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Apollo 12

Day 8, part 1: Cislunar Navigation

Corrected Transcript and Commentary Copyright © 2004 - 2020 by W. David Woods and Lennox J. Waugh. All rights reserved.
Last updated 2020-04-07
Flight Plan, page 3-161.
This is Apollo Control at 176 hours, 20 minutes. We've had no further conversations with Apollo 12 since Don Lind the CapCom said good night to them an hour ago. At present Apollo 12 is 10,111 nautical miles from the Moon. It's velocity, 4,250 feet per second. All systems that we are monitoring here during this sleep period continuing to function nor - to function normally. We do not have the biomedical instrumentation on any of the crew for this sleep period. This is Mission Control, Houston at 176 hours, 21 minutes.
This is Apollo Control at 177 hours, 25 minutes. Apollo 12 now 12,759 nautical miles from the Moon. Speeding home at a velocity of 4,132 feet per second. We still have had no conversation with the crew since an elapsed time of 175 hours, 20 minutes when we said goodnight to them. We're continuing to monitor systems by telemetry. Performance is normal. At 177 hours, 26 minutes; this is Mission Control, Houston.
This is Apollo Control at 177 hours, 49 minutes. The Change Of Shift news conference in the Houston News Center will begin at 8:30 pm Central Standard Time, 8:30 pm. Gerry Griffin and the Gold Team is being relieved now by Flight Director Clifford Charlesworth and the Green Team. CapCom coming on shift now is Paul Weitz. Apollo 12's distance from the Moon at present is 13,732 nautical miles; velocity, 4,098 feet per second. This is Mission Control, Houston at 177 hours, 49 minutes.
Flight Plan, page 3-162.
This is Apollo Control at 179 hours, 22 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. Some 64 hours, 59 minutes until entry. Apollo 12 crew still asleep at this time. Now some 17,405 nautical miles out from the Moon, traveling at a velocity of 4,003 feet per second relative to the Moon. The spacecraft weight, 25,175 pounds. Crew is, according to this Flight Plan, scheduled to be awakened at 2:30 in the morning, Central Time. However, it's planned to let them sleep as long as they want to and they in turn would make the first call back to Mission Control. At 179 hours, 23 minutes Ground Elapsed Time, this is Apollo Control.
Flight Plan, page 3-163.
This is Apollo Control, 181 hours, 8 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. Apollo 12 spacecraft homeward bound, some 21,524 nautical miles out from the Moon. Velocity, 3,933 feet per second. Countdown clock to Entry Interface, or 400,000 feet above the surface of the Earth, now showing 63 hours, 12 minutes until entry. Crew still asleep at this time. It's a situation where don't call us, we'll call you. The crew will sleep longer than the scheduled time in the Flight Plan. And at 181 hours, 8 minutes Ground Elapsed Time, this is Apollo Control.
Flight Plan, page 3-164.
This is Apollo Control; 182 hours, 21 minutes Ground Elapse Time. 61 hours, 59 minutes until Entry Interface, Monday afternoon. Distance now from the Moon of Apollo 12, 24,356 nautical miles. Velocity, referenced to the Moon, 3,899 feet per second. Crew's still asleep at this time. And at 182 hours, 22 minutes Ground Elapsed Time, this is Apollo Control.
This is Apollo Control; 183 hours, 30 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. 60 hours, 51 minutes until Entry Interface. Crew of Apollo 12, still asleep at this time. Spacecraft Apollo 12 meanwhile is now 26,984 nautical miles out from the Moon on the return leg home. Velocity relative to the Moon, 3,874 feet per second. Some other numbers for those who like to dabble in statistics, Apollo 12 will cross over from the Moon's sphere of influence to the Earth sphere of influence at a Ground Elapsed Time of 186 hours, 30 minutes, 43 seconds. The equal distance point, half way between the Moon and Earth, will come at 219 hours, 47 minutes and 40 seconds. Distance at that time will be 110,904 nautical miles. The point of equal velocity between Earth and the Moon, that is when the spacecraft velocity relative to both bodies is equal, will come at 207 hours, 14 minutes, 40 seconds. The velocity at that time will be 3,919.5 feet per second. The mid-point or half way back between TEI, Trans-Earth Injection and entry will come at a Ground Elapsed Time of 208 hours, 23 minutes, 41 seconds, at which time the spacecraft will be 139,992 nautical miles out from Earth. Velocity relative to the Earth 3,991 feet per second and the Moon figures at this half way point, 83,322 nautical miles out from the Moon. Velocity, 3,944 feet per second. At 183 hours, 32 minutes Ground Elapsed Time, this is Apollo Control.
Flight Plan, page 3-165.
Flight Plan, page 3-167.
This is Apollo Control, 186 hours, 7 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. 58 hours, 14 minutes until entry interface. Still reference to the Moon in velocity and distance, Apollo 12 is now 32,932 miles outbound from the Moon, traveling at a velocity of 3,834 feet per second. The Orange team of Flight Controllers headed up by Pete Frank is taking over here in the control room from the Green team, Cliff Charlesworth. It's been a rather quite night. The crew is still asleep. No estimate yet on when they will wake up and begin the days activities. Planning for Midcourse Correction burn number 5 is being slipped hour by hour. It will be a rather small burn in any case. At 186 hours, 8 minutes Ground Elapsed Time, this is Apollo Control.
This is Apollo Control, Houston, at 186 hours, 25 minutes now into the flight of Apollo 12. Pete Frank's team of Orange Flight Controllers are now aboard in tile mission control center. Our new Capsule Communicator for this shift is Astronaut Ed Gibson, replacing Paul Weitz at that position. Presently, Flight Director Pete Frank is going around the room discussing those items that should be accomplished once the crew is awakened. We are presently, still looking at the performance of a Midcourse Correction 5. This would be a relatively slight correction using the RCS although a PAD is now being updated we would be looking at a Delta-V in the order of 24.2 feet per second. Without a midcourse at this time we show an entry angle at the interface of - on the order of 7.95 degrees. The optimum number we're looking at there, is 6.5. The Apollo 12 spacecraft at this time is at a relatively insensitive part of the trajectory and it's - as far as the performance of the MCC-5, it's very much independent of where it's done as long as it's done in the order of the Ground Elapsed Time, 186 to 187 hours. We will pass along the PAD numbers as soon as they're worked up in final form, by Retro and the Flight Dynamics Officers. In opening his comments, Pete Frank, at this early hour of the morning, said perhaps we should open with calisthenics. He's down in the trench. This caused a few heads to bob up and he stated everybody looks bright-eyed but I don't see any bushy tails. We're currently looking at sphere accent or the accent from the lunar sphere of influence in the order of Ground Elapsed Time 186 hours, 30 minutes, 43 seconds, some less than 3 minutes from this time. We presently show a velocity on Apollo 12 in route back from the Moon of 3,830 feet per second, an altitude from the surface of the Moon 33,732 nautical miles. So at 186 hours, 29 minutes, into the flight, this is Apollo Control, Houston continues to monitor.
This is Apollo Control, Houston, at 186 hours, 34 minutes now into the flight of Apollo 12. The Apollo 12 crew still in their rest period. Meanwhile, Mission Control Center looking at our digital displays, we have changed the reference from Moon to Earth reference. At the present time we show Apollo 12 at an altitude of 183,308.1 nautical miles above the Earth. The spacecraft's velocity relative to Earth, now reads 2,972.9 feet per second. This is Apollo Control, Houston.
