 33 plus 03. Your pitch is 297. This assumes an entry REFSMMAT. Your GDC align stars are Deneb and Vega. Roll, pitch, yaw; 078, 233, 340. Read back. Over.
This is a second preliminary PAD whose provision hedges against the remote possibility of a communication problem later. In the event, it will be replaced with another that will alter the style of the entry profile to move the landing point away from a possible storm. As with all PADs, there is a very strict format associated with it. Both astronauts on the ground and in the spacecraft are using a form that contains all the necessary details for interpreting the numbers.
An example of a form for copying the details of the Entry PAD.
Before interpreting the PAD, it may be useful to explain some of the terminology used. The first important concept is that of Entry Interface, a completely arbitrary event which is defined as the time when the spacecraft (then consisting of only the Command Module) reaches an altitude of 400,000 feet (65.83 nautical miles, 121.92 km). This point is only a mathematical construct, chosen as a reference altitude against which the trajectory conditions can be tested. Those conditions, like flight path angle to the horizontal, can be calculated by working forward from the spacecraft's current state vector. Entry Interface not depend on the vagaries of the atmosphere.
A second concept is the 0.05g event. This is the point at which the increasing drag of the atmosphere's outer fringes cause a deceleration measuring a twentieth of a g. For calculation sake, prior to entry actually occurring, it is taken to occur at an altitude of 297,432 feet (48.95 nautical miles, 90.66 km) but it will occur when the spacecraft's guidance system detects a change in velocity of 0.49 m/s2 (0.05g). It triggers a change in the entry program run by the computer and also begins the monitoring of the trajectory by the EMS (Entry Monitoring System).
Note that some events in the PAD are tied to the Entry Interface event, others to the 0.05g event.
The data passed up for this entry PAD are interpreted as follows: The next four items pertain to an entry that includes a skip-out manoeuvre. They are not applicable to this version of the Entry PAD. However, they will become relevant to later versions as they relate to the g-forces and velocities associated with a skip-out. Since this manoeuvre is not part of this PAD, the values are omitted.
The next three items refer to an attitude check made using the COAS sighted on a star two minutes before Entry Interface.
There are additional comments to the PAD. The data given here are only relevant if no further midcourse corrections are made. At 194:33:03, 30 minutes before reaching Entry Interface, a crude check is made of the spacecraft's attitude by viewing Earth's horizon and seeing where it lines up with graduations in the rendezvous window, assuming the IMU platform is aligned per the entry REFSMMAT. If the check is out by more than ±5°, the crew would treat the IMU as suspect. Instead they would use the BMAGs and the GDCs to be the attitude reference. Note that this PAD is very preliminary and will change markedly so that the spacecraft can avoid a storm.
171:09:57 Aldrin: Roger. MidPac Entry PAD: 359, 153, 001; 194:46:03, 267; plus 11.02, minus 172.03; 06.7; 36194, 6.55; 1187.5, 36275; 195:03:03; 00:28. DL and VL NA. 4.00, 02:10; 00:18, 03:38, 08:21. 44, 293.2, 38.0. Scorpii Delta [corrects himself] Scorpii Theta, up 31.4, right 3.4; up. No midcourse correction. Horizon, EI minus 30, 194:33:03. Pitch 297. Deneb and Vega. 078, 233, 340. Over.
171:11:17 Garriott: 11, Houston. That's roger. Copy. 11, it's also your computer. You can go back to Block.
171:11:28 Aldrin: Roger.
Long comm break.
Mission Control are going to have the crew carry out a water dump in about half an hour. Their idea is to se if the weak thrust from the dump can be timed to correct a slight wobble that has built up in their Passive Thermal Control (PTC) rotation. However, they would like Mike to carry out a realignment of the guidance platform before they start squirting water into space.
Mike's platform realignment is completed at 171:16. The stars used are not noted on page 90 of the Apollo 11 Mission Report. The angles through which the platform had to be rotated to compensate for drift in its orientation were +0.445° in X, +0.451° in Y and +0.006° in Z. The difference in the actual angle between these two stars and Mike's measured angle is 0.01°, a very good result.
At around this time, two photographs of Earth are taken on magazine V.
AS11-44-6672 - Earth at about 207,000 km or 112,000 nautical miles. Photograph taken at approximately 171:20:00. North is to the lower right. The ochre tones of the Sahara desert are clearly seen with the Atlantic Ocean dominating the view. 250-mm lens. Image credit: Image Science and Analysis Laboratory, NASA-Johnson Space Center.
AS11-44-6673 - Earth at about 207,000 km or 112,000 nautical miles. Photograph taken at approximately 171:20:00. North is down. The ochre tones of the Sahara desert are clearly seen with the Atlantic Ocean dominating the view. 250-mm lens. Image credit: Image Science and Analysis Laboratory, NASA-Johnson Space Center.
