Apollo 12
Day 7, part 1: Revolutions 36 to 43
Corrected Transcript and Commentary Copyright © 2004 - 2020 by W. David Woods and Lennox J. Waugh. All rights reserved.
Last updated 2020-04-08
This is Apollo Control at 153 hours, 8 minutes. We have just acquired the spacecraft now in its 36th revolution of the Moon. We expect the crew will be asleep at this time. We'll stand by, briefly to see if we get any calls from the spacecraft. At the present time, Apollo 12 is in an orbit with apoloune of 60.2 nautical miles and a perilune of 53.9. The combined weight of the - the CSM weight rather is 35,627 pounds.
This is Apollo Control. We're getting good high bit rate telemetry data at this time from the spacecraft. The crew now in there sleep period. We don't expect any further conversation from the spacecraft until the sleep period ends at 157 hours, 30 minutes. We'll be prepared to come back up should we get any calls from the crew. In the meantime, we'll be taking the circuit down and continuing to monitor. At 153 hours, 19 minutes, this is Apollo Control, Houston.
This is Apollo Control at 154 hours, 22 minutes. We've had Loss Of Signal now from the spacecraft on its 36th revolution of the Moon. We'll be reacquiring in about 45 minutes. We had no conversation with the crew on this revolution as we expected. They're in their sleep period. That sleep period is scheduled to end at 157 hours, 30 minutes or a little over 3 hours from now. All spacecraft systems were looking normal as we lost contact with the spacecraft as it went behind the Moon. Biomedical data indicates the crew asleep. At 154 hours, 22 minutes, this is Apollo Control, Houston.
This is Apollo Control at 154 hours, 58 minutes. We're about 8 minutes, 30 seconds now from reacquiring the Command Module on it's 37th revolution of the Moon. We have a little over an hour and a half left in the sleep period - correction about 2 and half hours. That sleep period's scheduled to end at 157 hours, 30 minutes. There will be a Change Of Shift briefing in the Houston news center in about 15 minutes. Flight director Clifford Charlesworth is coming on to replace the Black team of flight controllers headed by Glynn Lunney. The Change Of Shift briefing will include Flight Director Glynn Lunney, also the Flight Dynamics Officer for this shift, Jay Greene and the Capsule Communicator, Astronaut Don Lind. We estimate that will begin in about 15 minutes. At 154 hours, 59 minutes, this is Apollo Control Houston.
This is Apollo Control 156 hours, 8 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. Ten minutes until Loss Of Signal in the 37th lunar revolution. The crew is still asleep at this time, some 1 hour, 21 minutes remaining in the scheduled sleep period. Present orbit approximately 62.6 by 57.6 nautical miles apolune and perilune, respectively. At 159 hours and 4 minutes, slightly under 3 hours from now, the crew is scheduled to do a 380.5 feet per second Service Propulsion System maneuver out of plane to the North which will drive the orbit back over these photo sites which will be photographed later tomorrow morning. These are candidate-landing sites for future Apollo missions. The Fra Mauro formation, Lalande and one other area which escapes my memory at the moment. Descartes, there you go. And at 156 hours, 9 minutes, Ground Elapsed Time, this is Apollo Control.
This is Apollo Control 157 hours, 23 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. We have had acquisition now for about 15 minutes on the 38[th] revolution. The crew still has about 5 minutes remaining in the scheduled sleep period, however it has been noticed on the ground that the High Gain antenna angels have been changing in the last few minutes and we are anticipating a call from the crew, surgeon says that the 2 crewmen who have bio-medical instrumentation during the sleep period are awake at this time. So we will leave the air to air to ground circuit uplive to catch the first exchange this morning.
157:30:04 Gibson: Good morning, Apollo 12; Houston.
157:30:11 Conrad: Go ahead, Houston.
157:30:14 Gibson: Morning, 12. Standing by.
157:30:19 Conrad: Roger. [Pause.]
157:30:26 Gordon: Okay, Ed. Crew status report: Sleep across the board CDR, CMP, LMP - 4-1/2, 4, 4; PHD reading -11021, 11021, 04023.
157:30:44 Gibson: Roger. We copy. [Long pause.]
157:31:39 Gibson: 12, Houston. We're standing by with the updates as called out in your Flight Plan, and in that order.
157:31:48 Gordon: [Garble] Ed.
157:31:51 Gibson: Okay. Are you ready to copy Lunar Orbit Plane Change 2?
157:32:01 Gibson: Maneuver PAD Lunar Orbit Plane Change 2 SPS/G&N: 35584; minus 0.78; plus 0.29; 159. Okay; hold it there, Dick. Okay. Let's pick up again on the GET; we are getting a lot of static. 159:04:44.78; minus 0013.6; plus 0381.1; plus all zeros; roll, pitch, yaw, all zeros; 0064.0; plus 0056.5; 0381.3; 0.19; 0368.2; 05; 045.6; 38.7; boresight star is 036; up 16.5; left 1.9; and your stars, Sirius and Rigel; you have 223, 084, 071; the ullage is four jet, 11 seconds. Standing by for readback.
157:33:54 Gibson: And, 12, before the readback, we are also standing by with your state vector, target load, and REFSMMAT if you will give us P00 and Accept.
157:34:09 Gordon: You have it, Houston. And, Ed, here comes the readback. Lunar Orbit Plane Change number 2 SPS/G&N: 35584; minus 0.78; plus 0.29; 159:04:44.78; minus 0013.6; plus 0381.1; all zips; roll, pitch, yaw, zeros; 0064.0; plus 0056.5; 0381.3; 0:19; 0368.2; 05; 045.6; 38.7; 036; up 16.5; left 1.9; Sirius and Rigel; 223, 048, 071; four jet, 11 seconds.
157:34:58 Gibson: Readback is correct and one comment; that's heads up.
157:35:07 Gibson: Consumables update at GET of 157 plus 00; RCS total 47.1; 47 - 46.1 on A; 49.3; 45.4; 47.6; and, assuming that you have stirred, H
2 total, Tank 1, 44; Tank 2, 44; O
2 47 and 49.
157:35:42 Gordon: Okay. Copied all that.
157:35:45 Gibson: Coming at you with a map update, Rev 39: LOS 158:16:32, 158:41:50, 159:02:46.
157:36:08 Gordon: Roger. LOS 158:16:32, 158:41:50, 159:02:46.
157:36:17 Gibson: Readback is correct; and we're standing by with a TEI PAD, when you are ready to copy.
157:36:32 Gordon: Go ahead.
157:36:33 Gibson: TEI-41 SPS/G&N: 34264; minus 0.78; plus 0.28; 164:41:16.04; your Delta-Vs, plus 3655.4, plus 0470.1, plus 0032.9; roll, NA; pitch, 092; yaw, NA; your ullage, four jet, 11 seconds; and that assumes the Lunar Orbit Plane Change 2.
157:37:31 Gordon: Okay. TEI-41 SPS/G&N: 34264; minus 0.78; plus 0.28; 164:41:16.04; plus 3655.4; plus 0470.1; plus 0032.9; NA; 092; NA; four jet, 11 seconds; assumes Lunar Orbit Plane Change 2.
157:37:56 Gibson: That's Charlie. [Long pause.]
157:38:42 Gibson: 12, Houston. Could we have the configuration of the High Gain track mode and beam width?
157:38:51 Gordon: Roger. Manual, Medium.
157:38:58 Gordon: Yes. We are playing with it now for you.
157:39:06 Gordon: Okay. We are Reacq Narrow now.
157:39:10 Gibson: Roger. Reacq. [Long pause.]
157:39:47 Gibson: 12, Houston. Would you like some information on the crater which you made?
157:39:58 Gibson: Okay. The location is South 3.95 and west 21.17 and that's, relative to the Surveyor, 36 nautical miles east and 14 nautical miles South. And you will he able to see that on your - where the actual location is - on the South-Western edge of the circle for target of opportunity 39. Your velocity at impact was 5,502 and you came in at the angle of about 3.8 degrees relative to local horizon.
157:40:46 Conrad: Hey, give me the Lat-Long again.
157:40:50 Gibson: Roger. That's 3.95 South, 21.17 West, and we did pick that up on the PSE. We've got some long-period oscillations from it. They lasted on the order of 40 to 50 minutes.
157:41:09 Conrad: Good. [Pause.]
157:41:17 Gibson: 12, the computer is yours.
157:41:23 Gordon: Thank you.
157:41:31 Gibson: Pete, Houston.
157:41:36 Conrad: Go ahead.
157:41:39 Gibson: Okay, Pete. You can dispense with the bioharness, and we have some recommendations for you if you feel you need it for clearing up some of the skin irritation.
157:41:53 Conrad: Okay. It goes away as soon as I take it off. The one that I have is all dried up now, that I can move, so go ahead with your recommendation.
157:42:07 Gibson: Okay. We recommend you consider the following: one, wash thoroughly around all sensitive locations with the wetwipes; you then remove bio-sensor and harness; wash the skin in those areas with wetwipes and let dry; apply the skin cream to the infected areas twice daily; and apply no bandages over the irritated areas; and, in drying, just let it dry in the air.