This is Apollo Control Houston at 187, hours and 10 minutes now into the flight of Apollo 12. We have still had no contact with the Apollo 12 crew, apparently continuing in their cycle of rest. However in Mission Control Center we've worked up - the Retro Fire Officer down in the front row has worked up at least a tentative PAD for Midcourse Correction number 5. Assuming this PAD is enacted, we would have the ignition of MCC-5 at Ground Elapsed Time of 188 hours, 27 minutes, 14 seconds, with a Delta-V of 2.2 feet per second. Its effect would be to modestly shallow out the trajectory on its present course, Apollo 12 would be looking at an entry angle of minus 7.95 degrees. The effect of this slight burn would be to bring the entry angle down to minus 6.5 degrees. Also it would have an effect of slowing our arrival time at entry enter phase to about 1 minute on it's present course. Apollo 12 would arrive at entry enter phase at 244 hours, 21 minutes and 4 seconds with this slight alteration. The GET time should be 244 hours, 22 minutes, 5 seconds. We will stand by and continue to monitor, we presently show a Ground Elapsed Time into the mission of 187 hours, 12 minutes, this is Apollo Control Houston.
This is Apollo Control Houston at 187 hours and 25 minutes now into the flight. Apollo 12 presently traveling at a velocity of 3,000.43 feet per second. Its present altitude above Earth 181,838.7 nautical miles. Looking at our displays in Mission Control Center, there is some indication that the crew may be awake now. There's been some activity reported on their display keyboard for the guidance computer and we would expect their Capsule Communicator, Ed Gibson, will be in touch with Apollo 12 before too very long. We're at 187 hours, 26 minutes into the flight and continuing to monitor.
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187:39:33: Music "The Yankee Clipper, Apollo 12," [chorus]. [Long pause.]
187:40:08: Music "The Second Time Around" [chorus].
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Comm break.
187:41:45 Gibson: Good morning, 12. Welcome back to Trans-Earth Coast.
187:41:57 SC: Music.
187:41:59 Conrad: Good morning, Houston. How are you?
187:42:02 Gibson: Very good. How are you folks?
187:42:07 Conrad: Fine. We'd like - we'd like to say we really sacked out last night, I guess.
187:42:15 Gibson: That you did. You had to, Paul Weitz was on.
187:42:21 Conrad: [Laughter] Very good.
187:42:29 Gibson: Say, Pete, right now...
187:42:30 Conrad: What's new in the world of news today?
187:42:33 Gibson: Okay, why don't we first figure out how you want to go from here? We could take a - and pick up midcourse 5 which is relatively small - a little over 2 feet per second and 188:27, or we could slip it a little bit it's - maybe - up to on the hour even. It's really up to you folks.
187:42:59 Conrad: 188:27, huh?
187:43:02 Gibson: That's right. It depends upon how far you are along in your post sleep activities. It can be slipped just as easily.
187:43:16 Conrad: Okay. What - Why not don't - why don't we go ahead and burn it on time? I tell you what, the only thing we have to do is change the canister, and we all had 12 hours' sleep last night, I think. I lost track of time there. And the PRD's are 11026, 11025, and 04027; and we'll go ahead and do a quick P52 here for you in a PTC orientation. And then give you the computer, okay? And you can uplink loads. That what you want to do?
187:43:57 Gibson: Okay, that sounds good.
187:44:05 Conrad: And in the meantime, we'll go ahead and put on - How - What do - Do you want us to try and get the H2 purge done?
187:44:12 Gibson: Okay.
187:44:13 Conrad: And the waste water dump before - and fuel cells before we do the burn?
187:44:17 Gibson: Yes, let's go ahead and try to carry things out in the same order in which you would have done them before. That is, all flight plan items preceding your midcourse 5 was still required and accomplish it at your own - crew- determined pace. Your water dump and fuel - fuel cell purge is after your sextant star check.
187:44:40 Conrad: Okay. Very good. We'll go ahead and do the P52 right now.
187:44:49 Gibson: Okay. And one word on after M - MCC-5 and your associated data dump, the - you'll roll the spacecraft 180 degrees and hold attitude rather than PTC for the next 1-1/2 hours, and then you perform P23 nominally scheduled for 189.
187:45:12 Conrad: Okay, P23 for 189. What roll orientation did you want?
187:45:26 Gibson: Okay. You'd be rolling 180 degrees from the attitude you'd have in MCC-5.
187:45:37 Conrad: Okay. Very good.
187:45:47 Gibson: We have a consumables PAD for you here, and we'll be coming up with a maneuver PAD shortly.
Long comm break.
This is Apollo Control, Houston at 187 hours, and 48 minutes into the flight. That was Pete Conrad talking to Capcom, Ed Gibson, and as you heard we commenced with our wake up music about 5 minutes ago. And it became a bit of a battle of the bands as the crew played back music to the ground from their onboard recorder. We presently show Apollo 12 traveling at a speed of 3,013.5 feet per second and at a distance from Earth of 181,157.7 nautical miles. This is Apollo Control, Houston.
187:52:40 Gibson: Apollo 12, Omni Charlie; Omni Charlie. [No Answer.]
187:53:03 Gibson: Apollo 12, Omni Charlie; Omni Charlie.
Comm break.
187:54:23 Gibson: Apollo 12, Omni Charlie; Omni Charlie. [Long pause.]
187:55:13 Gibson: Apollo 12, Omni Charlie; Omni Charlie.
187:55:19 Conrad: Roger. [Long pause.]
187:55:26 Gibson: Apollo 12, Houston.
187:55:32 Conrad: Okay. Here's the alignment for you. It was done on 645, star angle difference: Four balls l, plus 00288, minus 00301, plus 00211, 187:54:45. And the computer is yours.
187:55:58 Gibson: Roger, Pete. You can go ahead and cut off the Cryo fans.
187:56:05 Conrad: Okay.
187:56:10 Gibson: And we have a maneuver PAD and consumables update, in that order, when you're ready to copy.
187:56:17 Conrad: Okay. Give me the consumables update first.
187:56:20 Gibson: Okay. GET: 187:30; RCS total, 34; and Alpha through Delta: 35, 32, 34, 34; H2, 34.5 and 34.5; O2, 37.3, 40.2.
187:56:54 Conrad: Okay. I copied all that. We're ready for the maneuver PAD.
187:56:58 Gibson: MCC-5 RCS/G&N: 25138; your trims are NA; GET, 188:27:13:74; plus 0002.0; and Delta-VY, Delta-VZ are zero; 089, 339, 007; Noun 44, NA; 0002.0, 0.05, 0002.0; 22; 323.0.
187:57:50 Bean: Hold on a second.
187:57:51 Gibson: Roger.
187:58:06 Bean: Did you - I understand now. The Delta-VT is in the 0002.0. Start from there.
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187:58:16 Gibson: Okay. First, Noun 44 was NA; Delta-VT was 0002.0; 0:05, 0002.0, and that was Delta-VC; 22; 323.0, 35.9; boresight star 016, up 07.2, left 4.2; Noun 61, minus 15.81, minus 165.14; 1171.1, 36198; 244:22:34. Under comments, your stars, Sirius and Rigel, alignments, 256, 152, 069; your ullage is a four jet RCS, plus X.
187:59:44 Bean: Okay, RCS/G&N: 25138; NA; NA; 188:27:13:74; plus 0002.0, the next two are zip; and then, roll is 089, 339, 007; NA, NA; 0002.0, 0:05, 0002.0; 22; 323.0, 35.9; 016; up 07.2; left 4.2; minus 15.81, minus 165.18; 1171.1, 36198; 244:22:34; Sirius and Rigel, 256, 152, 069; four jets, plus X.
Flight Plan, page 3-168.
188:00:36 Gibson: Okay, Noun 61, longitude was 165.14 and the other is correct.
188:00:47 Bean: Roger. I got minus 165.14. Is that - is that right?
188:00:53 Gibson: That's Charlie.
188:00:57 Bean: Okay.
188:01:00 Bean: Okay, Houston. Also, we're going to vent the battery compartment there. That's up to about 3.6, and we'll do that along with the rest of the dump.
188:01:10 Gibson: Roger. [Long pause.]
This is Apollo Control, Houston at 188 hours, 1 minute into the flight. That was Al Bean taking down the Midcourse Correction number 5-maneuver PAD. We're looking at GET of ignition 188 hours, 27 minutes 13.74 seconds with a total Delta-V of 2 feet per second.