Compare these images to a diagram of Earth from page 3-121 of the Flight Plan which was calculated for 1 hour, 40 minutes later.
Download MP3 audio file. PAO loop. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.
171:18:51 Armstrong: Okay, Houston. The crew status report is 8½, 7, and 8.
171:19:00 Garriott: 11, Houston. Roger, Neil. 8½, 7, and 8 for your crew status.
171:19:08 Armstrong: Right.
171:19:13 Garriott: 11, Houston. Your P52 looked good here on the ground, and we are now estimating that water dump will occur along about 171 plus 40, and we'd like for you to dump to 45 percent. This should let you arrive at Earth Interface with just about a full load of waste water. Over.
171:19:37 Armstrong: Understand 151:40 approximately. To 40 percent.
Comm break.
Armstrong mis-reads the time and 45 percent as 40 percent. Garriott tactfully corrects him in a moment.
171:22:14 Garriott: 11, Houston. We'd like to advance the time on that water dump to about 171 plus 30 just after we reacquire on the next Omni, and - as I mentioned, it'll be down to 45 percent - is the new quantity. Also, we're standing by for your CM RCS injector temperature readout. Over.
Comm break.
171:25:38 Garriott: Apollo 11, Houston. I'm not certain you copied my last transmission, as we were just in the process of switching Omnis. We'd like to advance the time on that water dump to about 5 minutes from now. And we'll give you a precise mark on the time to start the dump, and we are standing by for a readout on your CM RCS injector temperatures. Over.
171:26:00 Collins: Okay, Owen. We're standing by for your mark, and stand by for the readout.
171:26:03 Garriott: Roger. [Long pause.]
171:26:40 Collins: Houston, Apollo 11. Are you ready to copy injector temperatures? I'll read them in volts.
171:26:46 Garriott: That's affirm. Go ahead, Mike.
171:26:49 Collins: Okay. 2-4 is reading 4.7 volts, 2-5 is reading 4.8 volts, 1-2 is reading 4.8 volts, 1-4 is reading 4.8. 1-6, 4.5; and 2-1, 4.8. Over.
Mike is reading the temperatures from the System Test Meter.
Panel 101 in the Lower Equipment Bay, to the left of the optics panel.
Often in instrumentation, the output of a particular sensor is a voltage which bears some sort of relationship with the phenomenon that is being measured. The Apollo spacecraft is festooned with sensors, each producing a voltage with varying ranges. An electronics unit takes all these voltage ranges and changes them all to fit within the range 0V to 5V. This has two advantages. First, by standardising the range, it is easier to telemeter the signals to Earth as the five-volt range can be represented in a simple digital range, say from binary 00000000 to binary 11111111 (0 to 255 decimal). Second, instead of filling an already cramped spacecraft with more meters and gauges, a single meter can be used for the less critical readings. Some simple switching can then permit a large number of sensor outputs to be read on this single meter. This is the System Test Meter.
Page F10-26 of the CSM Operations Checklist has a table which allows conversion of the voltage readings to some of the parameters that might be measured. Of Mike's readings, the most common is 4.8 volts which translates to an injector temperature of +46°F or +8°C.
Mike's comm is confusing. The knobs used to select a reading are marked in numbers for the left knob and letters for the right knob. For example, selection 5-C yields the injector valve temperature for the negative pitch thruster on the B ring. However, Mike is using numbers only. The reason for this is currently unknown.
171:26:52 Garriott: 11, Houston. Roger those - I got them all.
Comm break.
Download MP3 audio file. PAO loop. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.
171:29:46 Garriott: Apollo 11, Houston. We're ready to start your waste water dump at this time. Over.
171:30:00 Collins: Roger. Dumping.
Long comm break.
Download MP3 audio file. PAO loop. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.
171:33:30 Garriott: Apollo 11, Houston. We show you...
171:33:32 Collins: Houston, Apollo 11. We've dumped to 45 percent, and are stopping now. Do you concur?
171:33:37 Garriott: Roger, 11. We concur.
Very long comm break.
Download MP3 audio file. PAO loop. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.
171:53:35 Garriott: Apollo 11, Houston. I can read up your forecast weather for the recovery area any time you'd like to hear about it. Over.
171:53:45 Armstrong: Go ahead.