157:42:41 Conrad: Okay. Thank you.
157:44:01 Gibson: Apollo 12, Houston. Would you give us the shaft key pack reading and also whether you see any oscillations?
157:44:23 Conrad: The trunnion is reading 35.9 and the shaft is reading 0.4 and it's oscillating between 3599 and 0.5.
157:44:46 Gibson: Roger. And thank you. We are seeing deviations at a half of a degree down here.
157:44:53 Conrad: That's about right.
157:44:57 Gibson: Roger. Would you take the optics-coupling switch to Direct and see if it stops? [Pause.]
157:45:16 Conrad: That seemed to do it.
157:46:49 Gibson: 12, Houston.
157:46:54 Conrad: Go ahead.
157:46:55 Gibson: Say, it looks as though it's - it would be possible for you folks to do some photography on the impact, or the crater which you folks made with the Ascent Stage. We can give you an idea of what the procedure would involve, and you can use your own discretion as to whether you want to try it.
157:47:17 Gordon: What are you thinking of using to take the pictures, Ed? [Long pause.]
157:47:37 Conrad: Also, Houston, the shaft is still oscillating a half degree here in the Direct.
157:47:43 Gibson: Roger. Okay. You'd be using the 250-millimeter lens, and it'd be hand hold hand held out the hatch window. If you'd like, I can read you up a quick summary of the procedure.
157:48:08 Gordon: Let's see; the procedure's not necessary. Give me the gimbal angles and the time and what window.
157:48:23 Gibson: Okay. What you do is immediately follow in the Lalande high-resolution photography on Rev 39 which appears to be the best place to pick this up. You'd stop your pitch rate and do a 20-degree roll left. Impact point will be visible out the hatch window, 22 miles south of track. TCA would be 159:47:23, and we've already given you the information of where it appears on your target of opportunity map. You would remove the camera from window 4, change to 250-millimeter lens and hand hold out the hatch window and the following settings would apply: F:5.6 and 1/125. And you can take several shots.
157:49:23 Gordon: Okay. I've got after Lalande photography, stop pitch, 20-degree roll left; TCA is 159:47:23; 250-millimeter lens; F:5.6 and 1/125.
157:49:40 Gibson: That's right. That's 1/125th.
157:49:46 Gordon: Roger. And that was out of the window number 5? Or the hatch window?
157:49:53 Gibson: That's affirm. Out the hatch window.
157:55:59 Gibson: Apollo 12, Houston.
157:56:04 Conrad: Go ahead.
157:56:06 Gibson: Okay. With reference to our questions we just had on the optics, I'll tell you what we've seen down here. We've just seen the oscillation intermittently; and so far, we've seen no effect on the P52's, and we've observed this oscillation only in the zero mode.
158:12:18 Gibson: Apollo 12, Houston.
158:12:23 Conrad: Go ahead.
158:12:26 Gibson: 12, we've observed that the High Gain Antenna works better after being off. Therefore, we'd like to request that you turn the High Gain Antenna power off at LOS and then turn it back on again at AOS.
158:16:05 Gibson: 12, Houston. One minute to LOS.
158:16:10 Conrad: Roger-Roger.
158:16:13 Gordon: Roger. There are the torquing angles. Are you picking them up?
158:16:22 Gibson: That's affirmative. We have them.
158:16:28 Gordon: I'm torquing at this time. [Long pause.]
158:16:47 Gibson: 12, see you on the other side.
This is Apollo Control. Apollo 12 has just gone around the corner on the 38th revolution. We've had Loss Of Signal from the spacecraft. AOS in about 47 minutes. Ignition - counting down to ignition for the Plane Change maneuver some 47 minutes and 5 seconds until that maneuver. And at 158 hours, 17 minutes, Ground Elapsed Time, this is Apollo Control.
This is Apollo Control, 159 hours, 2 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. Less than a minute away from acquisition as Apollo 12 comes out from behind the Moon on the 39th revolution. At some 2 minutes, 14 seconds until ignition for the SPS Plane Change maneuver coming up at 159:04. As mentioned earlier this 381 foot per second out of plane maneuver will drive the spacecraft orbit back over the potential landing site for future Apollo Missions. These landing sites will be photographed with considerable detail by the crew. We should have acquisition now. We'll stand by for the first call.
159:03:31 Gordon: Houston, Apollo 12. We're standing by for the burn.
159:03:34 Gibson: Apollo 12, Houston. We've got TM; we're looking at you.
159:03:41 Gordon: Okay. Good show. [Long pause.]
159:04:05 Gibson: 12, Houston. You're looking good.
159:05:29 Conrad: Okay, Houston. Minus a half, plus 0.2.
159:05:38 Gibson: May want [garble] attitude.
159:05:43 Conrad: Okay. Minus 0.6, plus 0.2, plus 0.7.
159:05:48 Gibson: Copy, 12.
159:05:53 Gordon: And the EMS is minus 11.3.
159:05:57 Gibson: Roger. 11.3. The burn looked good, and we've got a REFSMMAT when you're ready.
159:06:04 Gordon: Okay. Let us get out of this one.
159:06:33 Conrad: Okay, Houston. You have P00 and Accept.
159:06:39 Gibson: Roger, 12.
159:06:51 Gordon: Hello, Houston; 12.
159:06:53 Gibson: 12, Houston. Go ahead.
159:06:56 Gordon: Okay. Fuel is 29.5; Ox, 29.7; unbalance 60 pounds increase.
159:07:07 Gibson: We copy, 12.
159:07:08 Gordon: And do you need anything else from us for - on that burn. Do you need anything else?
159:07:19 Gibson: Negative, 12. We've got all we need.
159:07:24 Gordon: Thank you.
159:08:43 Gibson: 12, computer is yours. And we have the information for photo Lalande.
159:08:51 Gordon: Okay. Go ahead.
159:08:55 Gibson: Okay. Photo Lalande, Rev 39: T-1, 159:40:19; T-2, 159:44:19; roll, pitch, and yaw: 000.9, 256.6, 005 - scratch that - that's 000.5.
159:09:29 Conrad: Okay. I didn't get the last one there. Roll, 000 something, 256.6, and 000.5.
159:09:39 Gibson: Okay. That's correct, and roll is 000.9.
159:09:48 Gordon: Okay. And the time is 159:40:19 and 15944:19.
159:09:55 Gibson: That's correct.
159:17:08 Gibson: Apollo 12, Houston. You can start charge on Bat A.
159:18:41 Conrad: Houston, 12.
159:18:43 Gibson: 12, go ahead.
159:18:49 Conrad: That hot engine of ours didn't by any chance buy us enough gas to come home a day early, did it?
159:19:02 Gibson: We'll cheek on that. Stand-by. We'll see what we can work out.
159:19:09 Conrad: Yes. I knew it was touch and go with Fuel reserves; but, seeing the engine was so good, I didn't know whether we wound up with a little bit more.
159:19:25 Gibson: Okay, 12. We're thinking on that one.
159:19:32 Conrad: That a boy. [Long pause.]
159:20:13 Gibson: 12, Houston. You can start charge on Bat A.
159:20:19 Bean: Roger. In work.
159:26:46 Gordon: Hello, Houston; 12.
159:26:49 Gibson: 12, Houston. Go ahead.
159:26:53 Gordon: Hey, Ed. Will you ask SAO how come they've got 8 minutes' worth of exposures on this target when T-1 to T-2 is only 4 minutes long?
159:27:05 Gibson: Roger. Will do. [Long pause.]
159:27:33 Gibson: Dick, that's just PAD on the film; you can cut it off before or after, as you see fit.
159:27:42 Gordon: Okay. I thought maybe I'd missed something.
159:27:48 Gibson: No way.
159:27:54 Gordon: It's possible. That SPS is a real hummer, isn't it?
159:28:02 Gibson: Yes. It is really throwing it out.
159:28:10 Gordon: That's the first time I've seen it wallow; it is starting to wallow through the sky, now.
159:28:18 Gibson: Yes. Copy that, Dick. [Pause.]
159:28:33 Conrad: Say, Ed. On the target of opportunity number 39, way back on that circle is the LM? Ascent stage crater?
159:28:44 Gibson: Stand by, Pete. It's on the Southern - and I'll give you - It's a little bit one way or the other. Standby. [Pause.]
159:29:00 Gibson: Pete, that's on the South edge, directly on the South edge of the circle.
159:29:11 Conrad: Okay. It indicates on the map, there, that there's a sort of a ridge running along there. Is it on the East side of the ridge or on the West side of the ridge?
159:29:30 Gibson: Stand by.
159:29:40 Conrad: It's not a ridge; I guess it's a mountain I'm looking at down there, Ed. On this map, it's not too steepy. [Long pause.]
159:30:06 Gibson: Okay, Pete. The ridge, which I believe you are talking about, runs along to the Western side of the center of that circle so that the impact ought to be a little bit to the East of that ridge. I agree, the map's not too well defined in that area, however.
159:30:25 Conrad: Okay. Very good. Thank you.
159:32:23 Gibson: Al, would you verify that you've started that battery charge or that it is in work?