188:01:48 Gibson: 12, the computer is yours.
188:01:55 Conrad: Roger.
Long comm break.
We presently show Apollo 12 at 180,772 nautical miles away from Earth, now traveling at a velocity of 3,021.2 feet per second.
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188:05:50 Gibson: Apollo 12. Omni Bravo. [No answer.]
188:06:14 Gibson: Apollo 12. Omni Bravo.
Comm break.
188:07:42 Gibson: Apollo 12. Omni Bravo.
Long comm break.
188:15:19 Gibson: Apollo 12, Omni Alpha; Omni Alpha. [No answer.]
Comm break.
188:16:51 Gibson: Apollo 12, Omni Alpha; Omni Alpha. [No answer.]
Comm break.
188:18:49 Gibson: Apollo 12, Omni Alpha; Omni Alpha. [No answer.]
Comm break.
188:19:52 Gibson: Apollo 12, Houston. [Long pause.]
188:20:12 Gibson: Apollo 12, Houston.
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188:20:17 Conrad: Roger Houston, we got you on the High Gain now, and the H2, O2 fuel cell purge is in works and so is the wastewater dump. Sextant star check okay.
188:20:27 Gibson: Roger.
188:20:37 Gibson: Apollo 12, Houston. You can hold off on that battery B charge until tomorrow.
188:20:47 Conrad: Okay.
Comm break.
This is Apollo Control, Houston at 188 hours, 23 minutes now into the flight of Apollo 12. The Apollo 12 spacecraft currently traveling at a speed of 3,033.2 feet per second and is presently 180,151 nautical miles away from Earth. We are 4 minutes away from MCC ignition.
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188:23:15 Conrad: Say, Houston. We're not going to get the purge - fuel cell purge all the way done by burn time. What would you like us to do about that? We can purge oxygen a minute and 20 for each or we can do something else.
188:23:30 Gibson: Stand by, Pete.
188:24:02 Gibson: Apollo 12, Houston. You can go ahead and continue on with the purge through the burn.
188:24:10 Conrad: Okay.
Long comm break.
Flight Plan, page 3-166.
We are 30 seconds away from ignition for MCC-5."
10 seconds away now."
GNC reports plus X, we will stand by for a burn status from Apollo 12."
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188:28:10 Conrad: Okay, Houston, the burn is complete.
188:28:13 Gibson: Roger, 12.
188:28:15 Conrad: The residuals were zero.
188:28:18 Gibson: Roger. [Long pause.]
That was Pete Conrad reporting the burn was completed with zero residuals. We are at 188 hours, 28 minutes into the flight and Apollo 12 now 179,992 nautical miles out from Earth. "
188:28:40 Gordon: Hey, Ed, for your information, this EMS is useless for this kind of thing; I finished the burn; I was reading 1.8 feet per second; it's got a pretty sizable bias on it. I haven't reported this before because it has been working and meeting all tolerances; but, in the EM Delta-V test, it goes down to minus 18.1 and it's been consistent that way throughout the flight.
188:29:08 Gibson:Roger, Dick.
Comm break.
188:30:17 Gibson: 12, Houston.
188:30:22 Conrad: Go ahead.
188:30:24 Gibson: Will you enable an A-C roll on the DAP? And also, we're showing that your weight is about 400 pounds heavier than what we passed you in the PAD.
Comm break.
188:32:02 Conrad: Okay. Now, Houston, you want us to roll 180?
188:32:08 Gibson: Stand by for just a moment, Pete.
188:32:15 Conrad: We're rolling.
188:32:31 Gibson: Pete, if you have already eaten, you can go right on to the P23's, and the attitude for those are in the flight plan and they are good.
188:32:42 Conrad: Okay.
Comm break.
This is Apollo Control Houston the P23 reference there is computer program 23 system lunar day course navigation. We now show Apollo 12 at 179,851 nautical miles away from Earth traveling at a speed of 3,039 .6 feet per second. We are at 188 hours, 34 minutes into the flight of Apollo 12 and this is Apollo Control Houston.
188:35:36 Gordon: Houston, Apollo 12.
188:35:39 Gibson: 12 Houston. Go ahead.
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188:35:43 Gordon: Roger. For these P23's, I'm going to disable two quads in the DAP. Which two do you suggest?
188:36:03 Gibson: Alpha and Bravo. Disable Alpha and Bravo.
188:36:08 Gordon: Roger. Alpha, Bravo, disabled.
188:36:22 Gibson: And, 12, you can give us Omni Alpha as you approach the High Gain limits.
188:36:33 Gordon: Roger. Omni Alpha.
188:36:34 Bean: Omni Alpha.
Very long comm break.
This is Apollo Control Houston at 188 hours, 52 minutes now into the flight of Apollo 12. Apollo 12 now traveling at 3,050.7 feet per second. Its present distance away from Earth now 179,280 nautical miles. We've not been in contact with the Apollo 12 spacecraft for some several minutes. The Apollo 12 crew now making preparations for cislunar navigation tasks. However, our earlier contact with Pete Conrad and Al Bean specifically they sounded fresh and chipper. Each reported approximately 12 hours of sleep, giving a combined total of 36 hours, probably some kind of record for sleep in space flight. We're at 188 hours, 54 minutes into the flight and we will continue to monitor the air-to-ground loop.
188:56:47 Gibson: Apollo 12, Houston. [No answer.]
188:57:26 Gibson: Apollo 12, Houston. [Long pause.]
Comm break.
Flight Plan, page 3-169.
189:01:38 Gibson: Apollo 12, Houston. Omni Delta, Omni Delta.
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189:01:44 Conrad: Roger-Roger. How's Omni Delta?
189:01:57 Gibson: Roger. Thank you, Pete. Say, do you have a reason for not selecting balance couples for P23?
Comm break.
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189:03:40 Gibson: Hello 12, Houston.
189:03:55 Conrad: Go ahead, Houston.
189:03:58 Gibson: 12, do you have a reason for not selecting balance couples for the P23? [Pause.]
189:04:17 Conrad: Do you read the CMP, Houston?
189:04:19 Gibson: That's negative, Pete. We're not picking up the CMP at all. The only transmissions we've heard are from you.
189:04:27 Conrad: Okay. I've got him hooked up.
189:04:28 Gordon: How ~ How about now?
189:04:30 Gibson: Okay, Dick, you're coming in now.
189:04:31 Gordon: How about now?
189:04:34 Gibson: Okay, Dick, we've got you. Go ahead...
189:04:35 Gordon: Okay. Sure we had a reason for not using - Yes, I sure had a reason for not using balance couple and that's I'm using minimum impulse controller in the LEB. With this balance couple on, the vehicle is far too sensitive to get decent marks of this thing. The vehicle motions are too exaggerated. My P23 information will be much better if I use unbalance couple.
189:05:01 Gibson: Okay, Pete - or Dick, good idea. Thank you.
Comm break.
189:06:21 Gibson: Hello, Pete; Houston.
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189:06:25 Conrad: Go ahead, Houston.
189:06:28 Gibson: You gave us a battery manifold pressure of 3.6; would you confirm that that is volts?
189:06:38 Conrad: Yes. That - Well, I read it wrong. I was looking at the wrong thing. It was 1.8 volts.
189:06:46 Gibson: Roger. 1.8. We did a little head scratching down here on that one. Thank you.
189:06:54 Conrad: Sorry, sorry.
189:06:59 Gibson: No problem. It's good to exercise the system.
Long comm break
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189:12:53 Gibson: Apollo 12, Houston. High Gain antenna angle for your next P23 attitude: pitch, minus 55, yaw 3.
189:13:15 Conrad: Roger, Houston.
Very long comm break.