171:53:47 Garriott: 11, Houston. Present forecast shows acceptable conditions in your recovery area - 2,000-foot scattered, high scattered, wind from 070 degrees, 13 knots, visibility 10 miles, and sea state about 4 feet. The forecast yesterday showed a tropical storm, Claudia, some 500 to 1,000 miles east of Hawaii. The - the pictures from Earth satellites taken yesterday afternoon - afternoon showed Claudia dissipating, so this appears to be even less a factor than it was before. Your recovery area is now believed to be just a little ways north of the inter-tropical convergence zone which you can probably see when you look out your windows there. Yesterday there was also a report of a tropical storm, Viola, further to the west. Its present location is some thousand miles east of the Phillipines and moving northwest. Tropical storm Viola has been intensifying and should be transferred to the typhoon category within the next 12 hours or so. However, that will be far to your west. As a matter of fact, sunrise terminator has not yet reached Viola. When it does several hours from now, you can probably distinguish it from your viewpoint quite readily. As a matter of fact it should be of interest to perhaps take some pictures. Comment upon it when you do get a chance to see Viola in a few hours. So that's about the present weather state and situation for your recovery area. Over.
171:55:40 Armstrong: Okay, sounds pretty good [garble].
Very long comm break.
Download MP3 audio file. PAO loop. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.
Flight Plan, page 3-121.
172:17:16 Garriott: Apollo 11, Houston. Over,
172:17:22 Collins: Go right ahead, Houston.
172:17:24 Garriott: 11, Houston. We'd like to try an operation on the - with the High Gain array here. If you would select Reacquire and your S-Band antenna to High Gain, your positions are pitch plus 40 and yaw 270, and then monitor for acquisition. Over.
172:17:48 Collins: Okay. It's in work.
Long comm break.
Mission Control are having another shot at using the Reacquire mode on the High Gain Antenna. In this mode, the antenna automatically maintains its aim on Earth. However, as the spacecraft rotates in its barbeque mode, the antenna will eventually reach the end stops in its articulation. In Reacq mode,
Download MP3 audio file. PAO loop. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.
This is Apollo Control at 172 hours, 20 minutes. During the press conference, we established contact with the crew. Capsule Communicator Owen Garriot put in a call at 171 hours, about 10 minutes after the Surgeon reported biomedical data showed all three crewmen awake. Neil Armstrong responded. We have received a status report from the crew. We also passed up the information - preliminary information that they will use in the re-entry tomorrow and gave them a weather report for the prime recovery area in the Pacific landing zone. We'll play back about 12 minutes of taped conversation we've accumulated to date and then stand by for any further live comments from the spacecraft.
Download MP3 audio file. PAO loop. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.
172:21:25 Garriott: 11, Houston. We're just now ready to switch from Omni Delta over to your High Gain Antenna. Can you confirm that you have gone to Reacq? Over.
172:21:35 Collins: Confirmed.
Comm break.
172:23:04 Garriott: That looks real good, Mike. Looks like we picked up about 30 dB on the signal strength.
172:23:11 Aldrin: Yeah. It came in quite quickly. However, I'm showing about 240 yaw and about - about zero degrees pitch, now.
172:23:22 Garriott: Roger. About 240 and 0.
Very long comm break.
Download MP3 audio file. PAO loop. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.
This is Apollo Control at 172 hours, 38 minutes. Apollo 11 now 108,669 nautical miles [201,255 km] from the Earth; traveling at a speed of 5,534 feet per second [1,687 m/s].
Download MP3 audio file. PAO loop. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.
This is Apollo Control at 173 hours, 18 minutes. There are virtually no Flight Plan activities scheduled at this time. The spacecraft systems all continue to perform normally, and at the present time, Apollo 11 is 106,482 nautical miles [197,205 km] from the Earth and velocity is 5,607 feet per second [1,709 m/s]. At 174 hours, 24 minutes the spacecraft will be approximately half way between the Earth and the Moon in terms of distance, and it will be 102,888 nautical miles [190,549 km] from the Earth and the same distance from the Moon. The spacecraft weight at this time is 26,000 pounds [11,793 kg].
Download MP3 audio file. PAO loop. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.
173:35:23 Garriott: Apollo 11, Houston. Over.
173:35:28 Armstrong: Go ahead.
173:35:29 Garriott: Ah, just wanted to make sure you fellows hadn't gone back to sleep again. And I also have a little bit of late news here if you'd like to find out what's happened in the last 12-14 hours. Over.
173:35:42 Armstrong: Okay. Go ahead.
173:35:44 Garriott: Okey doke. Hot off the press here, we find Juan Carlos was formally designated yesterday - Tuesday - to become General Franco's successor - as the Chief of State of Spain and eventual King. Juan Carlos will be sworn in today as his successor designate after taking an oath of loyalty to the law and the National Movement, Spain's only legal political organization. He will apparently be called the Prince of Spain.
173:36:14 Garriott: House Ways and Means Committee also has agreed yesterday to tax changes affecting oil companies, also banks and utilities, which could add as much as 2 billion dollars per year to the federal revenue. The committee also voted tentatively to change the accounting procedures for telephone, electric, gas, and oil pipeline companies and to reduce tax benefits of mutual savings and loan institutions. So, it looks as if tax reform may be on the way.