159:32:31 Bean: It's - it's in work. We're kind of busy right now.
159:32:35 Gibson: Okay. Thank you. [Long pause.]
159:32:58 Conrad: All right, Houston. Bat A charge started.
159:33:02 Gibson: Roger, Pete. Thank you.
159:53:46 Gordon: Hello, Houston.
159:53:49 Gibson: 12, Houston. Go ahead.
159:53:53 Gordon: Okay. Can you pick up the DSKY?
159:53:59 Gibson: Roger. We have it.
159:54:03 Gordon: There you are. That's not bad for a gyro torquing, huh?
159:54:12 Gibson: Roger, Dick. Looks real good.
159:54:14 Gordon: That tells me we ought to be use - that tells me we ought to be using them more often. [Pause.]
159:54:26 Gordon: And, Houston, I'm going to go ahead and torque at this time.
159:54:29 Gibson: Okay. We're standing by.
159:54:34 Gordon: You got it.
160:01:02 Gibson: 12, Houston with a Stereo photo and map update, Rev 40.
160:01:10 Gordon: Okay. Standby a second.
160:01:19 Gordon: Go ahead.
160:01:22 Gibson: Stereo photo: T-1, 160:58:54; T-2, 161:55:58; map update, Rev 40, LOS 160:15:24, 160:40:11, 161:01:15.
160:02:06 Gordon: Roger, Houston. Stereo photo: 160:58:54, 161:55:58; map update, Rev 40, 160:15:24, 160:40:11, 161:01:15.
160:02:25 Gibson: Readback correct. And we have some update for the times for shutter-speed changes, there over on 3-140. There's a shift of 5 minutes. Just take 5 minutes and add it to each, and that'll give you the four of them in the order in which they're on the page, 161:11, 161:21, 161:39, 161:43.
160:07:38 Conrad: Houston, 12.
160:07:41 Gibson: 12, Houston. Go ahead.
160:07:45 Conrad: We've been having a long discussion here, and we concluded that we goofed on Lalande, and we got you some neat 500-millimeter pictures of Herschel. Now, I've got a question for you.
160:08:01 Gibson: Okay. Go ahead.
160:08:04 Conrad: Would you rather we took the 500-millimeters on Lalande on this next pass rather than the stereo-strip, or go on and get the thing in order? And we feel that the Rev prior to TEI, we could pick up either the stereostrip, which would be a little offset looks like along the same diameter as Lalande off to the left, or we could pick up the 500-millimeter then, either way.
160:08:37 Gibson: Okay, Pete. Standby on that.
160:09:42 Gibson: 12, Houston.
160:09:46 Conrad: Go ahead.
160:09:48 Gibson: Okay Lalande is the lowest of the photo priorities, so we recommend you continue with the Flight Plan as is, and if it looks to be possible to pick that up on the last Rev before TEI, then we can go ahead and give it a Go. But don't perturb the Flight Plan now.
160:10:07 Conrad: Okay. We'll give her a go before we leave on the last Rev and y'all will work up T-1, T-2 times for us, and we'll get it right this time. Sorry.
160:10:21 Gibson: Okay, Pete. No problem. We'll work those up for you; and did you copy the transmission on the changes on the DAC shutter speed on page 3-140 of your Flight Plan?
160:10:32 Conrad: No. We were - we were losing you. We had - No, we sure didn't, so how about running that by again?
160:10:43 Gibson: Okay. On page 3-140 of your Flight Plan, we have the DAC shutter-speed changes. There's four of them, and you add 5 minutes to each one of those. And that'll give you 161:11, 161:21, 161:39, 161:43.
160:11:07 Conrad: Okay. Got that done.
160:14:01 Gibson: 12, Houston. One and one-half minutes to LOS, and a reminder on that power on the High Gain. And, also, were you able to pick up anything on the target of opportunity?
160:14:15 Conrad: No, we weren't.
160:14:23 Conrad: And High Gain power is off. [Long pause.]
160:15:06 Gibson: Thirty seconds, 12. We'll see you on the other side. And maybe the photos will show something on that.
160:15:11 Conrad: All right.
This is Apollo Control. We've had Loss Of Signal from Apollo 12 as it went behind the Moon on the 39th revolution. Some 45 minutes from Acquisition Of Signal. We're now in a orbit measuring 64 by 56.7. The Lunar Orbit Plane Change maneuver number 2 was on time and was ½ foot per second more than the predicted. Present velocity 5,364 feet per second. And at 160 hours, 16 minutes, Ground Elapse Time, this is Apollo Control.
This is Apollo Control, 161 hours, Ground Elapsed Time. Less than a minute away from acquisition on the 40th revolution as Apollo 12 comes around the visible face of the Moon. The crew is still taking various photography exercises and during this pass, we will attach the 16-millimeter motion picture camera to the optics of the navigation sexton using the optics for the actual photography. Terminator to terminator beginning at about 161, well as you were. Now 160:57 going through 161 Ground Elapsed Time. We are standing by now for acquisition should have it by now. We will standby.
161:03:40 Gibson: Apollo 12, Houston. Standing by.
161:03:46 Gordon: Roger. We're working this stereo strip right now, Ed. Going real well.
161:03:51 Gibson: Real good, Dick.
161:04:00 Gordon: Hey listen, Ed, I'm sorry I screwed up on that last one, but we are sure getting a lot for you; so, see if those guys can give us those 4 minutes on that last Rev, [garble].?
161:04:10 Gibson: Okay, understand the request, Dick; we don't place too much importance on that; but, if you want it, we can give it to you.
161:04:19 Gordon: It has it in our Flight Plan, so it's important to me.
161:04:24 Gibson: Understand that, Dick.
161:04:32 Conrad: We'll get it on the flyby.
161:04:37 Gibson: Say again, 12.
161:04:42 Conrad: I just said we'd get it on the flyby.
161:04:47 Gibson: Roger. [Long pause.]
161:05:14 Gibson: 12, Houston. We suggest Noun 91.
161:12:23 Conrad: Houston, 12.
161:12:28 Gibson: 12, Houston. Go ahead.
161:12:32 Conrad: We got Dick working this pass and Al and I are sightseeing. This is really the first chance we've had to get a good look at the Moon; so, we're enjoying this pass with the map, checking off all the craters.
161:12:49 Gibson: Roger, Pete. Understand. Does it look any different after being down there; you get a little better feel for what it's like?
161:13:00 Conrad: Well, I - I think so. Of course, the back side back there doesn't really look anything like what we were on.
161:13:20 Bean: I personally think, Ed, it's more spectacular from orbit - that you can see all these gigantic craters and the - and - the - all diameters of the Moon and its change in color. When you get out on the surface - it's interesting down there, naturally, but it's not too much unlike just being out in a big field of clumps on Earth.
161:13:47 Gordon: You haven't got any of these craters around it.
161:13:48 Bean: Not that - not that much difference - than on Earth...
161:13:53 Gordon: [Garble] at the right place.
161:13:55 Bean: ...and, of course, you can never see anything like this - [garble] down hers.
161:14:08 Gibson: Do you think that will satisfy Dick?
161:14:15 Bean: No, he keeps talking about making a low pass over the landing site before we go.
161:14:22 Gordon: And I may get another chance; you can't ever tell.
161:14:26 Gibson: Hope so.
161:14:37 Gibson: You mentioned that back side looks different; is it - just a different crater density or entirely different nature to it?
161:14:50 Conrad: Looks like different nature to me. [Pause.]
161:15:12 Bean: The back side, like everyone said, is - Go ahead, Ed.
161:15:17 Gibson: No, go ahead, Al.
161:15:23 Bean: I was just going to say, it's just like everyone said before, the back side is a lot more worked over, a lot more - worn and smooth; and where the front side's got all these Mare areas, a lot more contrast and a lot more sharp features to look at. I personally like to look at the front side, the Rilles and the - the higher mountains; the contrast between that and the Mares to me is more interesting.
161:15:57 Gibson: Roger. Probably that Sun angle has a lot to do with how treacherous some of those mountainsides look.
161:16:10 Bean: That's right, Ed, because on the back side here, there's no flat area at all; it's all just [garble] and big craters, little craters - no real sharp contrast between flat and high mountains or anything like that.
161:16:56 Gibson: That must have been an interesting approach going down there; you had some pretty steep - [garble] you were flying over there at pretty shallow Sun angles.
161:17:10 Conrad: You mean the PDI?
161:17:12 Gibson: That's affirmative.
161:17:16 Conrad: Yes. Well, at first, we - we - The last time I saw it coming up on PDI, it looked like we were really augering in and going through some mountains, but I was kind of occupied, watching the descent in the cockpit there, and when we pitched over and I first looked, I didn't have the foggiest idea where I was; and then, all of a sudden, the old pattern was sitting right there.
161:17:46 Gibson: Just like the Cape, huh?
161:17:47 Conrad: Yes, I was just a - and then I did a little LPD and - Yes, just like it; and I did just a little LPDing mainly to - would you believe it, to get out of the crater, not to get to it, because it looked like we were going to land right smack on the [garble].
161:18:07 Gibson: We've got a FIDO down here, telling me about a prediction of l0 feet.
