Spacelog Apollo 8

Roger. We'll maneuver at this present time and try to pick up that attitude and get Navi, although I think it's a waste of time, but we will give it a try.

Houston, Apollo 8.

Apollo 8, Houston. Go.

Roger. We're at that attitude right now and looking through the scanning telescope. I can barely see any stars at all, and every time that the thruster will fire, you know, just completely blanks out my vision.

Roger, 8. Understand.

Now the attitude is good, Houston, as far as not having glare on the optics, and it might be a certain amount of data adaptation is required here.

Apollo 8, Houston.

Apollo 8, Houston. Over.

Apollo 8, Houston. Over.

Go ahead, Houston. Apollo 8 here.

Apollo 8, this is Houston. I've got a new PTC attitude for you when you finish P23. Give you a better look at the earth. Over.

Roger. Ready to copy.

Okay. Pitch 224, yaw 20.

New PTC is pitch 224, yaw 20.

Affirm.

Houston, Apollo 8.

Apollo 8, Houston. Go.

Apollo 8, this is Houston. Over.

Apollo 8, Apollo 8, Houston. Over.

Apollo 8, Apollo 8, Houston. Go ahead.

Roger. We are taking our time going to this new P23 attitude; going to Navi is quite a ways away from the attitude we need for P23. I have a correction to make on 20—on Navi after getting dark adapted; you can pick out Cassiopeia and you can pick out Navi itself. It is difficult to see what stars are around. We still have quite a bit of particles that are floating with the spacecraft, especially when we move the optics and shaft. It seems to throw off a lot of particles.

Roger. We copy that. What's your spacecraft lighting situation inside now?

We have the center window—the round window covered, and we have—the other windows are opened.

Apollo 8, Houston.

Go ahead, Houston.

Apollo 8, Houston. While you're maneuvering for your P23, we have an update for DELTA-H for you if you're ready to copy.

Roger. Stand by.

Roger, Houston. You say you have a DELTA-H update for us? Just what do you mean?

Roger. DELTA horizon update.

Roger. Go ahead.

This is as a result of your P23 calibration; the update follows: VERB 24, NOUN 01, ENTER 1354, ENTER all balls, ENTER 214 50 ENTER; comment: continue to mark on the horizon destination that you've used previously. Your marks are looking very good.

Roger. DELTA-H update as follows: VERB 24, NOUN 01, ENTER 1354, ENTER all zeros, ENTER 214 50 ENTER. Understand those are two octal numbers.

That's affirmative; both octal.

Roger. When do we get the maneuvers here? I'll go out on 23, and I'll put these in; then I'll continue.

Okay.

Apollo 8, Houston. There's no requirement for you to leave P23; you can enter those right now if you want to.

Houston, are we in low bit rate now?

Apollo 8, Houston. You're in high bit rate.

Roger. We'd like to record you this P23 stuff.

Okay.

How about commanding low bit rate record FORWARD.

Roger. Low bit rate, record FORWARD.

All right, Houston. Have you sent those commands yet?

Apollo 8, Houston. They have been sent.

Our checklist says low bit rate, Houston. If you want high, you can have it.

Roger. We're going high bit rate.

Apollo 8, Houston.

Go ahead, Houston.

Apollo 8, Houston. Do you want us to turn off your DSE for you? It's probably about half full. We're getting good high bit rate down.

Do you want to get the rest of this data?

We're getting good high bit rate down.

Roger. Go ahead.

Okay. And, also, we're—your state vector is now based on about 5 hours of tracking. We have you on a pericynthian of 69.7 miles with a free return. Your entry flight path angle looks like about minus 14. You will need only a few feet per second to get you back on a nominal entry angle.

Apollo 8, Houston. Did you get the words on the state vector?

Houston, did you read? Apollo 8. We got a lot of noise.

Apollo 8, Houston. Go ahead.

Houston, Apollo 8.

Apollo 8, Houston. Go.

Apollo 8, this is Houston reading you fairly weak. I'll repeat the state vector information. Your state vector is now based on 5 hours, more than 5 hours of tracking. We show you on a pericynthian of 69.7 miles with a free return with entry path flight angle of minus 14 degrees. Will only need a few feet per second at the lunar distance to get you back on a nominal entry angle. Over.

Roger. Copy.

Houston, Apollo 8.

Apollo 8, Houston. Go. Reading you weak, but clear.

Roger. Our sighting schedule is complete, and I'm maneuvering to PTC attitude.

Houston, Apollo 8. Over.

Apollo 8, Houston. Go.

Roger. I'm at the PTC maneuver now. Like a distance status from you—how the battery looks and how the fuel cells look and et cetera. Over.

Roger.

Apollo 8, Houston.

Go ahead.

Apollo 8, this is Houston. We figure battery B will be charged in about 2 to 3 hours. All your systems look GO; your RCS usage so far is about 60 pounds, six-zero pounds over nominal. Over.

Roger. How about fuel cell 2; is that looking all right now?

Roger. Fuel cells are all looking good.

Okay. We're going to have two of us hit the hay now and one man minding the store so you might have everybody keep an extra sharp eye on …

Roger, Bill. You think you're going to be able to sleep okay?

Yes. I think we kinda warmed up to a good sleep here by now.

Houston. Apollo 8.

Go ahead.

Onboard navigation indicates a pericynthian altitude of 38.4 miles.

Understand; 38.4 miles.

That's affirmative. It's on the DSKY right now, if you're reading it.

Apollo 8, Houston.

Go ahead, Houston.

Apollo 8, this is Houston with some comments on navigation.

Go ahead, Houston.

Good morning, Frank. Apollo 8, this is Houston. We're wondering about your GDC backup align; we'd like your opinion on the possibility of doing this align using Sirius and Rigel rather than Navi, as it's in the north set at this time. Over.

Stand by one.

Roger.

Houston, this is Apollo 8. We concur. Sirius and Rigel would be two stars that would be much better than Navi and Polaris. However, I did Cassiopeia after I became adapted, but I'm afraid that the time required to do that type of alignment would be extensive if we ever had to go to that alignment.