Apollo 12

This is Apollo Control 70 hours, 08 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. Distance now of Apollo 12 from the Moon 30,385 nautical miles, velocity toward the moon 3,558 feet per second. To summarize the last 8 hours of the Apollo 12 mission, which the Green Team of Flight Controllers under Flight Director Cliff Charlesworth are here in the Control Center, the crew of Apollo 12 went into the LM for the LM familiarization and housekeeping chores somewhat early. Also, the television pass, which had been scheduled to start at 63 hours, 30 minutes actually began at 62 hours, 52 minutes, about 38 minutes early. TV ran 56 minutes total time. During the TV pass the crew of Apollo 12 took the viewers on a tour of the lunar module and how they stowed the equipment in various stowage areas, a description of some of the pilot devices such as the Landing Point Designator, and they closed out with a view of the Earth and the Moon out the Command Module windows after the hatch's probe and drogue had been restowed in the tunnel. They continued on with their eat period and the presleep checklist had a negative crew status report. They have taken no medications. They are back on the timeline for the beginning of the rest period at 68 hours and since Midcourse Correction number 4 likely will not be made, the sleep period will be extended for a total of 10 hours to end some 7 hours, 48 minutes from now. Apollo 12 entered the Moon's sphere of influence or equigravisphere at 68 hours, 30 minutes 22 seconds. Handover is taking place now. The day shift, headed up by Flight Director Gerry Griffin, and here in Mission Control the new team of Flight Controllers, who likely were asleep at the time of the TV pass, are watching a replay on the large television projection screen and on individual monitors. At 70 hours, 11 minutes Ground Elapsed Time, this is Apollo Control.

This is Apollo Control at 71 hours, 18 minutes. Apollo 12 is 27,953 nautical miles from the Moon traveling at a velocity of 3,582 feet per second, that is Lunar referenced. Total weight of the vehicle, 96,117 pounds. Six hours, 41 minutes remaining in this sleep period. Systems performance on Apollo 12 continues normal. This is Mission Control, Houston at 71 hours, 18 minutes.

This is Apollo Control. It's 71 hours, 48 minutes. At this time we will replay the tape of the television transmission of early this morning. We'll play the video and audio back to the news center in building 1 at the Manned Spacecraft Center. Go to utilize the release line for the audio portion of this tape We'll play the tape now. Roll the tape.

This is Apollo Control at 72 hours, 44 minutes. All still going well with Apollo 12. 5 hours, 15 minutes remaining in the sleep period. Apollo 12 is 24,880 nautical miles from the Moon, approaching it at a velocity of 3,618 feet per second. This is Mission Control Houston at 72 hours, 45 minutes.

This is Apollo Control. It's 73 hours, 18 minutes. All still going well with Apollo 12. 4 hours and 41 minutes remaining in the sleep period. The only crewmen being monitored at the present time is the Command Module Pilot Dick Gordon. His heart rate is running around 65 which is his normal sleep heart rate, the flight surgeon reports. Apollo 12 is 23,681 nautical miles from the Moon, approaching at a velocity of 3,634 feet per second. This is Mission Control, Houston at 73 hours, 18 minutes.

This is Apollo Control at 74 hours, 18 minutes. Apollo 12 is 21,544 nautical miles away from the Moon. Velocity has increased to 3,666 feet per second. Systems performance still normal. We have 3 hours, 41 minutes remaining before we put in a call to awaken the crew. If they awake on their own before that time, we may expect to hear from them. At 74 hours, 18 minutes, this is Mission Control Houston.

This is Apollo Control at 75 hours, 18 minutes. Apollo 12 is 19,371 nautical miles from the Moon, velocity 3,705 feet per second. All continuing to go well, and we are 2 hours, 41 minutes away from crew wakeup time. This is Mission Control Houston at 75 hours, 18 minutes.

This is Apollo Control at 76 hours, 18 minutes. Apollo 12 is approaching the Moon at a velocity of 3,751 feet per second, distance from the Moon now, 17,180 nautical miles. We plan to put in a wake up call to the crew 1 hour, 41 minutes from this time. This is Mission Control Houston at 76 hours, 18 minutes.

This is Apollo Control at 76 hours, 46 minutes. The Flight Dynamics officer has just informed Flight Director Jerry Griffin that based on his latest update, he confirms positively now that no Midcourse Correction number 4 will be required. The magnitude of that maneuver is only 2 feet per second. We have been operating for the past number of hours on the assumption that it would not be performed and on that basis, had extended the sleep period 2 hours, shortly after it began. We are now 1 hour, 13 minutes from the wake up period of the extended sleep period; 10 hours instead of 8 hours. The Midcourse Correction number 4 will be incorporated into the Lunar Orbit Insertion maneuver number 1, and flight dynamics reports that burn will be targeted to produce a Lunar Orbit, of 62 by 169.3 nautical miles. His latest update shows that the closest approach to the Moon without the Lunar Orbit Insertion burn will be 64.73 nautical miles. That would occur at an elapsed time of 83 hours, 28 minutes, 32 seconds, and the velocity at closest approach would be 8,239 feet per second. At 76 hours, 48 minutes this is Mission Control Houston.