161:18:10 Conrad: Hey, - Well, for all I know, he could be right because it sure looked like we were going right in the middle of the crater. [Pause.]
161:18:42 Bean: Another beautiful sight, Ed. Headed down from DOI to PDI; we'd already entered the PDI attitude, and just at the part of the [garble] where that would make us [garble] vertical [garble], at that time, an Earthrise occurred, and really a fantastic sight. It occurred very rapidly up here like [garble] said, and it's just such a fantastic view of a blue and white shiny ball, [garble] it's about one-third of a ball, compared to sort of a drab gray or brown or whatever color you can call the Moon. It's - a spectacular sight.
161:19:23 Gibson: Roger, Al. Say, you're a bit broken up. Why don't you try moving the mouthpiece? [Pause.]
161:19:37 Bean: Will do, Ed. [Pause.]
161:19:50 Gibson: 12, we have a little lunar news for you if you're...
161:19:52 Bean: You know the only sight that I saw...
161:19:53 Gibson: ...interested.
161:19:58 Gibson: Okay, Pete and Al and Dick, you got a Central Station down there; the power is good, and you got a good signal. Average temperature now is about 72 degrees, and it's slowly increasing about 0.6 degrees per hour. The biggest thing that happened recently was the impact of the ascent stage and the PSE picked that up very well. They consider that one of the most significant things that's happened to date on lunar seismology. The LSM is working real well. They just did a flip Cal on it, and they did the flip Cal before ascent. And they also noted at ascent that the magnetic field blanked out at ignition and lasted - the blankout lasted for l0 to 12 minutes after. The solar wind has its covers off and is perking right along. The SIDE also picked up some counts in the high energy range of the detectors at ascent. And they also think they have a probable pickup of the impact itself. However, the SIDE is still - continues to short out occasionally, and they think it's just degassing; so now, they have the high voltage off, and they'll probably bring it back on around lunar noon. Other than that, it looks as though it's really perking right along; you did a swell job.
161:21:25 Conrad: Hey, Ed. What - What's their best estimate now of the effect of all the dust it got on it? The pieces of equipment we laid down there?
161:21:39 Gibson: Okay, from what we can see down here, there's no observable effect.
161:21:47 Conrad: Oh, that - that's going to be very interesting, because - I wonder what happened to the EASEP then - because, obviously, you couldn't have blown - 11 couldn't have blown any more dust on that EASEP than - than we got on our ALSEP and - that thing really got dirty. It got into the [garble] we needed and everything else. You just can't help but get them real dirty. Oh, it's not that dirty, but [garble] had a fair amount of dust on it.
161:22:19 Gibson: Roger, Pete.
161:22:20 Conrad: You can see from our pictures when we get them back just exactly how dirty it was.
161:22:27 Bean: Yes, I was going to say a minute ago, Ed, the only other sight that I thought was more spectacular was ascent from the Moon. And when that thing's ready to bang and stage, it started straight up, and actually goes pretty fast - I was a little surprised. And it pitched over so far, I could look straight down and see the descent stage and see the ALSEP - see that we hadn't knocked over any parts of the ALSEP; it didn't look like anything big was being blown that way. I had the camera mounted in the window, pointed - you know, pilot's eye view. Instead of pointing down, like [garble], I just had it mounted on the window pointed straight ahead, and it would have caught the same view we were getting only the thing stopped some time, and I'm not really sure when, and I'm just hoping that it didn't stop before we lifted off and made that pitchover, because that'll be spectacular to look at on the movies. I started it again a couple times, as you know, during the ascent and it still shut down - it worked all the time during the descent but something happened.
161:23:30 Gibson: Roger, Al. Sure hope you did catch that. Yes, that was a concern perhaps of that SIDE being pretty susceptible to tipping over there, especially from anything blowing out on the - from the ascent itself. Glad to hear it didn't.
161:24:35 Conrad: Well, I'll tell you one thing, Ed. You and Joe and all the guys put together a great lunar surface LM; that thing went without a hitch.
161:24:45 Gibson: Well, I think you guys were the prime movers from the beginning and the hitches that did come up, you sure knew how to work around them. Well done.
161:24:56 Conrad: Anybody can swing a hammer.
161:25:44 Gibson: 12, Houston. We're standing by with a map update for Rev 41, TEI PAD, Rev 43, and some times for high-resolution photos Descartes and Fra Mauro.
161:26:03 Gordon: Okay. We're ready to copy.
161:26:07 Gibson: Map update, Rev 41: 162:13:27, 162:38:38, 162:59:49; TEI PAD, Rev 43, SPS/G&N: 34235; minus 0.64, plus 0.24; 168:28:52.72; Noun 81, plus 2944.7, plus 0271.9, minus 0079.0; NA, pitch is 126, and NA; four jets; 11 seconds. Read back.
161:27:13 Gordon: Roger. On AOS/LOS, 180, I got that.
161:27:21 Bean: And the TEI PAD is SPS/G&N: 34235; minus 0.64, plus 0.24; 168:28:52.72; plus 2944.7, plus 0271.9, minus 0079.0; NA, 126, NA; four jet; 11 seconds.
161:27:44 Gibson: That's Charlie. And we've got times for...
161:27:48 Bean: Roger-Roger.
161:27:50 Gibson: ...we have your times for high resolution photos on Descartes and Fra Mauro, when you're ready.
161:27:58 Gordon: Go ahead. Ready to copy.
161:28:01 Gibson: Okay. Descartes, T-1, 163:29:12; T-2, 163:33:12; roll, pitch and yaw, you can use the attitudes in the Flight Plan. Fra Mauro, T-1, 163:40:01; T-2, 163:44:01. And again, roll, pitch, yaw angles are the same as in the Flight Plan.
161:28:38 Gordon: Roger, Ed. Copy 163:29:12, 163:33:12; for Fra Mauro, 163:40:01, 163:44:01; and the R, P, Y as in the Flight Plan.
161:28:52 Gibson: That's correct. [Long pause.]
161:29:49 Gibson: Pete, Houston.
161:29:56 Conrad: Go ahead.
161:29:57 Gibson: Say, in looking over the transcripts of the EVA, Uel figures you saw some pretty interesting stuff down there. As a matter of fact, he figures about 11 times.
161:30:09 Conrad: Okay. Very good. That's not too bad for 8 hours.
161:30:18 Gibson: That's for sure.
161:30:27 Conrad: You learn how to be a test pilot by not committing yourself.
161:30:33 Gibson: Say again. You were a bit broken.
161:30:38 Conrad: I say, you learn how to be a test pilot by not committing yourself. It's called "weasel wording."
161:30:49 Gibson: Guilt by association.
161:31:44 Bean: We're passing over the crater Kant right now, and it has a large impact crater in the middle of it that's got rocks so big in it that I can see them with my naked eye laying down there; so, they got to be awful big.
161:32:07 Gibson: Must be looking at chunks of the real bedrock.
161:32:14 Bean: Yes. And from here - of course, this is a bright impact crater, and the rocks laying out there are pure white in contrast to a rather dull gray sort of texture of the rest of the crater Kant.
161:32:34 Gibson: Roger. You made that comment also on the surface about some of those which were pure white. Do you think that was just the Sun angle or do you think that's the real color?
161:32:44 Bean: Well, I don't know - I guess we're about high noon now, wait a minute - we're at high noon now, and it may be the Sun angle because we, of course, were sitting on the surface and the Sun was relatively low, shining across at those blocks. But no matter now you slice it, anywhere along in here, no matter what the Sun angle is, these gray craters appear to be white, like chalky color, with blotches on them. As a matter of fact, we're passing over a bunch of them now, and I can see boulders with my naked eye, and I can see them real clearly with the monocular.
161:33:41 Gibson: That would make a very spectacular descent from low gate.
161:33:54 Bean: Yes. And also...
161:37:07 Conrad: Say, Ed, I was just looking at the Flight Plan and noticed what time it was back there. How come you get all the good deals?
161:37:17 Gibson: Guess I'm just lucky. No, I'd just as soon be up during the middle of the night rather than be up during the day and watch you guys sleep.
161:42:21 Gibson: Apollo 12, Houston.
161:42:26 Conrad: Hello, Houston; 12. How do you read?
161:42:30 Gibson: Okay. You're clear but there's an awful lot of static. We'll be picking up a little better Comm fairly shortly.
161:42:38 Conrad: Okay, Ed. Just looking at the Flight Plan and noticed what time it was back there. How come you get all the good deals?
161:42:47 Gibson: Well, it's a good deal. I'd rather be up when you're up than be watching you sleep during the day.
161:42:56 Conrad: Yes. That's true.
161:42:59 Gibson: Paul Wietz has become a sleep expert.
161:43:05 Conrad: [Laughter].
161:45:02 Gibson: Apollo 12, Houston. High Gain angles: Pitch, minus 22; yaw, 175.
161:45:37 Gibson: 12, Houston.
161:45:46 Gibson: Okay, that's much better. Say, on that question you brought up before about the - having that hot engine and looking at the return. If we did it the way you suggested, we'd be...
161:46:01 Conrad: Wait just a second, Ed.
