Apollo 14

This is Apollo Control. Some of the numbers associated with the landing. The ignition time for power descent initiation was 108:42:29 Ground Elapsed Time. Actual touchdown was at 108:55:14, a total time in power descent of 12 minutes 46 seconds. At the present time the command service module, Kitty Hawk, is on air-to-ground 2 which will be recorded in the news room and transcribed, however, the air-to-ground 1 for Lunar Module, Antares on the lunar surface, is prime and will be carried live as the conversations continue. When you have loss of signal with the Command Module in 16 minutes. We're up live with Shepard and Mitchell in Antares at the Fra Mauro landing site.

This is Apollo Control, 109 hours 24 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. We have had Loss of Signal with the Command Module Kitty Hawk. As it passed behind the Moon on the - toward the end of the 14 lunar revolution. We're still up live for any further conversation between Shepard and Mitchell aboard Antares at the Fra Mauro landing site. At the present time, they're busy with going through their lunar surface checklist, doing some navigation alignments with the Optical Alignment Telescope which is roughly analogous to the sextant on the Command Module. Then at 110 hours, 20 minutes, they're scheduled to have a meal. Some 2 hours from now roughly, they should begin preparations for the first extravehicular activity. To recapitulate again, the landing phase earlier in the revolution prior to the one in which the power descent and landing was made, some spurious numbers came up in the Lunar Module computer programs which were indications of an abort signal. These were reckoned to be contamination in the abort switch itself.

This is Apollo. Control to continue the recapitulation of the problem with the Lunar Module computer. The suspected cause was contamination in the abort switch. By tapping on the switch, the numbers would disappear both in the onboard display keyboard readouts and the telemetered numbers here on the ground.

Apollo Control again. To bypass this potential problem, which would cause an abort during the power descent, a computer routine was devised by the manufacturers or the designers, I should say, of the Apollo guidance system whereby the abort signal would be bypassed. This routine was entered into the DSKY after ignition for power descent and apparently caused no problems with the fairly nominal descent profile and touchdown right on target. Powered Descent Ignition again, 108:42:29; touchdown at 108:55:14 for a total time in the powered descent of 12 minutes, 46 seconds. Continuing to monitor the air-ground circuit with Antares on the lunar surface. At 109 hours, 30 minutes Ground Elapsed Time; this is Apollo Control.

This is Apollo Control at 109 hours 35 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. We're estimating a Change of Shift Briefing with the offgoing Flight Director Gerry Griffin and hopefully, spacecraft communicator Fred Haise, over in the small briefing room in the Apollo News Center Houston in about 15 or 20 minutes. Still up live for any conversations with Lunar Module Antares, this is Apollo Control at 109:36.

Apollo Control, Houston. At 109 hours 53 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. We've had a handover of flight control teams in Mission Control. Flight director Pete Frank presently pooling his flight control team for a GO-NO/GO for powerdown. We'll stand by and continue to monitor. We're at 109 hours 54 minutes Ground Elapsed Time and this is Apollo Control, Houston.

This is Apollo Control, Houston at 110 hours 1 minute Ground Elapsed Time. The change of shift to news conference is ready to begin in the large auditorium of Building 1, and at this time we will take down the live air to ground and switch to the news conference. This is Apollo Control Houston.

This is Apollo Control Houston at 111 hours 21 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. You heard that long exchange between capsule communicator Bruce McCandless here in Mission Control and the crew of Antares speaking from the Fra Mauro region. Al Shepard, Ed Mitchell. Earlier flight dynamics had given a preliminary set of coordinates of 3.65 South, 17.46 West. At any case, quite close and the computer on Antares is probably smarter than maps prepared here on Earth. From that description, Antares appears to be within several feet of the prescribed landing point. As we look over copies of the onboard grid maps of the area. Coordinate numbers, by the way, will be further refined with the rendezvous radar tracking. That's program- computer program 22 on board the LM. You heard the description of that as Kitty Hawk passes overhead. Al Shepard, Ed Mitchell obviously well-schooled in their procedures starting first with a general description of geological features and then proceeding with increasing detail. We're at 111 hours 23 minutes Ground Elapsed Time and standing by continuing to monitor, this is Apollo Control, Houston.

This is Apollo Control, Houston at a Ground Elapsed Time of 111 hours 32 minutes into the flight of Apollo 14. Although most of our attention has been directed toward Antares, there is another flight control team in the mission control that's headed by Flight Director, Glynn Lunney with Ron Evans serving as capsule communicator in contact with Stu Roosa aboard Kitty Hawk. Presently Kitty Hawk is passing behind the Moon on its - on the 15th revolution. We will reacquire the Command Module at - in some 34 minutes, we're at 111 hours 33 minutes Ground Elapsed Time, this is Apollo Control, Houston.