173:36:42 Garriott: Looking overseas, we find South Korea's first super highway, linking Seoul with the Port of Inchon, has been named the Apollo Highway to commemorate your trip. I think we mentioned last night that President Nixon has already started on his round-the-world trip, and today he is in San Francisco on his first stop which will take him to the U.S.S. Hornet, from which he'll watch the return of your spacecraft. He plans to visit seven nations including Romania during this trip. He, as I think you also knew, had to miss the All Star baseball game yesterday, as it was rained out, but is being played today.
Romania was a communist country at this time, but somewhat renegade in voicing some differences from the USSR and seeking to cultivate independent relations with the West.
173:37:28 Garriott: The West Coast residents in Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon; Vancouver, British Columbia; and San Francisco all plan to make their areas visible to the three of you by lighting their lights between 9 pm and midnight tonight, according to the Associated Press. We do have clear weather predicted there, so that you may be able to see Christmas lights, porch lights, store lights, and whatever may be turned on.
173:37:38 Armstrong: Good show.
173:37:39 Garriott: A little closer to home here, back in Memphis, Tennessee, a young lady who is presently tipping the scales at 8 pounds, 2 ounces, was named Module by her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Eddie Lee McGhee. 'It wasn't my idea,' said Mrs. McGhee, 'It was my husband's.' She said she had balked at the name Lunar Module McGhee, because it didn't sound too good, but apparently they have compromised on just Module. Over.
173:38:29 SC: [Laughter]...
As of July 2009, Module McGhee is living in Columbus, Georgia. She is a mother and a special education teacher, and apparently loves her unusual name. She was mentioned in Norman Mailer's "Of A Fire on the Moon", 1970.
173:38:32 Garriott: Roger. Hear a few chuckles coming from that direction. And we do have a late report on the sports here also. The All Star game currently being played. The present score at the end of the fourth inning has the National League leading the American League by 9 to 3. So the hitters are having a good day as you can tell.
173:38:54 Garriott: And rain clouds are over the MSC area at the moment. It began raining here just about 10 minutes ago, and last report, we were having a pretty heavy deluge. So, that's it from the news front for the afternoon here, Apollo 11. Over. [Pause.]
173:39:19 Armstrong: Thank you very much, Owen. I think my yard could use some water.
173:39:23 Garriott: That's very true. I've forgotten exactly how many days it did go, Buzz, but something like 30 days without rain. And we can appreciate the rain we're getting right now.
173:39:34 Aldrin: That was Neil. This is Buzz, here. I wonder if we could find out when the last time my lawn was cut. Over.
173:39:39 Garriott: That might be a little more difficult to find out. I'm not sure whether the - whether Mike is ready to admit when he last did the job, but I'll look into that for you.
173:39:51 Aldrin: Well, he'll tell you. He's got a new mower.
173:39:53 Garriott: Roger. [Pause.]
173:40:04 Collins: Hey, ask my chinch bugs how they're doing?
173:40:07 Garriott: Well, I'm not sure about yours. I can let you know about my own, and the report isn't very good.
Long comm break.
Chinch bugs are a garden pest which destroys grass lawns and are notoriously difficult to eradicate.
Owen Garriott is the Capsule Communicator here in Mission Control at this time.
Download MP3 audio file. PAO loop. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.
This is Apollo Control at 173 hours, 43 minutes. Apollo 11 now 105,165 nautical miles [194,766 km] from Earth. The velocity continuing to increase gradually; up to 5,652 feet per second [1,723 m/s]. The cabin temperature in the spacecraft has been running around 62 degrees [Fahrenheit, 17°C]. And coming up within the next hour, Apollo 11 will be crossing the midway point in distance - that to occur at 174 hours, 24 minutes and 7 seconds. There will be a briefing at 3 pm Central Daylight Time in the Building 1 Auditorium on the Lunar Receiving Laboratory.
Download MP3 audio file. PAO loop. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.
173:47:45 Garriott: 11, Houston. Over.
173:47:50 Aldrin: Go ahead.
173:47:51 Garriott: Roger. Joan wasn't home right now, Buzz, but Janice reports the grass is getting pretty high, and I would estimate that it's going to be close to your knees by the time you get out of quarantine. Over.
Janice or Jan Aldrin was Buzz's 11-year-old daughter. She is now married as Janice Aldrin Schuss and her recollections of the moon landing are recounted in First on the Moon: What It Was Like When Man Landed on the Moon, by Barbara Hehner, Hyperion, 1999.
173:48:08 Aldrin: Okay. I'll have to schedule a little discussion after I get back.
173:48:13 Garriott: Rog. And no reports - no report from the chinch bugs there, Mike.
173:48:21 Collins: Well, they're sort of taciturn little fellows. They don't say much, they just chomp away.
