Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

Alright, Apollo 8. You are GO for TLI. Over.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Roger. We understand we are GO for TLI.

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

Apollo 8, Houston. Over.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Go ahead, Houston. Apollo 8.

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

Roger. We will have LOS in about 30 seconds, and we'll pick you up over ARIA 1 at 02:37:30.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Houston, this is Apollo 8. How do you read?

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

Apollo 8, Houston. Over.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Houston, Apollo 8. I hear you garbled but fairly clear.

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

Roger. Apollo 8, Houston. We're transmitting through ARIA 1, and you are also garbled.

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

Apollo 8, Houston. Over.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Go ahead, Houston. Apollo 8.

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

Good; you're loud and clear through the Mercury, and you're looking good dawn here. Everything looks good.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Roger. Understand. Our O2 flow is a little bit higher than I thought, but Bill says that it's just about what he expected.

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

Your He flow looks good down here.

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

Apollo 8, Houston. You're looking good.

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

Apollo 8, coming up on 20 seconds to ignition. Mark it, and you're looking very good.

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

Apollo 8, Houston. You're looking good.

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

Apollo 8, Houston. Trajectory and guidance look good. Over.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Roger. Apollo 8, looks good here.

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

Apollo 8, Houston. We're predicting cut-off, 02:55:58, and it looks exactly nominal here.

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

Apollo 8, Houston. That predicted cut-off, 02:55:52, 52, and that's exactly as it should be.

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

Apollo 8, Houston. You are looking good here, right down the center line.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Apollo 8, Houston. You are looking good, right down the old center line.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Okay—We got SECO right on the money.

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

Roger. Understand; SECO.

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

Apollo 8, Houston. Looks like a good cut-off. Everything is looking real good down here.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Go ahead, Houston. Apollo 8.

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

Your cut-off looked very good down here. We have a whole room full of people that say you look good.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Roger. Thank you. The only situation we have here in the O2 flow is high, O2 flow is a bit high.

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

Roger. Understand; O2 flow high.

Jim Lovell (CMP)

We'll get to first status report here shortly.

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

Apollo 8, Houston. Your booster configured normally, and we're not concerned with the O2 high flow. We think it's normal.

Jim Lovell (CMP)

Roger. The DELTA-TIG looked like it was right on. Burn time appeared to us to be about 2 seconds longer, 517. VGX was reading 95485 when we got it. The attitude was nominal. VI was reading 35452 at cut-off, H-dot 04552, and H is 01791. DELTA-VC on the EMS was minus 20.6.

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

Roger. We copy that, Jim, and I've got some times here for you.

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

Booster begins maneuver to SEP attitude at 03:10:55. Takes 5 minutes, so it arrives at 03:15:55, and SEP time, 03:20:55. Your SEP attitude, the gimbal angles on the PAD remain good.

Jim Lovell (CMP)

Roger. I have those times. The SEP time will be 03:20:55.

Bill Anders (LMP)

Houston, Apollo 8. Over.

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

Apollo 8, Houston. Go ahead.

Bill Anders (LMP)

Roger. Going to start charging battery B.

Bill Anders (LMP)

And would you keep a special eye on the purge tank and cryo O2 tank 1 DELTA-V for us since our flowmeter is pegged out, we got no warning on O2 high flow.

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

Roger, Bill. We'll do that for you.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Okay. Maneuvers started to separation attitude.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Houston, Apollo 8. How do you read?

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

Yes, reading you loud and clear, Frank. Understand you've started the maneuver to SEP attitude.

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

Are you reading us alright?

Frank Borman (CDR)

Go ahead, Houston. Apollo 8.

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

Okay. Coming up on 3 hours and 15 minutes as per flight plan; we have you GO.

Frank Borman (CDR)

You got any reading on that O2 flow?

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

We're reading about the same as we were before on that oxygen flow. The reason it's that high is due to the cabin gas changeover. According to Apollo 7, if your data repeats theirs, you can expect it to be high for another few hours.

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

You can expect that the S-IVB will be 10 degrees off in pitch at SEP attitude; however, that is GO. There is no problem involved.

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

Roger. We have you about 30 seconds prior to separation, and everything's looking good.

Bill Anders (LMP)

We've SEP'd Houston. We got the IVB, right?

Bill Anders (LMP)

Houston, do you read Apollo 8?

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

Apollo 8, Houston. Over.

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

Apollo 8, this is Houston. Over.

Bill Anders (LMP)

This is Apollo 8 on VHF and S-band. How do you read?

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

Hear loud and clear, Bill. How me?

Bill Anders (LMP)

Read you loud and clear. We have SEP and looking good.

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

Roger. Looking good here.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Houston, Apollo 8. How do you read?

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

Read you loud and clear, Frank. How us?

Frank Borman (CDR)

Roger. Loud and clear. We are taking pictures of the S-IVB; the postseparation sequence is completed, and we seem to have a high gain.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Go ahead, Houston. Apollo 8.

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

Roger. Is Bill reedy for his VHF test? We can configure any time he is.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Go ahead, Houston. Apollo 8.

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

Roger. We would like to ask whether you did a VERB 66 ENTER to transfer the state vector from CSM to LM slot. We didn't copy that down here.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Do you want us to do that now?

Frank Borman (CDR)

We see the earth now, almost as a disk.

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

Good show. Get a picture of it.

Jim Lovell (CMP)

Tell Conrad he lost his record.

Jim Lovell (CMP)

We have a beautiful view of Florida now. We can see the Cape, just the point.

Jim Lovell (CMP)

And at the same time, we can see Africa. West Africa is beautiful. I can also see Gibraltar at the same time I'm looking at Florida.

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

Sounds good. Get a picture of it. What window are you looking out?

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

Are your windows clear so far?

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

How about your VHF check? We would like to get that done before you get too much further away.

Frank Borman (CDR)

We are listening on VHF alfa Simplex.

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

Apollo 8, Houston. Say again.

Frank Borman (CDR)

We are listening for VHF alfa Simplex.

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

Okay, good. Thank you. VHF alfa Simplex, and we will get configured for it; and in between times, give us a clue as to what it looks like from way up there.

Jim Lovell (CMP)

Roger. Well, Mike, I can see the entire earth now out of the center window. I can see Florida, Cuba, Central America, the whole northern half of Central America, in fact, all the way down through Argentina and down through Chile.

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

They picked a good day for it.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Stand by. We are going through the separation maneuver checklist here.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Houston, this is Apollo 8. We've lost sight of the S-IVB here. The separation maneuver may be delayed slightly, or else we will go ahead and make it without having her in sight.

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

Roger. Understand, Frank.

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

Apollo 8, Houston. Go ahead.

Frank Borman (CDR)

When does the S-IVB do their blowdown maneuver?

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

Your blowdown will be 1 hour from now, a little more that 1 hour from now.

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Spoken on Dec. 21, 1968, 3:50 p.m. UTC (55 years, 10 months ago). Link to this transcript range is: Tweet

Frank Borman (CDR)

Roger. We have the S-IVB in sight again now. We have done the separation maneuver.