This is Apollo Control Houston. We are at 189 hours, 15 minutes now into the flight. At the present time Command Module Pilot Dick Gordon exercising the onboard navigation system, going through a series of Program 23 Cislunar navigational checks, with star sightings. We presently show Apollo 12 178,606 nautical miles away from Earth; it's velocity reading 3,064.4 feet per second. We are 189 hours, 16 minutes and continuing to monitor. This is Apollo Control Houston.
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189:31:07 Conrad: Houston, 12.
189:31:10 Gibson: 12, Houston. Go ahead.
189:31:15 Conrad: Okay. I got a question for you.
189:31:18 Gibson: Go ahead.
189:31:23 Conrad: Anybody got any suggestions down there on how we could warm up the cabin a little bit? It's getting a little cool in here. Can we go - do like we do on the launch day or whatever it is and maybe run the secondary loop without any cooling on it or something to get some heat in here?
189:31:42 Gibson: Stand by, Pete.
Long comm break.
189:35:00 Gordon: Houston, 12.
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189:35:03 Gibson: 12, go ahead.
189:35:09 Gordon: Roger. How many marks is that on the second star? I've lost count. Is that two or three? I believe it was three.
189:35:24 Gibson: Stand by, Dick.
189:35:28 Gordon: And, also, ask if they want another trunnion bias before I finish off this set.
189:36:38 Gordon: Ed, you still with me?
189:36:40 Gibson: Yes, We're still with you. Right now they're still scratching their heads. Just a minute, Dick.
189:36:47 Gordon: Well, tell them to quit scratching. I'll say that was three, and I'll press on, and I'll do another trunnion bias. They don't have to worry about it.
189:37:01 Gibson: Okay, Dick. We concur.
189:37:35 Gibson: Okay, Dick. The problem down here was that we didn't have data when you were taking your first mark, so we really weren't sure where you stood in the total flow.
189:37:49 Gordon: That's - That's our fault, Houston. We're the [garble].
189:37:57 Gordon: Ed, does that mean you want me to do that first set of stars over again?
189:38:09 Gibson: Negative on that. We've got it recorded, and we'll delta and take - We'll have a delta and take a look at it.
189:38:17 Gordon: Okay. Thank you. I'm going to have to do another trunnion bias and press on to star number 3.
189:38:24 Gibson: Okay, Dick. Very good.
Comm break.
This is Apollo Control, Houston. We're 189 hours, 39 minutes now into the flight. That conversation with Dick Gordon who is going through his star sighting navigation program coming up on his third star. Apollo 12 now 177,917.5 nautical miles away from earth traveling at a speed of 3,078.4 feet per second. This is Apollo Control, Houston.
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189:41:40 Gibson: Apollo 12, Houston. For your calibration attitude, give us Omni Delta.
189:41:47 Conrad: Roger. Going Omni Delta.
Comm break.
189:44:14 Gibson: 12, Houston.
189:44:21 Conrad: Go ahead.
189:44:24 Gibson: We have a procedure here for warming up the cabin.
189:44:32 Conrad: Go ahead.
189:44:35 Gibson: Okay. Take the glycol Evap temperature in to Manual and adjust the primary glycol Evap In valve to obtain a temperature of the glycol evaporator Out of 55 degrees.
189:44:58 Conrad: Okay. Glycol In valve to Manual and adjust the glycol Temp to an In of 55. Thank you. And be advised we're running one cabin fan right now.
189:45:09 Gibson: Roger. [Long pause.]
189:45:21 Gibson: Pete, on that last procedure, we want to adjust the Evap temperature Out to 55 degrees.
189:45:33 Conrad: Roger. Temp Out. Did I say, 'Temp in'? I'm sorry.
Long comm break.
This is Apollo Control, Houston. 189 hours, 46 minutes now into the flight. That was CapCom, Ed Gibson, passing along procedures for warming the cabin slightly. Somewhat earlier Pete Conrad had reported to Mission Control, Houston that it was a little chilly inside Apollo 12 this morning. We're at 189 hours, 46 minutes and we presently show on our displays that Apollo 12 is 177,697 nautical miles away from Earth and traveling at a velocity of 3,082.9 feet per second. This is Apollo Control, Houston.
189:49:15 Gibson: Apollo 12, Houston. Do you still have the High Gain angles for the P23 attitude?.
189:49:22 Conrad: Yes. I think I have them here in Reacq. Say them again.
189:49:28 Gibson: Roger. That's pitch, minus 55; yaw 3. [Pause.]
189:49:41 Conrad: Yes. We've got them.
189:49:43 Gibson: Thank you.
Long comm break.
189:53:46 Conrad: Houston, 12 on the High Gain. Back in the P23 attitude.
189:53:52 Gibson: Roger, Pete. We've got you loud and clear.
189:54:15 Conrad: Say, Ed, you're getting pretty doggone good at this CapComing, aren't you?
189:54:21 Gibson: Oh, well, I enjoy it. Getting a little practice on these coast periods. Like I say, however, Paul Weitz is the real sleep expert.
189:54:41 Conrad: I kind of figured last night we must have gone through 10 CapCom's of sleep.
189:54:47 Gibson: Yes. You went through a few. Paul Weitz came in here and was waiting 6-1/2 hours for the big moment and then you overslept, and he went out of here with a long face again.
189:55:04 Gibson: However, he's on for re-entry; he's assuming you're not going to be sleeping through that.
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189:55:11 Conrad: I don't think we will be. Who's the Flight Director down there today, right now?
189:55:21 Gibson: We've got Pete Frank.
189:55:26 Conrad: Oh, I thought if it was Jerry, I'd let him listen to some of my music.
Long comm break.
Apollo Control, Houston. 189 hours, 56 minutes. That was a rather casual exchange between Spacecraft Commander Pete Conrad and Capsule Communicator, Ed Gibson. You heard the reference to the sleep. Pete remarked considering the amount of time they slept, he thought perhaps they had slept through at least ten CapCom's. As you'll recall, they reported earlier some 12 hours of sleep apiece. We presently show Apollo 12 at 177,392.9 nautical miles from Earth, now traveling at 3,089 feet per second. This is Apollo Control, Houston."
Flight Plan, page 3-170.
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190:03:34 Gordon: Hey, Houston: Apollo 12.
190:03:37 Gibson: 12, Houston. Go ahead.
190:03:41 Gordon: Roger. Have you been looking at this P23 on this one?
190:03:48 Gibson: That's affirmative, and we copy you're off the fairway.
190:03:49 Gordon: The Auto optics are dropping. Have you got any suggestions? I've dropped back to zero optics.
190:04:02 Gibson: Yes. Stand by, Dick, and we'll be right with you.
190:04:08 Gordon: Okay. [Long pause.]
190:04:41 Gibson: Dick, would you take the optics switch to zero and wait 30 seconds?
Comm break
190:06:00 Gordon: How does it look, Ed?
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190:06:23 Gibson: Stand by, Dick. We're still looking at it. [Long pause.]
190:07:27 Gibson: Dick, could you give us P00?
190:07:37 Gordon: Okay. You get it. [Long pause.]
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190:08:24 Gibson: Dick, we'd like to sit here in P00 for about 5 minutes. It may be a possible software problem.
190:08:32 Gordon: Okay, Ed. No problem. You've only got us thinking how to do new realignments.
190:08:42 Gibson: Roger.
190:08:54 Conrad: It's about time Sim got back in the game again.
190:08:58 Gibson: Pete, you were way down in the noise level there. Would you say again?
190:09:05 Conrad: I don't think you want to hear it.
190:09:11 Gibson: It sounded too good to miss.
190:09:14 Conrad: I just said that - I just said that it sounds like Sim is getting back in the game again.
190:09:28 Gibson: That's right. He's been itching to go since launch.
190:09:35 Conrad: I bet he has. Since after launch, huh?
190:09:39 Gibson: That's right, about a minute after launch. [Long pause.]
190:09:56 Bean: Hey, how about looking on the records down there and find out how long it was from the time our fuel cells dropped off the line until we put them back on? Can you do that?