173:48:26 Garriott: Concur on that. [Long pause.]
173:48:47 Collins: Which is about what we're doing up here.
173:48:52 Garriott: We concur on that, too.
173:48:55 Unidentified MCC speaker: I'm not used to all this but I'm sitting here right beside... [Long pause.]
173:49:18 Collins: Breakfast was magnificent as usual. I had sliced peaches, sausage patties, two cups of coffee, and I forget all what else.
173:49:27 Garriott: That does sound pretty good. As a matter of fact, I'm way overdue for a meal myself, here. I could use some of that. [Long pause.]
173:49:50 Collins: Why don't you get Milt to give you 5 minutes off and grab a hamburger?
173:50:00 Garriott: I suggested that a while ago. He was pointing out about the weight problem here. Got to keep the calories low, so I'd better stand by without it.
Comm break.
Download MP3 audio file. PAO loop. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.
173:52:46 Collins: Houston, Apollo 11. We - We've been doing a little flight planning for Apollo 12 up here.
173:52:54 Garriott: Roger. Go ahead.
173:52:57 Collins: We're trying to calculate how much spaghetti and meatballs we can get on board for Al Bean.
173:53:05 Garriott: I'm not sure the spacecraft will take that much extra weight. Have you made any estimates?
173:53:12 Collins: It'll be close.
Comm break.
That last comment came from Mike Collins referring to Al Bean who is the Lunar Module Pilot for Apollo 12.
173:55:52 Garriott: 11, Houston. The medics at the next console report that the shrew is one animal which can eat six times its own body weight every 24 hours. This may be a satisfactory baseline for your spaghetti calculations on Al Bean. Over.
173:56:11 Collins: Okay. Thank you. That's in work.
Long comm break.
Download MP3 audio file. PAO loop. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.
173:59:15 Collins: Houston, Apollo 11. It was slightly colder in here last night than it has been on any previous night. Does EECOM notice any change in his data or any explanation for that?
173:59:25 Garriott: Roger. Stand by just a moment. We'll go and check some temperatures. [Pause.]
173:59:35 Collins: Up until last night it was - if anything, a little on the warm side at night. Last night it was on the chilly side.
173:59:43 Garriott: Roger there. We'll run down the temperatures for the two nights.
173:59:50 Collins: Oh, it's no big thing. Just as a matter of interest.
173:59:52 Garriott: Roger. [Long pause.]
Flight Plan, page 3-122.
174:00:05 Collins: And how'd you like the Command Module RCS temperatures? [Pause.]
Earlier Mike read a series of voltages to Garriott. Mission Control has converted those voltages to temperatures for the RCS engines. For these readings 0V to 5V represents a range from -50°F to +50°F, 100°F overall. The lowest voltage reading was 4.5V and since 1V represents 20°F, this reading must represent 10°F below the maximum, or 40°F.
174:00:17 Garriott: 11, Houston. They all look very good. The lowest temperature was 40 degrees, and we're taking a look at your cabin temperatures now.
174:00:27 Collins: We agree on the CM RCS. No heaters are going to be required by a country mile.
174:00:38 Garriott: We think that's correct. [Pause.]
174:00:50 Collins: We don't like those heaters anyway, working off the direct coils.
174:00:53 Garriott: Rog [Long pause.].
The thrusters that are built into the Command Module do not have separate electrical heaters on them. Instead, a simpler method of heating these little engines is used. These thrusters work by propellant being injected into the combustion chamber using electrically operated valves whereby a solenoid opens the valve. A solenoid is a coil arrangement which becomes an electromagnet when current is run through it. The magnetism thus generated acts to move a metal core within the coil and this movement actuates the required device, in this case a propellant valve. The solenoid works against a spring that otherwise keeps the valve closed. There are two sets of coils for each valve; one for automatic firing under computer control and one for when a crewman uses the rotational hand controller to manoeuvre the CM. The latter is known as a manual direct coil.
If the thrusters require heating before the CM RCS propellant system is pressurised, then it is possible to send power to the manual direct coils, thereby warming the thruster assembly. It is essentially using the coils themselves as heating elements. This, of course, causes the valves to open but at this point, the system has not been pressurised and so no propellant is being delivered. The crew are evidently unhappy with this method of heating the CM RCS thrusters.
174:01:34 Collins: Peculiar thing, Owen, on the platform alignment, is that when I really take my time and do a very slow, careful, precise job of marking. I'm getting about the same star angle difference as when I'm doing it in PTC and have to do a hurried rush job with relatively poor tracking. Star angle differences seem insensitive. It almost made me believe there's a very small bias there somewhere in the sextant.
174:02:07 Garriott: Roger, 11. Perhaps the 3-degrees-per-second just isn't that much of a bother. Over.