161:46:02 Gibson: Okay. [Long pause.]
161:46:34 Conrad: Okay, Ed. Go ahead. Sorry, we were trying to - Al and I were trying to pick up this Snowman from here.
161:46:41 Gibson: Did you get him?
161:46:46 Conrad: Yes. I got him in the monocular.
161:46:48 Gibson: Okay. On the question you brought up before, it looks as though your Delta-V capability would be around 20-feet-per-second margin, and that looks a little bit small.
161:47:01 Conrad: Okay. No problem; we weren't sweating it. We just knew that if we had a better engine or something, why, there was a chance that we might have enough to do it. No problem at all.
161:47:17 Bean: That's 1 less day in the LRL, Ed.
161:47:21 Gibson: That's right. I think you probably got a little better place to spend it there.
161:47:27 Bean: [Garble] flight time.
161:47:41 Gibson: I bet you there's lots of guys sitting over in the LRL that wouldn't mind trading you a day or two.
161:47:50 Bean: I suppose you're right.
161:51:22 Gibson: Apollo 12, Houston. We suggest a zero degrees - on the shaft.
161:57:22 Gibson: 12, Houston. Go ahead. [Long pause.]
161:58:05 Comm Tech: Honeysuckle on net 1.
161:58:50 Comm Tech: Honeysuckle Comm Tech, Houston Comm Tech, net 1 voice check.
161:58:54 HSK: Honeysuckle; read you loud and clear.
161:58:56 Comm Tech: Roger. Read you the same.
161:58:59 Gordon: Houston Comm Tech, Honeysuckle net 1. We could possibly have a remoting problem. In house, we're not copying the spacecraft being remoted to Goss. We're checking.
161:59:09 Comm Tech: Roger. [Long pause.]
161:59:51 Gibson: Apollo 12, Houston.
162:00:02 Conrad: Go ahead, Houston.
162:00:05 Gibson: Okay, 12. We had a - little bit out of configuration here, and we're squared away now. Did you call?
162:00:15 Conrad: No, we didn't. I guess Dick wanted to ask about some gyro torquing angles but we had gotten a P50 done - two done early the last time and already passed them to you.
162:00:30 Gibson: Okay. [Long pause.]
162:01:20 Gibson: Apollo 12, Houston. You can continue with the pitch. We have the DSE dump. You can continue on to the Descartes attitude.
162:01:32 Bean: Okay. [Long pause.]
162:02:02 Gibson: 12, Houston.
162:02:07 Gordon: Go ahead, Ed.
162:02:09 Gibson: Say, Dick, in order to help FIDO out a little bit, would you try to do the dumps on the back side, where possible?
162:02:22 Gordon: Sure thing. I just couldn't wait any longer.
162:02:29 Gibson: We'd like to see the back side of the Moon.
162:02:30 Gordon: If you know what I mean. Say that again?
162:02:39 Gibson: After watching you on the front side, we'd like to see what the back side looks like.
162:02:45 Gordon: Oh, okay.
162:09:44 Gibson: Apollo 12, Houston. Would you verify that the recorder switch is in the Forward position?
162:09:56 Bean: Roger. Forward.
162:09:59 Gibson: Thank you.
162:10:02 Bean: Did you want it off, Houston?
162:10:09 Bean: Did you want it off, Houston? [Long pause.]
162:10:38 Bean: Houston, Apollo 12. Did you want us to put that switch in Forward, where it is now, or put it back to Off?
162:10:46 Gibson: Stand by. [Long pause.]
162:11:07 Gibson: Al, what we want is the tape record switch to Forward if it's not there already.
162:11:16 Bean: That's where she is and that's where she'll stay. Okay?
162:12:26 Gibson: Apollo 12, 1 minute to LOS.
This is Apollo Control, at Loss Of Signal as Apollo 12 went behind the moon on the 40 - near the end of the 40th revolution. And some 45 minutes, 35 seconds until acquisition again. And at 162 hours, 14 minutes Ground Elapsed Time, this is Apollo Control.
This is Apollo Control Houston at 162 hours, 59 minutes now into the flight of Apollo 12. Apollo 12 will come within acquisition range in less than a minute. In Mission Control Center meanwhile, we had a shift turnover. Flight Director Pete Frank presently aboard and Capsule Communicator Gerry Carr has replaced Ed Gibson at that console. We'll stand by now for acquisition.
163:00:21 Carr: Apollo 12, Houston is listening.
163:00:37 Conrad: Roger, Houston. 12 here.
163:00:40 Carr: Roger, Pete. Loud and clear.
163:00:43 Conrad: How you doing this morning, Jerry?
163:00:44 Carr: Good. How're you feeling?
163:00:49 Conrad: Great. Well, Dick and I are trying to find Secchi right at the moment; we're right about...
163:00:59 Bean: Pete and I are finally getting our first look at the Moon. Just kind of skylarking.
163:01:03 Carr: Kind of nice to kind of get back away from it and look at it from a distance, huh?
163:01:09 Bean: Yes. We had - We didn't get a chance before we went down to look at it. We always had something going on, and as a result we just got glimpses. We got a couple of glimpses there when we've been heading down and taking some photographs. We haven't had to monitor any too closely because they've been done every 20 seconds by the intervalometer and we've been able to look out the window.
163:01:40 Carr: 12, Houston. If one of you can find a pencil, I got a Rev 42 map update for you. [Long pause.]
That was Al Bean saying that it was good to have a chance to take a over view or a long look at the Moon from a bit of a distance. We're at 163 hours, 2 minutes presently into the flight.
163:02:21 Bean: Okay, Jerry. I'm ready to copy.
163:02:24 Carr: Okay. Map update for Rev 42: LOS is 164:12:05, 164:37:09, 164:58:26. Over.
163:02:54 Bean: Roger. 164:12:05. 164:37:09, 164:58:26.
Apollo 12 now on its 41st revolution. We presently show an altitude of 58.3 nautical miles above the surface of the Moon. Its current orbit 64.6 nautical miles by 56.4 nautical miles.
163:19:22 Carr: Apollo 12, Houston.
163:19:29 Carr: Roger. If you'll give us Accept, we'll start on uplink of your CSM state vector on Low Bit Rate.
This is Apollo Control, Houston, at 163 hours, 20 minutes now into the flight. Very little conversation on the loop. The Apollo 12 crew no doubt involved in preparations for tracking and photographing potential future landing sites. Meanwhile, in Mission Control Center, Houston, Flight Director Pete Frank confirms that we do not plan for an early return - a one-day early return for the Apollo 12 crew. We're at 63 hours, 21 minutes into the flight. This is Apollo Control, Houston.
163:23:35 Carr: Apollo 12, Houston. The computer's yours.
163:23:42 Bean: Thank you.
This is Apollo Control, Houston at 163 hours, 40 minutes into the flight. We've had no conversation with the crew. The Guidance and Control Officer at Mission Control Center has just confirmed the Flight Director, Pete Frank, that Apollo 12 is in attitude for the tracking and photography of Fra Mauro, one of the candidate landing sites for subsequent Apollo Missions. We presently show Apollo 12 in an orbit of 64.6 nautical miles by 56.3 nautical miles. It's velocity of spacecraft velocity now reads 5,357 feet per second. This is Apollo Control, Houston.
163:44:57 Conrad: Okay, Houston; Apollo 12.
163:45:00 Carr: 12, Houston. Go.
163:45:05 Conrad: Okay. We've got Descartes, and we got Fra Mauro.
163:45:10 Carr: Good show, Pete. You can terminate the charge on battery Alpha and start it on battery B the first chance you get. And, if you're ready to copy, we can get these tracking PADs out of the way that are on your page 3-145, and that ought to take care of the paperwork for a little while.
163:45:33 Conrad: Okay. You have Bat charge B is in work. And I'm ready to copy.
163:45:39 Carr: Okay, Pete. We've got four of them. First one is Charlie Papa l, T-1 is 16...
163:45:47 Conrad: Break. Break. Would you hold it just a few minutes?
163:45:53 Conrad: We want to take a look at Copernicus.
163:47:10 Conrad: Okay, Houston. Ready to copy. Sorry.
163:47:14 Carr: Okay, Pete. The first one is Charlie Papa l, T-1 is 164:52:57, 164:58:02, North 04. The next one is Charlie Papa 2, 165:11:16, 165:16:15, North 14. Delta Echo 1 is the next one; 165:24:21, 165:29:17, and it's on track. Foxtrot Mike 1 is 165:35:08, 165:40:06, North 09. Over.
163:48:49 Conrad: Okay. Charlie Papa 1, 164:52:57, 164:58:02, North 04; Charlie Papa 2, 165:11:16, 165:16:15, North 14; Delta Echo l, 165:24:21, 165:29:17; Foxtrot Mike 165:35:08, 165:40:06, North 09.
163:49:25 Carr: That's affirmative, Pete.
This is Apollo Control, Houston. 163 hours, 50 minutes now into the flight. Those PADs just passed out by CapCom [garble] to Pete Conrad, were PADs for landmark tracking. The CP-1 and CP-2, CP an acronym of Control Point. We're at 163 hours and presently show an altitude of 60.1 nautical miles. And this is Apollo Control, Houston.