190:10:06 Gibson: Roger. Sure will. [Long pause.]
190:10:34 Gibson: 12, I can read up to you a portion of our news broadcast that we were going to read up to you a little later on, which is on that subject, and it was - A tentative analysis shows that the Apollo 12 was struck twice by lightning during lift-off. Don Arabian told a press conference gathering in Building 1 that the strike occurred at 36 seconds after lift-off and again at 52 seconds after the Saturn left the pad. According to Arabian, the rocket and the engine plume exhaust acted just like a wire that ran from the clouds to the ground and then from cloud to cloud. There are photographs available of the strike. The Arabian analysis is called a very interim kind of report.
190:11:24 Conrad: Hey, that's great. We're sure looking forward to seeing those films. We saw it from inside, but we'd sure like to see it from outside the next time.
190:11:34 Gordon: You said it.
190:11:43 Gibson: How did it look visually from the LM, looking at the Command Module/Service Module interface?
190:11:58 Conrad: Well, we've been discussing that subject and I guess you ought to go look at some photographs of CSM's that have had LM's on the nose and make sure that it's not from LM thruster firing, but that junction box where all the cabling runs from the Command Module to the Service Module was black on top like it was burned, and - However, I noticed on the top of the [garble] boxes on the Service Module some similar type marks. We were discussing it here, and our suspicion was possibly the lightning strikes always goes to the small point, and we were suspecting up here you had us on the outside pictures, that we probably got struck on the tower and it just went all the way down the stack.
190:12:54 Gibson: Roger, Pete. [Pause.]
190:13:04 Conrad: I wonder if they are going to revise the weather rules for launch?
190:13:14 Gibson: I guess they are looking at it. What's been said so far, under identical conditions with an identical spacecraft, you wouldn't do it over again.
190:13:25 Conrad: These three guys would.
190:13:28 Bean: Yes, you left out one item, the crew.
190:13:33 Conrad: I guess we hold the world's record now as the world's fastest lightning rod.
190:13:41 Gibson: The world's tallest.
Long comm break.
This is Apollo Control. That was Pete Conrad saying I guess we hold the world's record now as the world's fastest lightning rod. Ed Gibson, Capsule Communicator, rejoined with - and the world's tallest. We're at 190 hours, 14 minutes into the flight, presently showing an altitude above the Earth of...
190 hours, 14 minutes into the flight. Presently showing an altitude above the earth of 176,854 nautical miles for Apollo 12 and with a velocity of 3,100 feet per second.
190:18:39 Gibson: Hello, Al; Houston.
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190:18:45 Bean: Go ahead.
190:18:48 Gibson: Okay, on your request before, we showed that at 36 seconds, three fuel cells went off; at 1 plus 42, two fuel cells were on line; and at 1 plus 70 - or I'm sorry that's 142 seconds, two fuel cells were on line; and 170 seconds, the third one came on.
190:19:19 Bean: Okay. We'll - we've been trying to remember it ever since launch. We hadn't been giving it a lot of thought since we left Earth orbit - but we were trying to think about it right now. We couldn't remember where we got them back on.
190:19:33 Gibson: Roger. Did they indicate barber pole after that 36 seconds?
190:19:40 Bean: Oh, yes. They indicated barber - all - all six of them were barber poled; and Fuel Cell 1, 2, 3 light were on, and AC Bus 1 and 2 light were on, and AC Bus 1 and 2 Overload were on the Fuel Cell Bus Disconnect was on and Main Bus A undervolt, Main Bus B undervolt, and every one of those things were on. I'll tell you...
190:20:01 Conrad: I also looked at the malfunction procedures and there's nothing that covers that particular series of lights.
190:20:07 Bean: We know there wasn't. The funny part about a situation like that is you get - All right, let's say you get, for example, a Fuel Cell and an AC, an AC overload and a Main Bus undervolt, you don't work on the Fuel Cells because you know the problem's probably down in the AC somewhere so you start in the AC. And that's sort of what we did. We started working down in the AC, and they were all good. Then, we went up to the overload. They looked good. Then we're into the mains and they looked pretty good except the undervolt. Then we finally got to the Fuel Cells, so we - and I didn't have idea one on what to do.
190:20:42 Gibson: Well, it looks like we got another page in the malfunction book.
Comm break.
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190:23:10 Gibson: Apollo 12, Houston. We're 1ooking at a middle gimbal angle down here of about 58 degrees.
190:23:18 Conrad: Roger.
190:24:03 Conrad: Hey, that's - We've just been talking in here, and we just thought of something. When we lost the three Fuel Cells, which was at 36 seconds, which was the first time lightning struck - Of course, we didn't realize that we got hit twice. However, the platform didn't go when all the Fuel Cells went. So, it must have been when we got hit the second time that that dumped the platform. Now, it's beginning to make sense. I've been - It's been but - bugging me all along how we lost the platform so late. We didn't know whether it just slowly went off because of the 24 volts or what, but it sounds like now what happened was that if we, in fact, really did get hit twice, why, the second time that dumped the platform.
190:24:55 Gibson: Yes, that may be. They've been looking over all the traces down here and talking to all the lightning experts, and I think they have some tentative ideas on that. They'll probably be able to give you some pretty concrete discussion on it when you get back.
190:25:12 Conrad: Okay.
Comm break.
Apollo Control Houston. At 190 hours, 25 minutes that was Ed Gibson conversing with Pete Conrad. Apollo 12 now 176,518 nautical miles away from home and traveling at a velocity of 3,107 feet per second.
190:27:44 Gibson: Apollo 12, Houston.
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190:27:48 Conrad: Go ahead. Go ahead.
190:27:53 Gibson: Okay, two things. First of all, we did confirm that you lost your platform at 56 simultaneously with the - the second strike. And also, on the optics problem, we suspect that it may be due to operating the optics switch at the same time as Verb 37. We'll be coming up to you with some DSKY entries to check this.
190:28:20 Conrad: Okay.
190:28:24 Gibson: And, Dick, could we have a clarification on something which - which happened a short while ago, and that was, what value had you loaded into the EMS counter before MCC-5?
190:28:42 Gordon: 2.0.
190:28:45 Gibson: 2.0. Roger.
190:28:47 Gordon: There's so much bias in that thing, it almost counts up - so much bias in there that it almost counts up as fast as it counts down.
190:28:55 Gibson: Roger.
190:29:01 Conrad: Say, I've been wondering if we ought to - Dick and I discussed this much earlier in the flight and wondering - We could calibrate that accelerometer here in flight during GTA, and I'm just wondering if we oughtn't do that. This thing is really bad news. It's got a lot of bias on it.
190:29:39 Gordon: Maybe the GTA doesn't work in flight; I don't know, but we ought to see whether we could get that bias out of the EMS.
190:29:47 Gibson: Pete, one thing which we're suggesting down here is to load in 102 or 100 into whatever it is and fly with that. ,
190:29:58 Gibson: That should help you...
190:29:59 Conrad: It does the same thing.
190:30:00 Gibson: That...
190:30:02 Gordon: No. That doesn't either. It does exactly the same thing.
190:30:08 Gibson: Roger.
Comm break.
The EMS they're talking about there is the Entry Monitoring System.
The EMS they're talking about there is the Entry Monitoring System. We're at 190 hours, 30 minutes now into the flight of Apollo 12.
190:31:56 Gibson: Apollo 12, Houston with the DSKY entries.
190:32:02 Gordon: Okay, wait 1. [Long pause.]
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190:32:20 Gordon: Okay, Ed. We're ready to copy.
190:32:23 Gibson: Okay, what we're doing here is setting the optics status word or Op[tics] mode to a known configuration. We do that with a Verb 21, Noun 01, Enter, 1331, Enter, 130, Enter. And then, if you would, cycle the optics zero switch Off and then On; and we'll be watching it down here, and stand by.
190:33:01 Gordon: Roger, Ed. Copied. Checking out the optics mode and Verb 21, Noun 01, Enter, 1331, Enter, 130, Enter, optics zero Off, and then back On.