174:02:16 Aldrin: Well, he's really trying to explain why he can't get all zeros.
174:02:20 Collins: Yeah, that's - I think Buzz is probably right. As a matter of fact, one time I made a mark which I thought was a little bit in error, but I thought, 'Well, heck. I'll go ahead and see how it works out anyway,' and I got five zeros that time. And when I have thought everything was exactly precisely on, I have consistently been getting 0.01. [Pause.]
The guidance platform is aligned by Mike using the sextant to sight on two stars, one after the other. The computer knows where the stars ought to be (because that information is stored in its memory) and it knows where Mike says they are when he aims the sextant at them. It uses the difference in real and apparent star positions to work out by how much the platform needs to be rotated to restore perfect alignment. As a check of his sightings, the computer will work out the angle between Mike's two measurements, and it will work out the actual angle between the two stars based on its stored information. It then subtracts one from the other and if Mike's sightings have been carried out perfectly, there should be no difference, a result that shows as five zeros on the DSKY. Out of 23 instances where this star angle difference is given in the Mission Report, only five are zero. Buzz is ribbing Mike at his apparent inability to achieve perfect zero values for the star angle difference.
174:02:52 Garriott: Roger. Apparently it pays to hurry. [Pause.]
174:02:59 Collins: I usually do.
174:03:07 Collins: The visibility through the telescope has been very poor. It's, I would say, even worse than the simulator is right now. It requires long periods of dark adaptation which most times are most inconvenient. So it's really a tremendous asset to keep the platform powered up at all times and to keep it tweaked within the capability of the sextant field of view.
174:03:37 Garriott: Understand, Mike.
Comm break.
It had been originally intended that for the coasting phases of the missions, the IMU would be powered down to conserve consumables. However, it's often the case that delicate equipment can be adversely affected by repeated cycles of powering up and down. Additionally, in the process of generating electricity, the fuel cells require a minimum electrical load to function properly so the decision was taken to keep the G&C powered up for the duration of every mission. Mike has pointed out that using the telescope to find stars is very difficult and this is something that would have to be done every time the IMU is powered up. If they keep the system powered, then each time a platform realignment is required, the computer can be used to point the more powerful sextant to the vicinity of the required star without recourse to the telescope.
174:05:07 Garriott: 11, Houston. Checking your temperatures, it does look like the spacecraft may have cooled down perhaps 2 or 3 degrees in the last 24 hours, and that sounds to be consistent with your report on the comfort level there. Over.
174:05:25 Collins: Okay.
174:05:29 Collins: Is that a LM-off phenomenon? [Long pause.]
174:05:59 Garriott: 11, Houston. It looks like we'll have to think a little more about that, as to whether it's a LM-off or some effect of being out of lunar orbit, we don't know. So we'll have to puzzle before we can give a better answer.
174:06:12 Collins: Okay.
174:06:15 Collins: Well, if the systems guys have anything they want chased down, we'll be happy to give you any readings or reports or what have you.
174:06:23 Garriott: Roger. We'll think about that and see if there aren't some other tests to be usefully performed there.
174:06:31 Collins: Okay.
Long comm break.
Download MP3 audio file. PAO loop. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.
174:13:09 Garriott: 11, Houston. I'll be turning things over to the Green CapCom at this time, and see you on the ground tomorrow. [Pause.]
174:13:25 Armstrong: Okay, Owen. I want to thank you and the whole Purple/Maroon group there for a good job helping Apollo 11.
174:13:35 Garriott: Thank you, sir.
174:13:41 Aldrin: Thanks from us to all of you. It was really appreciated.
174:13:45 Collins: Great job, you guys.
174:13:50 McCandless: Roger, out.
Very long comm break.
Astronaut Bruce McCandless has just relieved Owen Garriott as Capsule Communicator. At 174 hours, 14 minutes; Apollo 11 is 103,440 nautical miles [191,571 km] from Earth, traveling at a speed of 5,713 feet per second [1,741 m/s].
At 170:28:00, prior to the crew awakening, the PAO announcer pointed out that at 174:24 GET, Apollo 11 would be half way home in terms of distance. At that point, it is 102,888 nautical miles [190,549 km] from the Moon, and from Earth. As he announces at 174:35, the actual time was 174:24:07 GET.
Download MP3 audio file. PAO loop. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.
174:26:30 McCandless: Apollo 11, this is Houston. Over.
174:26:34 Aldrin: Go ahead, Houston. Apollo 11.
174:26:37 McCandless: 11, this is Houston. With reference to your subjective evaluation that it felt cooler inside the spacecraft last night, we reported earlier that we did indeed see a drop of about 3 degrees over the previous night. Looking back, it appears that the crew of Apollo 10 reported similar feelings during the translunar and trans-Earth coast phases. We're wondering if you could give us any indication of the relative amounts of free or condensed water in the cabin last night and the night before, from which we could infer humidity. Over. [Long pause.]
