Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

Roger. Did that gas station call wake you up?

Bill Anders (LMP)

Man, I've been all eyeballs and elbows here for the last several hours.

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

I'll bet. If you've got nothing else to do, I do have two charts in your LOI table that I need to give you some update numbers on.

Bill Anders (LMP)

We'll get our LOI tables man on the line here, Houston. Stand by.

Jim Lovell (CMP)

Okay, Houston, CMP here. I understand you have some updates for me.

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

Yes, sir; I've got a couple of charts in your chart book under LOI, and I have some numbers to fill in, one of them being the chart of LOI DELTA-V magnitude versus abort DELTA-V.

Jim Lovell (CMP)

Okay. Stand by, and I'll get it out.

Jim Lovell (CMP)

Okay, I have the chart out. Go ahead.

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

Alright. Mode 1, 5 hours, roll 1.38, pitch 7.89, yaw 357.37. Mode 1, 15 minutes, roll 180.73, pitch 29.46, yaw 1.65. Over.

Jim Lovell (CMP)

Roger. The new attitudes for the Mode 1, 5 hour Mode 15 minute are as follows: roll—for the Mode 1, 5 hour, roll 1.38, pitch 7.89, yaw 357.37; Mode 1, 15 minute, roll 180.73, pitch 29.46, yaw 1.65.

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

Okay. That is correct. Now I also have to give you a couple of points to plot on that curve. The present curve you have drawn is based on a 60-mile perigee or perilune, and you right now have a 62-mile pericynthian; and the reason that your target is for 62 miles is to pass over the landing site, so I have five sets of coordinates for you to copy.

Jim Lovell (CMP)

Is this to go on the same chart to redraw the curve?

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

Okay. We'll go in on the LOI DELTA-V magnitude 1600, abort DELTA-V 2450, two-four-five-zero.

Jim Lovell (CMP)

Okay. LOI DELTA-V magnitude 1600, abort DELTA-V 2450. Stand by just one. I have it; continue.

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

Okay. The next one is the LOI DELTA-V 2000, abort DELTA-V 3130.

Jim Lovell (CMP)

Roger. I've got that plotted.

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

2400 LOI DELTA-V, abort DELTA-V 3880, three-eight-eight-zero.

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

2800 LOI, abort DELTA-V 4700. Over.

Jim Lovell (CMP)

Roger. I have that one plotted, too.

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

Alright. The last one is LOI DELTA-V 2990, abort DELTA-V 5114. That is almost directly into the end of the present curve, 5114.

Jim Lovell (CMP)

Say again the LOI DELTA-V magnitude, please.

Jim Lovell (CMP)

Roger. 2990. Okay. I have it plotted.

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

Alright. And on the next one, you should have a chart (number 10), and we have three numbers to go in there for a Mode 3 gimbal angle.

Jim Lovell (CMP)

Roger. Go ahead with the Mode 3 gimbal angles.

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

Roll 180.87, pitch 42.31, yaw 1.65.

Jim Lovell (CMP)

Mode 3 gimbal angles are as follows: roll 180.87, pitch 42.31, yaw 1.65.

Jim Lovell (CMP)

Could you please send up a French curve for me?

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

The only one I have is about 6 foot.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Houston, could you give us some gimbal angles to point at the moon? I never have seen it the whole trip, and I'm wondering which way it is from us now.

Jim Lovell (CMP)

Houston, Apollo 8. Radio check.

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

We are getting ready to give you a rundown on your systems. We're going over all the final steps, and we will tell you what we see in the way of trajectory and systems information. And once again, Dr. Joe Kerwin has brought over all the latest news, and we can read that up to you a little bit at a time if you aren't going to sleep.

Frank Borman (CDR)

What's he going to do, read out of the AMA Journal?

Jim Lovell (CMP)

Go ahead. We are all ears.

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

Okay. Here is one: the previously scheduled 72-hour cease fire by the Viet Cong went into effect today, 17 hours before the 24 hour allied truce was to begin.

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Frank Borman (CDR)

You lost us on the numbers there. What was that again?

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

The gist of it was that the VC went into a cease fire earlier than the truce that we had planned on, as a Christmas holiday type.

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Spoken on Dec. 24, 1968, 3:08 a.m. UTC (55 years, 10 months ago). Link to this transcript range is: Tweet