163:53:23 Carr: Apollo 12, Houston. Go Low Bit Rate on PCM.
163:54:44 Conrad: I guess you got a pretty full Moon down there right now, hull, Jerry?
163:54:48 Carr: That's affirmative, Pete. I got a look at it coming into work this morning, and it's almost completely full and it's beautiful. Houston's enjoying...
163:55:02 Conrad: It's really been spectacular over here by the terminator. We're looking at a lot of stuff, I guess everybody's seen before that's been up here.
163:55:18 Carr: Roger, Pete. Houston, down here, is enjoying good cold, clear weather, and so the Moon is particularly beautiful.
163:55:29 Conrad: Sounds good.
164:06:19 Conrad: Houston, 12. Have you got the torquing angles on the DSKY?
164:06:23 Carr: Affirmative, Pete.
This is Apollo Control Houston, at 164, hours, 9 minutes now into the flight and we are less than 3 minutes away from time of Loss Of Signal. We will stand by to see if Capsule Communicator Jerry Carr has any final words with the crew before they pass out of range.
164:11:04 Carr: Apollo 12, Houston.
164:11:09 Conrad: Go ahead, Houston.
164:11:12 Carr: Roger. You're about a minute from LOS. We will be picking you up again at 164:58, and on your waste water dump on the back side, dump to 15 percent. Over.
164:11:30 Conrad: Roger. See you at 58. We'll dump to 15.
164:11:34 Carr: So long, Pete.
This is Apollo Control Houston, we've had Loss Of Signal with the Apollo 12 Command Module as it passes above the far side of the moon. We reacquire Apollo 12 at 164 hours, 58 minutes into the flight.
This is Apollo Control Houston at 164 hours, 58 minutes now into the flight. We're some 20 seconds away now from acquisition and standing by.
This is Apollo Control Houston. We've had no contact yet with the crew, although we are receiving data. Presently we show the onboard computer in Program 22. This is the orbital navigation program. We'll stand by now for any conversation as it may develop.
This is Apollo Control Houston now 165 hours, 3 minutes into the flight. We presently show an apolune of 64.7 nautical miles and a perilune of 56.1 nautical miles for Apollo 12. Apollo 12's current weight in orbit 34,163 pounds. Standing by and continuing to monitor, this is Apollo Control Houston.
Apollo Control Houston. Apollo 12 performing several landmark tracking exercises as we pick them up this Rev. A report from the Guidance and Control Officer over the loop indicates that 12 has completed its first landmark tracking exercise. We're at 165 hours, 5 minutes now into the flight. This is Apollo Control Houston.
This is Apollo Control Houston now 165 hours, and 12 minutes into the flight. Capcom Jerry Carr has not yet tried to call Apollo 12, the crew of Apollo 12 till actively engaged in their landmark tracking project. We will stand by and continue to monitor and we are at 165 hours, 12 minutes now into the mission.
165:13:14 Carr: Apollo 12, Houston. Do you read?
165:13:19 Gordon: Houston, 12. Go ahead.
165:13:21 Carr: Okay. Just checking in. I've got a map update and a TEI-45 block data, whenever you're ready to copy.
165:13:31 Conrad: Jerry, can you wait to between runs, here?
165:13:36 Carr: Sure can. You just - call me when you're ready.
165:13:42 Conrad: Okay. I'll be able to get ready for that after this one.
165:13:45 Carr: Okay. [Long pause.]
165:14:03 Conrad: And, Jerry. Let Al Bean get his gear together and he'll copy that TEI PAD.
165:14:08 Carr: Roger. [Long pause.]
165:14:28 Bean: Go ahead, Jerry.
165:14:32 Carr: Roger. TEI-45 block data and put it on a maneuver PAD, SPS/G&N: 34163, NA, NA. Noun 33 is 172:27:16.43; Noun 81, plus 3027.9, plus 0283.6, minus 0009.3; NA, 122, NA; the rest of the PAD is NA; ullage, four jets, 11 seconds. Over.
165:15:59 Bean: Roger, Jerry. Copied TEI-45, SPS/G&N: 34163, NA, NA, 172:27:16.43, plus 3027.9, plus 0283.6, minus 0009.3, NA, 122, NA; four jet 1l-second ullage.
165:16:33 Carr: Roger. I've got a Rev 43 map update for you.
165:16:56 Carr: Okay. Rev 40 - Rev 43: LOS 166:10:37, 166:35:36, 166:56:58. Over.
165:17:29 Bean: Roger. 166:10:37, 166:35:36, 166:56:58.
165:17:43 Bean: Have you heard from our family lately?
165:17:49 Carr: Oh, I expect they're just up and around this morning having breakfast, getting the kids off to school. I guess when things slow down, what do you say I give them a call and get some words?
165:18:00 Bean: That's a good idea. Thanks.
165:18:05 Carr: Is this Al?
165:18:10 Bean: That's right.
165:18:12 Carr: Did you get the word that Amy was visited by the tooth fairy?
165:18:21 Bean: [Laughter] No [garble] doing.
165:18:23 Carr: Yes. That happened when you guys were getting ready to - for your descent. We didn't have time to get that up to you, but Amy wanted me to be sure and tell you that.
165:18:36 Bean: Thank you.
This is Apollo Control, Houston at 165 hours and 19 minutes into the flight. That TEI-43 PAD, which was passed up by Jerry Carr to Al Bean, is a maneuver PAD which is stored inside the computer only to be utilized PAD in the event a requirement existed to return Apollo 12 back toward the Earth on the 43rd revolution. It's contingency PAD only of block data. We're at 165 hours, 20 minutes into the flight and continuing to monitor. This is Apollo Control, Houston.
165:20:43 Conrad: Houston, 12.
165:20:45 Carr: 12, Houston. Go.
165:20:49 Gordon: Jerry, go ahead with that second group of P22's, please.
165:20:57 Carr: Stand by, Dick. We don't have them yet. [Pause.]
165:21:23 Carr: 12, Houston. We'll have those for you in just a couple of minutes.
165:23:59 Carr: Apollo 12, Houston. I have those landmark tracking PAD's now.
165:24:17 Gordon: Okay, Jerry. Go ahead.
165:24:20 Carr: Okay. These are the ones on page 3-149. The first one is Charlie Papa l: T-1 is 166:51:23, 16:56:29, North 02. We'll have the Lat/Long information for you in a few minutes. Charlie Papa 2: T-1 is 167:09:42, 167:14:42, North 14; Delta Echo 1: 167:22:46, 167:27:43, North 02; Foxtrot Mike 1: 167:33:0 - correction 32, 167:38:32, North 12. Over.
165:26:04 Gordon: Roger. Copied CP-1: 166:51:23, 166:56:29, North 02; CP-2; 167:09:42, 167:14:42, North 14; Delta Echo l: 167:22:46, 167:27:43, 02 North; FM 1 - sounds like an airplane - 167:33:32, 167:38:32, 12 North. Over.
165:26:37 Carr: That's affirmative. We'll have some other information here in just a minute.
165:26:46 Gordon: I've got the same landmarks on what I'm doing right now, Jerry.
165:27:08 Carr: 12, Houston. We're going to take your Noun 89's and convert that to your Lat/Long's for this particular pass. Over.
165:27:17 Gordon: Oh, okay. I see.
165:30:43 Carr: Apollo 12, Houston.
165:30:50 Gordon: Go ahead, Houston.
165:30:51 Carr: Roger. On that P22 stuff I just passed up to you, go ahead and use your Flight Plan Lat/Long's and mark on the same features you did on the previous pass.
165:31:19 Gordon: Okay, Jer. Understand we mark the same thing as this pass here.
165:31:24 Carr: That's affirmative.
This is Apollo Control, Houston at 165 hours, 33 minutes now into the flight. We presently show Apollo 12 at an altitude of 57 nautical miles and in an orbit showing an apolune of 64.6 nautical miles and a perilune of 56 nautical miles. We have some 37 minutes remaining on this PAO - front side pass. Apollo 12 is now in its 42nd revolution around the Moon. We're at 165 hours, 34 minutes, and continuing to monitor. This is Apollo Control, Houston.
165:33:47 Gordon: Hey, Houston; Apollo 12.
165:33:49 Carr: Go ahead, 12.
165:33:54 Gordon: Jerry, do you want me to use the same Lat/Long that's in the flight plan or the one that I just calculated for P22?
165:34:05 Carr: Dick, use the ones in the Flight Plan. Not the Noun 89's.
165:34:12 Gordon: Okay. Thank you.
That's Command Module pilot, Dick Gordon talking with Capsule Communicator Jerry Carr planning his second set of landmark tracking exercises. We're at 165 hours, 35 minutes now into the flight.
165:42:49 Gordon: Houston, 12.
165:42:51 Carr: 12, Houston. Go.
165:42:56 Gordon: Hey, Jerry, have the boys check the - the speed setting on that one. That was a pretty bright target. And I put the shutter on 1/60th; I think it ought to be about 1/125th. Will you check up on that?
165:43:08 Carr: Roger. Which target was that?