174:27:27 Aldrin: Roger. That might be a little bit difficult to do. We'll take a look at the tunnel now. It does seem as though, between the dirt, we've had a little bit more moisture in the tunnel. Of course, the LM hadn't been vented when we did translunar.
174:27:45 McCandless: Roger. We were more curious about the relative amount of moisture between, say, last night and the night before, both of which would have the LM missing. [Pause.]
174:28:04 Collins: There's more moisture in the tunnel now than there has been at any previous time. Subjectively we have been unable to determine any change in - any build-up in humidity. There appears to be no moisture any other place in the spacecraft. For example, the windows are not fogging or - and various other cool spots around the spacecraft - all of them appear to be completely dry.
174:28:35 McCandless: This is Houston. Roger. Thank you.
Very long comm break.
Download MP3 audio file. PAO loop. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.
This is Apollo Control at 174 hours, 35 minutes. Apollo 11 now 102,286 nautical miles [189,434 km] from Earth. We crossed the halfway point in terms of distance at 174 hours and 24 minutes and 7 seconds. The briefing on the Lunar Receiving Laboratory is scheduled to begin at MSC in Building 1. We'll tape-record any conversations with the spacecraft and play those back immediately following the press conference. This is Apollo Control at 174 hours, 36 minutes.
Download MP3 audio file. PAO loop. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.
174:42:07 Collins: How are all the Greens today, Bruce?
174:42:14 McCandless: Oh, the Greens are in good shape. The actual Green Team has been here for several hours. We're dogging the watch down here to position Ron for entry. Over.
174:42:25 Collins: Rog. Understand. Did Dave Reed get to explain the lunar sphere at the press conference?
174:42:32 McCandless: No, but your comments about Phil Shaffer and the explanations were quoted in the paper last night.
174:42:40 Collins: Oh, oh.
174:42:45 McCandless: Do you want to say anything more while you're on the line?
174:42:51 Collins: He's right. He's absolutely right.
Comm break.
Mike is referring back to comments made at 148:07:14 when Apollo 11 exited the lunar sphere of influence.
Download MP3 audio file. PAO loop. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.
174:44:05 Collins: How's old Flight, Bruce? Did he ever let you go get a cup of coffee when we were over on the back side?
174:44:15 McCandless: Oh, things have been going pretty smoothly down here. He's really not that hard to get along with.
174:44:21 Collins: Oh, he must be mellowing.
174:44:23 McCandless: We've only got two of them back here right now.
174:44:30 Collins: He always used to make me sit at the console through the back-side passes, just for training.
174:44:41 McCandless: Well, the word we have here is that that was because whenever you came back, you had to be retrained.
174:44:50 Collins: Touché.
Long comm break.
Download MP3 audio file. PAO loop. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.
174:51:08 Collins: Houston, Apollo 11. A matter of curiosity. On our 70-mm cameras, we figure we exposed around 300 in the LM and around a thousand in the Command Module. And both cameras - or all the 70-mm cameras worked just fine.
174:51:26 McCandless: Okay. Very good. Thank you.
Very long comm break.
Download MP3 audio file. PAO loop. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.
175:07:14 McCandless: Apollo 11, this is Houston. Over.
175:07:19 Aldrin: Go ahead, Houston.
175:07:21 McCandless: 11, this is Houston. Do you all have 'Change Lima' to your entry operations checklist dated July 23? Over.
175:07:34 Aldrin: The latest - Dated when?
175:07:36 McCandless: July 23.
175:07:39 Aldrin: I'm not sure that we hung - hung around long enough to pick that one up.
Launch was of course on July 16.
175:07:44 McCandless: Okay. If you've got the entry operations checklist handy, then I'll pass it up to you. Over.
175:07:53 Aldrin: How can you make changes after lift-off?
175:08:04 Aldrin: You sure you don't mean June?
175:08:06 McCandless: Negative. It just came up today. Over.
175:08:12 Aldrin: So, you're the first to get to us. Go ahead.
175:08:18 McCandless: Okay. On page 6-1 of the entry-out checklist down toward the bottom after "Main Deploy pushbutton", we have three additional steps we'd like you to accomplish. The intent of this is to reduce the oxygen pressure in your manifold and to eliminate the oxygen bleed flow through the potable and waste-water tanks during descent. Over.
175:08:56 Aldrin: Okay. We've got 6-1 out. Go ahead.
175:09:00 McCandless: Okay. Down at the bottom, you've got '10,000 feet Main Parachute Deploy, Main Deploy pushbutton, Push within 1 second.' And after that step, we'd like you insert 'Surge Tank O2 valve, Off. Repress Package valve, Off. And Direct O2 valve, Open.' Do you copy?