190:33:13 Gibson: Affirmative. [Long pause.]
190:33:33 Gordon: Okay, optics zero is Off and goes back to optics zero. [Long pause.]
190:33:42 Gibson: Roger.
190:34:24 Gibson: Apollo 12, Houston. That looks as though it cleared the problem. We're ready to go on with the P23's. [Pause.]
190:34:41 Gordon: Do you want another trunnion bias, or is that okay, the same one I had? [Long pause.]
190:35:00 Gibson: Stand by, Dick. [Pause.]
190:35:09 Gibson: Dick; we better...
190:35:11 Gordon: It hasn't changed, the whole flight.
190:35:16 Gibson: Dick, we better go ahead and get another optics Cal.
190:35:21 Gordon: Okay. [Long pause.]
190:35:54 Gibson: Dick, go ahead and scratch the optics Cal. Looking at it, we feel you can get away without it.
Long comm break.
This is Apollo Control, Houston. Dick Gordon now returning to program 23, his navigational star sighting program. What they were doing there were through known DSKY displays calibration the optics. An earlier suspect was that the - that by operating the optic switch simultaneously with hitting Verb 37 on his keyboard made the optics think it should be in zero. We're at 190 hours, 37 minutes now into the flight. We presently show the spacecraft, Apollo 12, at an altitude above the Earth of 176,169 nautical miles and returning home at the present time at a velocity of 3,114 feet per second. This is Apollo Control, Houston.
190:43:03 Gibson: 12, Houston.
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190:43:10 Conrad: Go ahead.
190:43:11 Gibson: Okay, clarification on that optics problem: if you go to optic zero and then hit Verb 37 before 15 seconds have elapsed, you can run into the problem which you did.
190:43:27 Conrad: Okay, we understand. Thank you. And Dick said that's exactly what he did by mistake. He says it's from ignorance.
190:43:59 Gibson: And, 12, one thing on the - your gas separator; we'd like to try and see how well that thing is working. You can go ahead and remove the gas separator cartridges and run on the H2 separator only. And continue on that way unless it's not doing the job, and then you can go back to your normal configuration.
190:44:06 Conrad: Well, let me tell you what we've done, anyhow, already. We've been running our food system without the cartridge, and we've been running the gun with the cartridge for the whole flight. And the cold-water output is very, very good on the food system. The hot water output still has a tendency to get some air in it. But I kind of suspect that there's just a little air or hydrogen or whatever it is in the water, and when you heat the water, that makes the air bubbles expand; and we'll go ahead and pull the cartridge off the gun and operate without it and see how that goes. We have had the cartridge on the gun the whole time.
190:44:53 Gibson: Okay. Thank you, Pete. And also, you - if we go ahead and pick up some Bio-data on Dick and Al during the course of the day, we'd appreciate it.
190:45:09 Conrad: Okay, I'll have them hook up. [Long pause.]
190:45:34 Bean: We thought we were hooked up. We forgot. [Pause.]
190:45:46 Gibson: Roger. Surgeon is looking at you, now.
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190:46:02 Gibson: And, 12, when you finish up with the P23, we have a High Gain test here. It's an engineering attempt to isolate the problem area, and we're looking for a thermal problem in the High Gain antenna electronics.
190:46:21 Conrad: Okay, very good. You got something we can copy down now. We'll go ahead and copy it.
190:46:30 Gibson: Okay. Coming at - coming at you first of all with a switch configuration: S-band Transponder to Primary; S-band Auxilliary to Tape; Tape Recorder, PCM Analog, Tape Recorder to Record; S-Band Antenna, High Gain; High Gain power On, High Gain Antenna, Servo Electronics...
190:46:56 Bean: Ed, take it a little slower.
190:47:00 Gibson: Okay. Let's go back. S-band Transponder, Primary...
190:47:04 Conrad: Hey, you've got Al really smoking in here...
190:47:06 Bean: We don't take shorthand up here, gang.
190:47:18 Bean: Go ahead, Ed.
190:47:21 Gibson: Okay. Al, are you ready? S-band Transponder, Primary...
190:47:25 Conrad: Hey, Al was ready last time.
190:47:30 Bean: I've got it all the way down to Power, On.
190:47:34 Gibson: Okay, that's High Gain power On, and then High Gain Servo Electronics, to Primary. Okay, then set up the following attitude.
190:47:48 Bean: Okay you want...
190:47:51 Gibson: Pitch, 0; yaw, 69.9; and roll, 50. The attitude deadband of 0.5, which I believe you have in there now, so it's no change. You acquire MSFN in the Manual mode and then switch to the Auto Reacq mode and Narrow Beam width. High Gain angles from manual acq - acquisition are: minus 22 on pitch and yaw, 194. Okay, then if we detect a loss of lock, or if you detect oscillations, turn the DSE on by placing the Tape Recorder switch to Forward. And go - go ahead and get data for 5 minutes, and then stop the recorder. And then, at that point, we've got a little set of procedures we'll follow through here, and we can read them off to you at the time, as you're going through them step by step. What essentially we're doing is looking at the effect of primary versus secondary transponder or primary versus secondary electronics and Wide Beam width versus Narrow Beam width.
190:49:49 Bean: Okay, I understand now that you want the Transponder in Primary...
190:49:53 Gibson: Al, could you hold it a minute?
190:49:54 Bean: The S-Band Aux to Tape switch. Sure.
190:49:58 Gibson: Okay, we'd like you to go ahead and get that optics Cal now that you're finished with the P23.
190:50:14 Bean: Okay. Start working on it now.
190:50:21 Gibson: Okay, Al, go ahead with your readback.
190:50:26 Bean: Okay, you want the Transponder, Primary and then you want to put the S-Band Aux in Tape; put the receiver to PCM Analog and Record; go on the High Gain with the S-band; put power on with Servo, Primary; go to a spacecraft attitude of pitch, 0; yaw, 69.9; roll, 50 with a deadband of 0.5. We'll acquire - we'll acquire MSFN manually; switch to the Reacq mode with Narrow Deadband, and those angles are minus 22 and 194; and, if we notice a loss of lock or we notice that we get oscillations, we turn the Recorder, Off, for at least 5 minutes.
190:51:17 Gibson: That's right, and if you run into loss of Comm you'll be able to pick us up on Omni Bravo.
190:51:26 Bean: Roger. [Long pause.]
190:51:46 Gordon: Houston, Apollo 12.
190:51:49 Gibson: 12, go ahead.
190:51:53 Gordon: Hey, Ed, on this - about this Cal this maneuver, and you people down there on the ground are obviously noticing this, quite a ways away from both attitudes where we're doing the P23's themselves. For the next series of stars - I haven't looked at them yet; but for the next series of P23's, would you check that to make sure that we don't have this large maneuver? We'll look at it, also, right now; and if we do, let's pick a different star for the - for the optics Cal. We don't need a star as bright as 12. We can use almost any star we've got out there.
190:52:37 Gibson: Okay, Dick, we understand that. And...
190:52:39 Gordon: You know what I'm talking about?
190:52:40 Gibson: Roger; we understand that request. It's a good idea. We'll be doing that.
190:52:45 Gordon: Maybe the angles are such with the Sun that we don't have one, but - but I think you can give me one near the P23 attitude that I can use for a - a trunnion bias or optics Cal. If not, I can always use star 12.
190:53:03 Gibson: Roger. We concur with that down here. We'll be doing that for you, Dick. [Long pause.]
Long comm break.
190:57:45 Gordon: [Garble] copied the DSKY. [Long pause.]
190:58:00 Conrad: Hello, Houston. On Omni Delta; how do you read?
190:58:03 Gibson: We read you loud and clear.
190:58:08 Gordon: Okay, got the DSKY. There's his first optics Cal.
190:58:16 Gibson: Roger. We're looking at it.