165:43:13 Gordon: This last one, Fra Mauro 1.
165:43:16 Carr: Okay. Dick, while I have you, sometime on the back-side pass here, I think you can expect to see the manifold pressure on RCS quad C start to dis - decrease, meaning that you've depleted your primary tank. We'd like you to switch to secondary on that quad only. All right?
165:43:39 Gordon: Okay. Secondary on C only. Thank you.
165:43:41 Carr: Do that just when the manifold pressure starts to decrease...
165:43:44 Gordon: I won't switch unless I see them de - As I was going to say, I won't switch until I see them decrease.
165:43:51 Carr: Good show, Dick. [Long pause.]
165:44:19 Carr: 12, Houston. Go ahead. We concur with you on your setting for Fra Mauro. [Pause.]
165:44:33 Gordon: Okay. I'll make it 1/125th on the next pass.
165:44:36 Carr: Roger. 1/125th.
This is Apollo Control Houston at 165 hours, 45 minutes into the flight; that was Jerry Carr advising Dick Gordon aboard Apollo 12 that they're approaching a point to switch over to the secondary propellant tank on quad C or quad Charlie. This is one of the Reaction Control System quads on the Service Module. We are at 165 hours, 46 minutes into the flight and continuing to monitor. This is Apollo Control, Houston.
165:57:56 Carr: Apollo 12, Houston. Comm check.
165:58:06 Gordon: Loud and clear.
165:58:08 Carr: Roger. We have some data to uplink to you as soon as we can get good data. [Long pause.]
165:59:39 Gordon: I think we've been causing you some trouble there, Houston. We were trying to give you High Gain and couldn't make it.
165:59:49 Carr: Say again, 12.
166:00:00 Gordon: I think we caused you a little squawk. We tried to give you our High Gain and weren't able to do it.
166:01:36 Gordon: We're in P00 and Accept, Houston.
166:01:39 Carr: Roger. It's on its way.
166:04:03 Carr: Apollo 12, Houston. The computer's yours. [Pause.]
166:04:14 Gordon: Thank you much.
This is Apollo Control Houston at 166 hours, 8 minutes now into the flight. We're slightly less than 3 minutes away from Loss Of Signal with Apollo 12. We will stand by for any parting messages from CapCom, Jerry Carr, prior to Apollo 12 going behind the Moon.
166:08:52 Carr: Apollo 12, Houston. Over.
166:08:59 Bean: Go ahead, Jerry.
166:09:00 Carr: Roger. We show you a minute and a half from LOS and we'll be picking you up at 166:56, and would you pass the word to Dick that the P22 marks are looking real good and they're very consistent? About the only thing that we might have to offer is that he's starting his marks just a bit too early.
166:09:28 Bean: Roger. How much is a bit, Houston?
166:09:35 Carr: About 11 seconds.
166:09:41 Bean: We'll try to correct that one.
166:09:44 Carr: Roger. See you on the other side.
166:09:51 Bean: Okey-dokey. [Pause.]
166:10:10 Gordon: Houston, 12.
166:10:16 Gordon: Hey, Jerry. Al just put in a comment about starting these a little early. I felt that I had to, because that last mark the target is going out of sight; that's because our field of view in the telescope isn't as much as it is in the sextant, and I think you've got to start a little bit earlier than 40 seconds after T-2. I've done that purposely. Any comments?
166:10:39 Carr: Okay. That's fine.
This is Apollo Control, Houston. 166 hours, 11 minutes into the flight. Jerry Carr did not quite have the opportunity to respond to that last comment from Dick Gordon since Apollo 12 passed over the hill and out of range with the Mission Control Center here in Houston. We're at 166 hours, 11 minutes and we'll see Apollo 12 some 45 minutes later as it is presently on its 42nd revolution. This is Apollo Control, Houston.
This is Apollo Control Houston at 166 hours, 57 minutes now into the flight. We're just a little more than 10 seconds away from time of acquisition on the Apollo 12 Command Module and we'll standby.
166:57:24 Carr: Apollo 12, Houston. How do you read?
166:57:35 Conrad: Hello, Houston; Yankee Clipper.
166:57:40 Carr: Roger. Read you loud and clear.
166:57:45 Conrad: Okay, Houston. You're breaking up. [Long pause.]
166:58:11 Carr: Yankee Clipper, Houston. How do you read me now?
166:58:16 Conrad: Roger. Loud and clear. Listen, Jerry, I've got something real important for you. We were taking some target of opportunity photographs with the same film pack that we had the 500-millimeter film on, and without going into details right now - I'll tell you later when we have the time - that magazine pack popped off and we're not sure we didn't wipe out that film magazine. Now, what we suggest is that - is we dump the landmark tracking, seeing as we got good ones last time on Descartes and Fra Mauro and you pump us up another T-1 and T-2 for both of them and let's get some more 500-millimeter this pass on another magazine. Okay?
166:59:10 Carr: Roger, Pete. We copy. Stand by 1.
This is Apollo Control Houston at 166 hours, 57 minutes now into the flight. We're just a little more than 10 seconds away from time of acquisition on the Apollo 12 Command Module and we'll standby.
167:02:45 Carr: Yankee Clipper, Houston.
167:02:51 Conrad: Go, Houston.
167:02:52 Carr: Roger. We concur with your plan, Pete, and we're hustling right now to get some new T-1, T-2 times for Descartes and Fra Mauro.
167:03:03 Conrad: Okay. Let me tell you what happened. We - Al was very careful to watch all the time we were taking the 500-millimeter pictures to - to make sure that the camera was, in fact, running; and he was watching the side opposite the counter which is at the - the little red-and-white deal; and, and, and - I mean, he was watching the red-and-white thing as we were taking the picture and we noticed that we [garble] 500-millimeter indicated approximately 100 pictures but the counter only read 60 and we kicked that around for quite a while until we finally concluded that, because Al had been watching, that - that there was something wrong with the counter and we really had taken all the pictures. So we decided that we'd use up the rest of that film on targets of opportunity; so while Al was taking the pictures out the window, the side of the magazine just popped off out of nowhere for no reason, and it opened up about an eighth of an inch, and Al tried to get it back on and then he had to actually open the lock and put it back on. Oh, we never did get it on, so he just taped it on, and we don't know whether it's light-struck or not and we don't know why it - it popped open, but we're sure suspicious. We also don't know if it - if it was only partially on to begin with that we really did lose film; so I think it's best that we take a fresh magazine, which he has, and we'll get those pictures again.
167:04:56 Carr: Roger, Pete. That sounds like the best way to go.
167:05:02 Conrad: Okay. We do.
167:09:13 Carr: Yankee Clipper, Houston.
167:09:19 Conrad: Go, Houston.
167:09:20 Carr: Roger. I've got your T-1's and T-2's, we'll have some attitudes for you shortly. Ready to copy?
167:09:31 Conrad: Yes, sir.
167:09:32 Carr: Okay. For Descartes, Tango 1 is 167:26:05; Tango 2 is 167:30:05; for Fra Mauro, Tango 1 is 167:36:58; Tango 2 is 167:40:58. And we'll have your attitudes for you in a few minutes.
167:10:13 Conrad: Okay. And don't forget to work up that same data for Lalande for the Rev before TEI there.
167:10:20 Carr: Roger. Will do it.
This is Apollo Control Houston. You heard that last exchange between Jerry Carr and Pete Conrad aboard Apollo 12. The landmark tracking for this revolution will be deleted from the Flight Plan and those were GET times passed up for T-1 and T-2 on Fra Mauro and Descartes, 2 prominent candidates as landing sites for future Apollo missions. We're at 167 hours, 11 minutes now in the flight and this is Apollo Control Houston.
167:14:26 Carr: Yankee Clipper, Houston. While you are waiting, I have a Rev 44 map update.
167:14:35 Conrad: Okay, Houston
167:14:37 Carr: Roger. LOS 168:09:05, 168:33:57, 168:55:10. Over. [Pause.]
167:15:04 Conrad: Roger. 168:09:05, 168:33:57, 168:55:10.
167:15:12 Carr: Roger. And I've got your attitudes for Descartes and Fra Mauro.
167:15:23 Carr: Roger. For Descartes: roll 1.1; pitch, 285.9; yaw, 1.6. For Fra Mauro, roll, 1.4; pitch, 252.0; yaw, 2.0.
167:16:02 Conrad: Roll, 1.1; 285.9; yaw, 1.6; roll, 1.4; 252.0; 2.0.
167:16:24 Carr: Clipper, Houston. I did not read your readback. You were broken.
167:16:32 Conrad: Roger. Roll, 1.1; pitch, 285.9; yaw, 1.6 for Descartes. Fra Mauro: roll, 1.4: pitch, 252.0; yaw, 2.0.
167:16:48 Carr: That's affirmative.
167:17:05 Carr: Clipper, Houston. If you did a P52, we need a torquing time. Over. [Pause.]
167:17:18 Carr: Clipper, Houston. I guess we need the angles, too. Over.
167:17:28 Gordon: Okay, Jerry. Torquing angles are plus 0,.095, minus 0.088, minus 0.003; torquing time, 164:06:33.