175:09:49 Aldrin: Okay. Down at the bottom, after 'Main Deploy pushbutton, Push' - 'Surge Tank O2, Off. Repress Package Valve, Off. Direct O2, On.' Over.
175:10:04 McCandless: Roger. And then down at the very bottom of page 6-2 where you see 'Direct O2, Off, Verify,' delete that step completely. Over.
175:10:20 Aldrin: Roger.
175:10:22 McCandless: And for record purposes, this would be 'Change Lima'. Over.
175:10:30 Aldrin: Okay. We've got it. Now how far open do you want the Direct O2 to be opened at this point? And I guess you want it - just leave it open from that point on?
175:10:46 McCandless: Roger. It should go all the way open, and you can just leave it on from that point on. The intent is to completely depressurize the oxygen manifold. Over.
175:10:59 Aldrin: Roger. Copy.
Long comm break.
Download MP3 audio file. PAO loop. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.
175:15:34 McCandless: Apollo 11, this is Houston. For your information, the All Star game has just ended with the National League winning 9 to 3 over American. Over.
175:15:48 Aldrin: Roger. Thank you.
175:15:52 McCandless: And I have a message here for Mike that says, quote, All the chinch bugs are gone, unquote. Over.
175:16:05 Collins: Having done their job, I guess.
175:16:10 McCandless: Well, along with one tree, it turns out.
175:16:15 Collins: Yeah. I heard about that. That was right before the flight.
175:16:18 McCandless: Right. That big storm.
Very long comm break.
Download MP3 audio file. PAO loop. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.
This is Apollo Control at 175 hours, 42 minutes. Apollo 11 is now 98,512 nautical miles [182,444 km] from the Earth. The velocity; 5,892 feet per second [1,796 m/s]. During the preceding press conference, we accumulated about 7 minutes of taped conversation which we'll play back for you now.
Download MP3 audio file. PAO loop. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.
This is Apollo Control. That brings us up to date with the tape-recorded conversation. We'll continue to stand by for any further communications with the spacecraft. During the previous conversations, you heard Mike Collins toss a couple of good-natured barbs at Flight Director Cliff Charlesworth. Collins was Capsule Communicator on Charlesworth's shift during the Apollo 8 mission. At 175 hours, 51 minutes; Apollo 11 is 98,034 nautical miles [181,559 km] from the Earth.
Download MP3 audio file. PAO loop. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.
Flight Plan, page 3-123.
176:23:55 McCandless: Apollo 11, this is Houston. Are you still up there? Over. [Pause.]
176:24:07 Armstrong: Uh, yes, we are. But not quite so far as we were a while ago.
176:24:12 McCandless: Roger. We concur. We just wanted to make sure that we still had good comm with you.
176:24:18 Armstrong: Okay.
Comm break.
Download MP3 audio file. PAO loop. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.
176:26:26 McCandless: For general information, 11, you are now 95,970 miles [177,736 km] out from the Earth. Over.
176:26:39 Armstrong: Right in our own back yard.
176:26:41 McCandless: Say again.
176:26:46 Armstrong: Right in our own back yard. [Pause.]
176:26:54 McCandless: Roger that. [Pause.]
176:27:03 Collins: Trying to come down hill a little bit now. What's our velocity?
176:27:12 McCandless: Your velocity is 5,991 feet per second [1,826 m/s].
176:27:20 Collins: Thank you.
176:27:21 McCandless: And you are indeed coming downhill.
Very long comm break.
Download MP3 audio file. PAO loop. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.
This is Apollo Control at 176 hours, 44 minutes. Apollo 11 now 94,961 nautical miles [175,868 km] from Earth. The velocity has just gone over the 6,000-foot-per-second [1,829 m/s] mark. We're 6,029 feet per second [1,838 m/s]. The next item scheduled on the Flight Plan is a television transmission. That's scheduled to occur at a Ground Elapsed Time of 177 hours, 30 minutes; which would be 6:02 pm Central Daylight Time. Among the clocks counting down or up to and from significant events here in Mission Control, we have one counting down to entry. That clock now shows 18 hours, 18 minutes and 12 seconds until entry. Re-entry is scheduled to begin, based on no further midcourse corrections; at 195 hours, 3 minutes, 5 seconds. At this time, it appears that Midcourse Correction 7, if it were done, would only require two tenths of a foot per second, and based on current tracking, we wouldn't expect to have to do Midcourse Correction 7. However the tracking will be continued and a decision on Midcourse Correction 7 will not be made until closer to the time of the maneuver.
After a relaxed morning, the crew of Apollo 11 have been up for about 6 hours, and are now preparing for the final TV transmission of the flight.
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Television and Food Demonstrations
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More Television and Stowage for Re-entry