This is Apollo Control at 77 hours, 18 minutes. Apollo 12 is 14,967 nautical miles from the Moon. Its velocity, 3,811 feet per second. We're 41 minutes away from wake-up time. This is Mission Control, Houston.

This is Apollo Control at 77 hours, 45 minutes. Fourteen minutes remains in this sleep period but we have indications that the crew is awake. Communications officer reports that he can see through telemetry that they have configured their communications equipment for voice transmission, so we may be hearing from the crew prior to the official wake up time. We'll keep this circuit up live for any communication we may get from the crew.

Still no word from the crew and we're 5 minutes away from the time that we'll initiate a call to them. Apollo 12 is 13,615 nautical miles from the Moon, their velocity 3,856 feet per second. Reveille being played.

We don't think the crew heard that because there was an antenna switch right at the start of that bugle call. If we don't hear from them shortly, we're liable to play it again.

That was Dick Gordon responding.

And that was 'Sweepers Man Your Brooms' on the boatswain pipe that we just played up for the crew.

This is Apollo Control, at 78 hours, 30 minutes. The Change Of Shift news conference in the Houston News Center will begin at 5:30 PM, Central Standard Time. 5:30 PM for the Change Of Shift news conference.

Apollo 12's present distance from the Moon at 78 hours, 48 minutes is 11,546 nautical miles. Velocity, 3,940 feet per second. Flight director, Glynn Lunney and his black team is in the process of taking over from Flight Director, Jerry Griffin and the Gold team. The CapCom on the oncoming shift will be Astronaut Paul Weitz.

This is Apollo Control at the present time, the crew is scheduled to be eating breakfast. We don't anticipate a great deal of conversation from them. The change of shift press conference is scheduled to begin shortly in the Houston news center. We will be taping any conversation from Mission Control to the crew during the press conference, playing it back immediately following. At 79 hours, 2 minutes into the flight, Apollo 12 is at an altitude of 11,058 nautical miles from the Moon, traveling at a speed of 3,964 feet per second. This is Apollo Control, Houston.

This is Apollo Control at 79 hours, 25 minutes. During the Change of Shift Briefing we had one brief conversation with the spacecraft. Commander Pete Conrad came on to describe the Moon for us. The spacecraft, at the present time, is about 10,113 nautical miles from the Moon traveling at a speed of 4,015 feet per second. We'll play back that tape for you and then continue to stand by live.

This is Apollo Control at 80 hours, 3 minutes. Apollo 12 is 8,642 nautical miles from the Moon. Traveling at a speed of 4,114 feet per second. The data transmitted to the ground from the Apollo 12 crew following the rendezvous radar transponder soft test indicated that there is no problem with that piece of equipment on the Command Module. The crew at the present time is running through some of the Lunar Orbit Insertion checklists and checks for the maneuver, scheduled to occur at some 83 hours, 25 minutes into the mission. We have a TV transmission scheduled at 81 hours, 30 minutes which will be about 7:52 p.m. Central Standard Time.

This is Apollo Control. That was Al Bean giving us the report on the moon. Commander Pete Conrad reporting the LM pressurized.

This is Apollo Control at 80 hours, 32 minutes. Flight Director Glynn Lunney has just gone around the room getting a status from all of the Flight Controllers for Lunar Orbit Insertion 1. Our report from each is that we are on the Flight Plan. Everything normal. Apollo 12 is presently 7,488 nautical miles from the Moon, as we continue to see a rapid decrease in the altitude and a correspondingly rapid increase in the velocity. In the next 3 hours prior to Lunar Orbit Insertion, the velocity will just about double, going from the current 4,213 feet per second to something on the order of 8,000 feet per second.

This is Apollo Control at 81 hours, 10 minutes. We're now about 20 minutes from the start of the scheduled TV transmission from the spacecraft as Apollo 12 nears the Moon. The spacecraft presently some 5,900 nautical miles from the Moon, traveling at a speed of 4,391 feet per second.