167:17:46 Carr: Roger. Copy the time as 164:06:33 and your torquing angles were plus 0.095, minus 0.088, minus 0.003. [Long pause.]
167:18:41 Carr: Clipper, Houston. We assume then that you did not do a P52, at about 165:50. Over. [Pause.]
167:19:02 Gordon: Yes, we did; excuse me.
167:19:06 Carr: Okay. Those were the numbers we were interested in.
167:19:09 Gordon: ...plus decimal - okay - plus 0.023, minus 0.003, plus 0.073; time 165:52:05.
167:19:29 Carr: Roger. Time 165:52:05 and the angles are plus 0.023, minus 0.003, and plus 0.073.
167:21:15 Gordon: Hey, Jerry, those guys are a [garble] point [garble] point [garble] point but I don't see any different from the first ones anyway.
167:21:23 Carr: Roger, Dick. Judging from the results on all the P22's you been sending down, buddy, you're the expert. [Long pause.]
167:21:58 Gordon: Hey, Jerry, tell Kohrs also that on CP-2, he did pick that Northern crater and - the one that he's got in the catalog is the center one, but the coordinates he has are for - is for a Northern one, as he'll see in the film.
167:22:15 Carr: Roger. That's the one you marked on. Right?
167:22:21 Gordon: Yes. Just this once, and I marked on the one he has in the film, but the coordinates are actually for the Northern crater.
167:22:29 Carr: Roger, Dick. Understand.
167:29:46 Carr: Clipper, Houston. How do you read?
167:29:52 Gordon: Loud and clear.
167:29:53 Carr: Okay. We got you High Gain and reading you loud and clear now.
167:29:59 Gordon: Okay. We're just finishing up Descartes.
167:30:07 Gordon: We've got the box all taped - We've got the box all taped up this time.
167:30:12 Carr: Roger. Good recovery, guys.
This is Apollo Control Houston. You heard that last exchange between Jerry Carr and Pete Conrad aboard Apollo 12. The landmark tracking for this revolution will be deleted from the Flight Plan and those were GET times passed up for T-1 and T-2 on Fra Mauro and Descartes, 2 prominent candidates as landing sites for future Apollo missions. We're at 167 hours, 11 minutes now in the flight and this is Apollo Control Houston.
167:31:35 Carr: Clipper, Houston. How do you read now?
167:31:40 Conrad: Loud and clear.
167:31:49 Carr: Roger. We're reading you weak but clear now. We're on backup equipment at Honeysuckle.
167:31:52 Carr: Loud and clear now, Pete.
167:41:04 Conrad: Okay, Houston. We got Fra Mauro.
167:41:07 Carr: Roger, Pete.
This is Apollo Control Houston. We are at 167 hours, 46 minutes into the flight. We presently show Apollo 12 with an apolune of 65 nautical miles and a perilune of 55.7 nautical miles. 12's present altitude 60 nautical miles, now traveling at a speed of 5,347 feet per second. We are standing by for any further conversational exchanges between Capsule Communicator Jerry Carr and Apollo 12
167:50:42 Carr: Yankee Clipper, Houston.
167:50:47 Conrad: Go, Houston.
167:50:49 Carr: Roger, Pete. We've had a meeting of the minds here, and the tentative plan right now is to drop the stereo photos on, stereo strip work on Rev 44 because it has a lower priority than the landmark tracking, and so we want to be prepared for landmark tracking on the next Rev. We'll have PAD data available for you by AOS, and what we are going to have to do now is uplink you a new state vector and have you do a P52 on this pass. Over.
167:51:25 Conrad: Okay. What you want is Fra Mauro, Descrates landmarking tracking. Is that right?
167:51:29 Carr: That's affirmative, Pete.
167:51:37 Carr: So, if you go P00 and Accept, we'll run your state vector up.
167:51:44 Conrad: You got it.
167:51:48 Carr: Okay. It's on the way.
167:53:11 Conrad: Hey, Houston; Yankee Clipper here. Why don't we start ,he last test during the stereo strip and we'll grab Lalande in the middle of it, and we can get it all that way.
167:53:26 Carr: That sounds like a sterling proposal, Pete.
167:53:31 Conrad: Okay. We'll do that on the last Rev, and we'll break right in the middle there just before T-1, grab Lalande and go back to it. And that'll take care of the whole show. [Pause.]
167:53:59 Carr: Clipper, Houston. You mentioned Lalande, and that confused us. Say again.
167:54:08 Conrad: On the very last Rev, we want to photograph Lalande with the 500-millimeter.
167:54:17 Carr: Roger. We're with you now.
167:54:22 Conrad: Okay. So what we need from you is the T-1 and the times for Descartes and Fra Mauro. We'll get them next pass. And then we need a T-1 time for 500-millimeter on Lalande on the next pass, which is the pass we burn TEI on, and we'll stereo strip her up to that point. Rev Lalande, keep on going with the stereo stripper and burn TEI around the corner.
167:55:07 Carr: Stand by, Pete. Clipper, Houston. The computer is yours.
167:55:19 Conrad: Okay. And we'll give you a P52 in about 2 minutes here. [Long pause.]
167:55:37 Carr: Roger. While you're waiting, Pete, I've got messages from the families.
167:55:51 Carr: Okay, Pete. Your kids - I called them this morning about 8:30 - Your kids are off to school and Jane says you're doing a great job and that she's really proud. And they're all waiting anxiously for all three of you to get back. Dick, Barbara said you're doing a fabulous job but she sure wishes you could get some rest, so she could. And, Al, Sue says she spent the evening with Jane, and they had a lot of fun last night, and they both feel real good about everything. And she's now in a watching-and-waiting mode.
167:56:31 Conrad: Okay. Thank you, Jerry.
167:56:32 Bean: Thanks, Jer.
167:56:39 Carr: Copy P52.
167:57:21 Conrad: There's your alignment, Jer. [Long pause.]
167:57:58 Conrad: Houston, Clipper.
167:58:03 Carr: Go ahead, Clipper.
167:58:05 Conrad: Okay. Now at 170 hours, we going to do this P52, Option 1. So, make sure SAO gives us gimbal angles for Lalande with the right - with the fact that we've got the Option 1 in for TEI. Okay?
167:58:22 Carr: Roger, Pete.
167:58:27 Conrad: Say again.
167:58:30 Carr: Will do it, Pete.
168:01:48 Carr: Clipper, Houston.
168:01:53 Conrad: Go ahead.
168:01:55 Carr: Roger. We're a little bit concerned about doing your stereo strip work on that last Rev prior to TEl. We think that might squeeze some of the targeting near the end there, and we ~ we think you'd be better off if you did your stereo strip work on Rev 44. I have some T-1 and T-2 times for you.
168:02:37 Carr: Clipper, Houston. The plan is to do your stereo photos up until the landmark tracking time, and then terminate the strip photos and do your tracking.
168:02:56 Gordon: Okay, Jerry. Give me the T-1 and T-2 times for Descartes, Fra Mauro.
168:03:03 Carr: Okay. Terminate your battery B charge. And your stereo photos for Rev 44 are T-1 of 168:54:00, 169:10:00, and we'll have your T-1 and T-2 times for - at AOS for your other work.
168:03:40 Gordon: Roger. Understand T-I and T-2 for Rev 44 for the stereo strip, 168:54:00, 169:10:00.
168:03:49 Carr: Roger. And we'll have your time for the landmark tracking when you come around the horn.
168:03:55 Gordon: Okay. Very good.
This is Apollo Control, Houston at 168 hours, and 4 minutes now in the flight. There you got our Flight Plan update for Rev 44 which will become a combination of 2 items, Stereo strip photography plus landmark tracking. They will do the Stereo strip photography up until their time that their landmark tracking coordinates come up and switch over at that point. We're less than 4 minutes away now from Loss Of Signal with Apollo 12. We'll standby for any other conversations.
168:07:16 Carr: Yankee Clipper, Houston.
168:07:22 Gordon: Go ahead.
167:07:23 Carr: Roger. The fuel manifold pressure on all your quads is started down, so go ahead and switch all four quads to secondary. We're looking for LOS here in 1 minute and 30 seconds and we'll see you coming around the horn at 168:55. Over.
This is Apollo Control, Houston. The reference there by CapCom, Jerry Carr was to switch all four of the Service Module or CS quads to their secondary tanks to throw what are known as 4 VW valves. We're at 168 hours and 8 minutes. Less than a minute now away from Loss Of Signal.
168:09:10 Carr: So long, Clipper.
This is Apollo Control, Houston at 168 hours, 9 minutes now into the flight. Apollo 12 has passed out of site and range on its 43 revolution around the Moon with plans for returning on the 45th revolution. Yankee Clipper now certainly with more Revs under its belt than any of its Apollo predecessors in lunar orbit. Apollo's 8, 10, and 11. Ten and 11 both with 31 revolutions a piece. Of course this makes Dick Gordon, although he didn't set foot on the Moon, becoming the unquestioned record holder for time spent in lunar orbit. We'll pick up Apollo 12 in approximately 45 minutes. This is Apollo Control, Houston.