190:58:21 Conrad: Okay. Here comes the second one. [Long pause.]
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190:58:37 Conrad: There it is. And there's the third one. And there's the fourth one. Okay, Ed, that's it.
190:59:17 Gibson: Okay, that looks good. Thank you.
190:59:22 Conrad: Okay. Now we'll go ahead and maneuver to the attitude for this S-band.
190:59:27 Gibson: Okay. [Long pause.]
191:00:13 Gibson: 12, Houston.
191:00:18 Conrad: Go ahead.
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191:00:20 Gibson: Those sightings look pretty good. You - you had a good state vector in theft and the sightings essentially change it so your - your re-entry angle changed by just 0.035 degrees.
191:00:36 Conrad: Okay. [Long pause.]
This is Apollo Control Houston at 191 hours, 1 minute now into the flight. That was Ed Gibson talking to Pete Conrad. We now show Apollo 12 at a distance away from Earth of 175,439 nautical miles.
191:01:29 Gordon: Houston, 12.
191:01:30 Gibson: 12, go ahead.
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191:01:34 Gordon: Ed, this is Dick. Would you ask the guys there to determine whether they want us to do a 47 or leave it the way it is? And I want to play with this P37 a little bit, later.
191:01:54 Gibson: Roger, Dick.
191:01:58 Gordon: I know what I'd like to do is go ahead and leave the state vector in there that I've got and see if I can improve on it with this series of marks.
191:02:10 Gibson: Dick, we concur. That sounds good. Go ahead and do it that way.
191:02:16 Gordon: Thank you.
191:02:19 Gibson: And, Dick, when you like, we could take a look on - at your next set of P23's on page 3-173 and look at your second optics Cal.
191:02:37 Gordon: What do you mean the second one?
191:02:39 Gibson: Okay. Well, you do the first one and then about 30 minutes later - 30 or 40 - you probably want to pick up a second one.
191:02:49 Gordon: Yes, that's true. If I can get myself in gear and get going and get all those in before 30 minutes are up. However, go ahead.
191:02:56 Gibson: Okay. If you don't get them all in before you require another one, perhaps the easiest way to do it is to just pitch up 57½ degrees so that you - your zero line of sight is then right along star 160. That's probably the smallest attitude change.
191:03:19 Gordon: In other words, go ahead and pitch up 57.5 and use star 160 for the trunnion bias Cal.
191:03:26 Gibson: Roger. That's the star you have to be going next...
191:03:27 Gordon: [Garble] that's what you told me?
191:03:29 Gibson: ...That's affirmative. That's the star you happen to be working with.
191:03:32 Gordon: Okay. Okay, I'll do 160. I should get that in under a half hour with no strain. I'll do star 160 and then pitch up 57.5, do a Cal, and press on.
191:03:47 Gibson: Roger. Actually any star you're working...
191:03:48 Gordon: Say again.
191:03:49 Gibson: ...with, whether it's 160, 171, or 163, whichever one you happen to be at.
191:03:55 Gordon: Okay, and I understand. That figures.
Comm break.
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191:05:24 Gordon: Houston, 12.
191:05:26 Gibson: 12, go ahead.
191:05:29 Gordon: Ed, I'd like to think about this pitching up 57. Whether I pitch, yaw, or a combination of them depends on shaft angle for that particular star. Does it not?
191:05:42 Gibson: Roger, Dick. We're just talking about that down here. That's a pilot pitch of 57½ degrees, and it may be getting you into the problem with the middle gimbal angle. What we can do down here is, and plan to do, is to work you up a calibration star for each one of the stars you'll be working at, and we can give it to you at time you want it during the P23.
191:06:06 Gordon: Okay, that sounds like an awful lot of work. Why don't you give me a normal Nav star or a star that's in the vicinity of roll, 090; pitch, 329; yaw, 332. Give me a star that's close to that.
191:06:24 Gibson: Roger. Okay, we'll do that, Dick. [Long pause.]
191:06:57 Gibson: 12, Houston. Could you go on back to balance couples now?
191:07:05 Gordon: No. We sure can't. Thanks for reminding me. We should go Auto maneuvering on that except for the actual P23. And we really intend to.
191:07:23 Gibson: Roger, Dick. That makes it a little easier to keep track or to make sure we got a good state vector for you.
191:07:31 Gordon: Roger. I understand all the problems; but, just during the marking, I want to be in the unbalance, but all of our maneuvers should be with - be with balance couples. I agree.
191:07:42 Gibson: Guess that vehicle is a little sensitive right now, isn't it?
191:07:48 Gordon: It sure is, if you have [garble] and minimum impulse.
Long comm break.
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191:11:05 Gordon: Houston, that was your Alert light. Did you see it?
191:11:18 Gibson: Stand by, 12.
191:12:20 Gibson: Apollo 12, Houston. [Long pause.]
191:12:57 Gibson: Apollo 12, Houston. Go ahead. Did you get your Crew Alert.
191:13:03 Gordon: Light on that? [Long pause.]
191:13:41 Gibson: Apollo 12, Houston. Houston did not send a Crew Alert. We're checking with the sites now.
191:13:49 Gordon: No, no. You misunderstood me, Ed. We had the Gimbal Lock light on.
191:13:51 Gibson: Okay. Yes, we misunderstood.
191:13:53 Bean: Put it - Yes. We didn't put it Gimbal Lock, but the Alert part of it was on. [Pause.]
191:14:30 Gibson: Apollo 12, Houston. We would expect that light, and you're still about 15 degrees away from getting - getting into a problem.
191:14:40 Gordon: Yes, we're watching, Ed, but we got another problem here. I look at our attitude, and I got a 58P, and I can't maneuver automatically away from this thing. You think we ought to zero the OCDU one time?
191:14:58 Gibson: Dick, say again your last comment.
191:15:03 Gordon: Well, look where we are. There's our attitude, and I can't maneuver past this automatically. I get a 618 and it says we're there.
191:15:17 Gibson: Okay, Dick. Stand by.
191:15:21 Gordon: We're there. We're right there. We're okay. Hey, we're crazy up here. We're all right.
191:15:35 Gibson: 12, we agree with your last comment.
191:15:37 Gordon: We'll explain this to you later. We don't want - Well, we'll explain it later. We have a good reason for it, but we don't want to tell everybody.
191:15:47 Gibson: Okay.
191:15:48 Conrad: What he's saying is we are dumb-dumb up here.
191:15:51 Gibson: No, we agree with the last comment, not the first one.
Long comm break.
191:19:26 Gibson: Apollo 12, Houston.
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191:19:31 Conrad: Go ahead.
191:19:33 Gibson: We got the folks down here thinking about the difference between a 5018 and a 618: You thinking about the same thing?
191:19:41 Conrad: No, no - we [laughter] - we were just dumb-dumbs sitting here looking at 69 degrees yaw, which is sitting right next to gimbal lock in zero pitch, and wondering why we were sitting there; and it wasn't maneuvering when we were really in the right place. That's all.
191:20:02 Gibson: Roger, 12.
191:20:04 Conrad: We're just not used to sitting in an attitude like this where we're looking at a red ball.
191:20:08 Gordon: Hey, Ed, I have a feeling we're telling you to much, and you're all getting nervous down there. [Long pause.]
191:20:44 Gibson: Apollo 12, Houston. Would you confirm that you've got the switch configuration as we've read up, and then, also, have you gone to Reacq in Narrow Beam?
191:20:54 Gordon: Roger. It's all set.
191:20:58 Gibson: Roger. Okay, now in that attitude, we got the Sun looking right up the engine bell and that ought to be heating things up as fast as we can do it.
191:21:11 Bean: Okay. Don't forget we've been operating in Secondary Servo up until about 5 minutes ago when we switched to Primary for this test.
191:21:24 Gibson: Roger Al. [Long pause.]
191:21:50 Gibson: Apollo 12, Houston. We see no FM sub carrier down here. Would you confirm that the S-Band Recorder - or S-Band Aux is to Tape?