This is Apollo Control at 81 hours, 29 minutes. We'd like to re-summarize at this point what we know about the television transmission scheduled to begin at 81 hours, 30 minutes. Pete Conrad advised that the Sun glare through the window, which is apparently the only window available to us for getting a shot of the lunar surface, with the High Gain antenna at the same time pointing toward Earth, is not acceptable. Apparently would not give us a usable picture of the lunar surface from the spacecraft because of Sun glare. We intend to stick with the Flight Plan as far as maneuvering the spacecraft to the burn attitude, the attitude for the LOI insertion burn. Now that maneuver to attitude is scheduled to occur at 81 hours, 55 minutes. And going to the burn attitude, the windows would not be in a position also for a television picture of the lunar surface. We do not at this time, I don't know whether the crew intends to transmit a picture from inside the spacecraft and we'll continue to standby.

This is Apollo Control based on that last comment from Pete Conrad, we do not expect a television transmission from the spacecraft as scheduled at this time. To recap, Conrad advised that the Sun glare through the window with the deposits on the window had made a usable television picture impossible. There was some thought to waiting until the spacecraft passed into the shadow of the Moon at which the time the window would be shielded from the glare and possibly get a picture of the Solar Corona however, this would interfere with the maneuver to the burn attitudes scheduled at 81 hours, 55 minutes. We do not expect a television transmission. At the present time, Apollo 12 is 4,886 nautical miles from the lunar surface traveling at a speed of 4,559 feet per second. This is Apollo Control at 81 hours, 49 minutes continuing to standby.

This is Apollo Control at 81 hours, 53 minutes. The spacecraft now traveling at a speed of 4,726 feet per second and about 4,000 nautical miles from the lunar surface. We have the preliminary figures on the Lunar Orbit Insertion maneuver, the first of two maneuvers to place the spacecraft in a more or less circular orbit about the Moon. The ignition for LOI-1 ignition time will be 83 hours, 25 minutes, 19 seconds. A burn duration will be 5 minutes, 58 seconds, and we'll subtract about 2,880 feet per second from the spacecraft velocity with that maneuver. In performing that 5 minute, 58 second burn, the Service Propulsion System engine will consume about 33,500 pounds of propellant or about 60 percent - 61 percent of the propellant carried. The spacecraft currently weighs 96,076 pounds. We estimate after the Lunar Orbit Insertion maneuver, the weight will be about 62,491 pounds - the difference in weight, of course, being accounted for in the propellant consumed in the burn. The television transmission scheduled at 81 hours, 30 minutes, was scrubbed after the crew reported the center hatch window which they had intended to use for transmitting the picture of the lunar surface was not useable due to a combination of deposits on the window and very bright Sun glare. Pete Conrad reported at the time that the number 5 window, which is the window adjacent to the Lunar Module pilot's couch, to the right of the cockpit, was quite a bit better and would have been useable. However, it was not possible to point the number 5 window at the lunar surface and at the same time point the High Gain antenna, which is needed to transmit the television signal back to Earth - in the direction of Earth - and it was therefore necessary to scrub the television transmission. We do not expect that the glare on the window will be a significant problem for the television transmission scheduled at 84 hours. At this time the spacecraft would be pointed at the lunar surface and the glare from the sun should be greatly reduced. The Apollo 12 crew advised a short while ago that they were maneuvering to the burn attitude. They will continue making checks of all of their spacecraft's systems prior to the maneuver. That will be consuming the majority of their time between now and ignition for Lunar Orbit Insertion, which is scheduled to occur at 83 hours, 25 minutes, 19 seconds. At 81 hours, 56 minutes, this is Apollo Control.

This is Apollo Control at 82 hours, 19 minutes. Apollo 12 now 2,914 nautical miles from the Moon. A velocity up to 5,078 feet per second. We just passed up to the crew some updates to the information they'll need to perform the Lunar Orbit Insertion No. 1 maneuver. The ignition time has been changed slightly and the new ignition time is 83 hours, 25 minutes 23 seconds. They've also made a slight upward increase in the total Delta-V to be gained from the maneuver - increase in the Delta-V by about 2 feet per second. The current figure is 2,889.3 feet per second. We also have a correction to a figure we gave you earlier on the amount of propellant to be consumed in that maneuver. The previous figure given was about 33,500 pounds of propellant. This is incorrect. The figure should have been 23,700 pounds of propellant. A Service Propulsion System engine consumes propellant at the rate of about 66.4 pounds per second. The burn duration is about 358 seconds. The crew advised that they had completed the pre-LOI-1 systems checks and they reported that at about 82 hours, 14 minutes, which would mean that they're running about 30 minutes ahead of the Flight Plan, and getting ready for that burn. Here in Mission Control it bas been rather quiet up to this time - Flight Controllers are checking and rechecking the burn figures. The room is now starting to fill up. Now we're getting additional people here in the back row of consoles. Chris Kraft, George Low and Jim McDivitt are now in the Control Center. Also at the CapCom console we see Director of Flight Crew Operations, Deke Slayton, as well as astronaut Dave Scott and Jim Irwin. Roco Petrone, Director of the Apollo Program is also here in Mission Control as we continue to prepare for this Lunar Orbit Insertion maneuver. At 82 hours, 22 minutes, this is Apollo Control Houston.