191:22:05 Gordon: It's at Tape.
191:22:08 Gibson: Thank you.
191:22:09 Gordon: How about a Reset?
191:22:11 Conrad: How about a Reset? Yes.
191:22:14 Gordon: Give you a Reset.
191:22:18 Gibson: Roger.
191:24:20 Gibson: 12, Houston. We have the sub carrier now. What we're going to be doing now is just sitting here and seeing if the problem will appear, and we're looking for a - a 6-degree decibel drop in signal or you report a hunting in the antenna.
191:24:41 Conrad: Okay. [Long pause.]
191:24:50 Gibson: And, 12, this could go on for a little while. We'll continue this for 4 hours, or until a problem is identified.
191:24:59 Conrad: Okay, very good.
Long comm break.
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191:28:41 Gibson: Apollo 12, Houston. While you're sitting there backed up to the fire, we have some news for you, if you like.
191:28:49 Conrad: Go ahead, Ed.
191:28:54 Gibson: Okay, 12. There're some pretty good football games on tap today in the college ranks. Ohio State and Michigan tangle in a Big Ten game. The Buckeyes are favored to win and retain their number 1 rating. If Ohio State does win and retain its number 1 ranking, it will be the 6th time in modern football history that a team has won the title 2 years in a row. In other games, UCLA is favored over Southern Cal; Purdue is favored over Indiana; Oklahoma is the choice over Nebraska; and TCU should beat Rice. Princeton plays Dartmouth; and Washington meets Washington State; and we're not guessing the outcome with any of those. Texas University is open, and they're looking towards Texas A&M on Thanksgiving. Houston is picked over a tough Wyoming team. We'll keep you posted on the games that are going on this afternoon. Texas is now accepting ticket orders for the Cotton Bowl and the Sugar Bowl. The winner of the Texas-Arkansas game on December sixth goes to the Cotton Bowl to face the Fighting Irish. And the loser will play Mississippi in the Sugar Bowl at New Orleans. Willie McCovey of the San Francisco Giants beat out Tom Seiver of the Nets for the National League's Most Valuable Player Award. The big game in pro ball on Sunday is the Dallas Cowboys against the Los Angeles Rams. The Oilers Mill be playing the Miami Dolphins down in Florida. Meanwhile, the Oilers report that line backer Ed Watson has been placed on waivers to make room for Woody Campbell. A Delta launch vehicle has placed - placed Britain's first communications satellite into an orbit from Cape Kennedy. It's called Skynip. Now in an elliptical orbit, the satellite will be placed into a synchronous orbit of 22,300 miles on Sunday. In the world and national news headlines, the Senate has rejected the nomination of Judge Clement Haynsworth by a 55-to-45 vote. Henry Cabot Lodge has resigned as ambassador to the Paris peace talks and Charles DeGaulle is 79 today.
191:31:21 Gibson: All three Apollo 12 wives wowed the news media yesterday as they paraded out of the Conrad house in stunning white suitpants. They each carried a sign, which read, "Proud, Thrilled, and Happy." The family activity will be rather restricted this weekend. Dick, Barbara will attend Mass this Sunday - or this morning at 8:30. And, Al, Sue will attend a luncheon today at the Lakewood Yacht Club and will visit Mission Control this afternoon at about 3pm. Pete, Jane will be going shopping today for Chris' birthday present. She is also scheduled to go to the Yacht Club for the luncheon. On Sunday, after church, they plan to go on a picnic at Cloverfield with the Rice's. Your father-in-law is expected to arrive here sometime Sunday and will remain until after splashdown.
191:32:11 Conrad: Thank you, Ed.
191:32:13 Gibson: You're welcome.
191:32:14 Conrad: Thank you kindly, and tell those Huskies to get after those Cougars today. [Pause.]
191:32:27 Gibson: We'll do it, Dick. [Pause.]
191:32:42 Gibson: And, 12, it's been about 5 hours now since you started accelerating back towards the Earth.
191:32:55 Conrad: Good. [Pause.]
This is Apollo Control Houston at 191 hours, 33 minutes...
191:33:07 Gordon: Roger, Ed, and I have us at 15.97 degrees North and 91.62 East. [Pause.]
191:33:24 Gibson: Roger, Dick.
191:33:26 Gordon: Ed I have us at a - and I have us at 174,480 miles out from Earth, traveling at 3,150 feet per second; and our entry angle to the Earth at this time is minus 78.11 degrees.
191:33:50 Gibson: Dick, that sounds good. They're all right on.
Long comm break.
This is Apollo Control Houston. That was Dick Gordon reporting our spacecraft distance from Earth, and velocity. The reference that Gibson made as he - Just prior to reading up the news, the reference to backed up to the fire, refers to the attitude which the spacecraft is currently in, which puts the Service Propulsion System engine bell toward the Sun. During this attitude, they are running a test on the communications system between the spacecraft and the ground. These procedures being passed up a short while ago to them. We are at 191 hours, 35 minutes into the flight and this is Apollo Control Houston.
191:40:01 Gordon: Houston, 12.
Download MP3 audio file. Scrivener tape, Australia.
191:40:06 Gibson: 12, Houston. Go ahead.
191:40:11 Gordon: Ed, we'd like to have you to keep track of one more thing. We have done a GDC alignment just prior to this test, when we got to this attitude; and, before we come out of it, I wish you'd remind us to review our angles on the GDC. This thing's been drifting pretty badly in yaw the whole flight. In fact, it's up to, I think, pretty close to 10 degrees an hour in yaw, but we'd like to give you the numbers when we get out of this - just before getting out of this attitude.
191:40:45 Gibson: Okay, Dick. We'll do that.
Long comm break.
Download MP3 audio file. Scrivener tape, Australia.
191:44:06 Gibson: Apollo 12, Houston with some news on how your ALSEP is doing.
191:44:16 Conrad: Go, babe.
191:44:18 Gibson: Okay, your - the Central Station is still performing well. RTG output is around 73 watts, and as of just a short while ago, they've sent up a total of 382 commands. PSE has gotten into a stable temperature equilibrium around 126 degrees. And they have observed three - at three different times, the tracings have showed that there was some seismic activity taking place. The LSM is - is increasing in activity as the Moon is entering a magnetic zone between the Earth's two solar shock waves. That is, the Moon is approaching the center of the Earth's magnetic tail near lunar noon where the - where the field is the lowest. And at that point, the LSM site survey will be accomplished. And the solar wind is perking right along and doing real well.
191:45:29 Bean: Say, Ed, from all they know now about watching the temperatures, do they forecast this will last for 2 years?
191:45:41 Gibson: Okay, folks down here are pretty optimistic, but I'll have to ask to see if we can really extend it that far. I'll try and get you an answer to that, Al. [Long pause.]
191:46:13 Gibson: And, 12; Houston. The folks down here have thought a little bit about your two EVA's, especially the geology involved, and have a few questions which were stimulated by what you said during the EVA's and after. And, any time you would like to have a discussion of those questions, we are sitting here waiting for you.
191:46:38 Conrad: Okay, Ed. We're in the middle of a big garbage cleanup right now; and, as soon as we get the place spruced up, we'll be with you. It'll take us about another hour or so.
191:46:48 Gibson: Okay, Pete.
Long comm break.
This is Apollo Control Houston. We are presently at 191 hours, 48 minutes into the flight and now show Apollo 12 at 174,029.8 nautical miles out from Earth and coming in now at 3,159 feet per second. We'll keep the line open and continue to monitor any conversations as they may develop. That was Ed Gibson passing along the news of ALSEP to the Apollo 12 crew. This is Apollo Control Houston.
Download MP3 audio file. Scrivener tape, Australia.
191:57:00 Gibson: Apollo 12, Houston. In another 3 minutes, we'll have a site handover, and you'll get a temporary Loss Of Signal.
191:57:07 Conrad: Okay.
Very long comm break.
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