This is Apollo Control at 82 hours, 37 minutes. One of the clocks on our front display board here at Mission Control shows that we bare 34 minutes, 38 seconds until Loss Of Signal as the spacecraft goes behind the moon at prior to the Lunar Orbit Insertion maneuver. That maneuver is scheduled to be performed in 47 minutes, 56 seconds. LOI-1 ignition time is 83 hours, 25 minutes, 23 seconds. The burn duration is currently planned for 5 minutes, 58 seconds reducing the spacecraft velocity by 2,889 feet per second. The spacecraft weight combined CSM/LM weight prior to the burn will be 96,076 pounds. Following the burn we estimate the weight will be 72,225 pounds. The Lunar Orbit Insertion 1 maneuver is targeted for 62 by 169.3 nautical mile orbit. Lunar orbit insertion No. 2 is targeted for a 54 by 66 nautical mile orbit. That burn is scheduled to occur at 87 hours, 48 minutes, 33 seconds with a total Delta-V of 161.6 feet per second. Apollo 12 is now nearing the 2,000 nautical mile mark altitude above the lunar surface. That altitude continuing to decrease ever more rapidly and the velocity building up at an increasing rate, now reading 5,511 feet or 5,511 feet per second. Flight Director Glynn Lunney is periodically going around the room checking on status for the maneuver. A short while ago he advised Flight Controllers that we are moving along well according to the Flight Plan and have completed all scheduled activities listed by the Flight Plan at this time in preparation for the maneuver. The next scheduled activities on the Flight Plan are rolling to burn attitude verifying the burn attitude with a star check through the spacecraft sextant and aligning the gyro display coupler to the inertial measurement unit. At 82 hours, 40 minutes this is Mission Control, Houston.

This is Apollo Control at 82 hours, 54 minutes. We're now 18 minutes from Loss Of Signal as the spacecraft goes behind the Moon. The Loss Of Signal is scheduled to occur at 83 hours, 11 minutes 46 seconds. If the burn is performed as scheduled, we'll reacquire this signal at 83 hours, 43 minutes 57 seconds. Without the Lunar Orbit Insertion burn, we would acquire the spacecraft at 83 hours, 36 minutes 36 seconds. Apollo 12 now 1,297 nautical miles from the Moon's surface. Velocity is up to 6,050 feet per second. A short while ago, the crew placed their spacecraft computer in the proper program for performing the Service Propulsion System burn to put them into Lunar Orbit. All that remains at this point is to roll into the final burn attitude, to check that attitude by sighting on a star through the spacecraft sextant. We're now 17 minutes to Loss Of Signal. Our Guidance Officer has just advised that the spacecraft is in the proper burn attitude.

We're coming up on 8 minutes now until Loss Of Signal. Our displays show the spacecraft at an altitude of 848 nautical miles from the Moon. Velocity, 6,550 feet per second. Flight Director Glynn Lunney having just completed going around the room for the Go-No-Go decision, and as indicated by the word passed up to the crew by CapCom, Paul Weitz, we are Go for Lunar Orbit Insertion.

This is Apollo Control 83 hours, 8 minutes. We're coming up now on 3 minutes, 50 seconds until Loss Of Signal as Apollo 12 goes behind the Moon in preparation for inserting the spacecraft into Lunar Orbit. We'll continue to standby for any parting remarks from the crew before we lose contact with them. We should be out of contact for about 32 minutes, 11 seconds. Assuming the burn is performed as scheduled. Without performing the Lunar Orbit Insertion maneuver, we would reacquire the spacecraft about 24 minutes, 50 seconds after Loss Of Signal. And the spacecraft without performing that maneuver would pass within about 65 miles of the Moon's surface, at its closest point. We're now 3 minutes, 6 seconds from Loss Of Signal. Apollo 12,624 nautical miles from the Moon's surface traveling at 6,900 feet per second.

We're coming up now on 36 seconds until Loss Of Signal. All flight controllers here in Mission Control getting one last look at their data before the spacecraft goes behind the Moon. All systems looking very good, prior to this Lunar Orbit Insertion maneuver. And our Network Controller reports we have Loss Of Signal right on schedule. We should reacquire Apollo 12 in about 32 minutes. Without the burn, the reacquisition time would be 24 minutes, 40 seconds from now. At last look, just before we lost data, the spacecraft was at an altitude of 471.9 nautical miles velocity at 7,188 feet per second. At 83 hours, 13 minutes into the flight of Apollo 12, this is Mission Control Houston.