Jerry Carr (CAPCOM)

Apollo 8, Houston. The voice quality on your tape was just fair-to-middling; we were able to monitor your burn and hear most of that pretty well.

Bill Anders (LMP)

Roger. Did you get a report of the photography accomplished, or is that on the tape at present?

Jerry Carr (CAPCOM)

Negative. We haven't heard that.

Bill Anders (LMP)

Okay. We will put it on the tape now.

Jerry Carr (CAPCOM)

Apollo 8, Houston. You are 4 minutes and 40 seconds away from LOS. I would like a reconfirmation on your S-band AUX switch in the DOWN-VOICE BACKUP position. Over.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Negative; it is in the NORMAL voice. We will go DOWN-VOICE BACKUP.

Jerry Carr (CAPCOM)

Roger. Request you leave it there forever. Over.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Roger. In DOWN-VOICE BACKUP now.

Jerry Carr (CAPCOM)

Apollo 8, this is Houston. All systems are GO. You're still GO for REV 2. Over.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Go ahead, Houston. Apollo 8.

Jerry Carr (CAPCOM)

Roger. One minute to LOS.

Jerry Carr (CAPCOM)

Apollo 8, Houston. Ten seconds to LOS. All systems are GO.

Jerry Carr (CAPCOM)

Apollo 8, Houston. Over.

Jerry Carr (CAPCOM)

Key moment TV broadcast 3: views of the moon: Apollo 8, Houston. Over.

Bill Anders (LMP)

Houston, this is Apollo 8 with the TV going. Over.

Jerry Carr (CAPCOM)

Apollo 8, this is Houston. Reading you loud and clear. We see your TV. It is a little bit—little bit clearer.

Bill Anders (LMP)

Roger. The moon is very bright and not too distinct in this area. I will give you a shot of the horizon.

Bill Anders (LMP)

How's that look? Is it on the top of your picture?

Jerry Carr (CAPCOM)

Apollo 8, this is Houston. It's a good picture—the horizon—we can't see many terrain features as yet.

Jerry Carr (CAPCOM)

Apollo 8, Houston. We are beginning to pick up a few craters very dimly; the whole thing is pretty bright.

Bill Anders (LMP)

Roger. There is not much definition up here either out on the horizon. We are now approaching the craters See and Bassett.

Bill Anders (LMP)

I'll shift to the rendezvous window.

Jerry Carr (CAPCOM)

Apollo 8, Houston. We want to take the DSE.

Jerry Carr (CAPCOM)

Roger. Looks like we've got a real good picture now.

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Spoken on Dec. 24, 1968, 12:33 p.m. UTC (55 years, 9 months ago). Link to this transcript range is: Tweet

Bill Anders (LMP)

Okay. That's the crater Brand.

Jerry Carr (CAPCOM)

Apollo 8, this is Houston. We are going to need a cryo fan cycle sometime during this pass.

Bill Anders (LMP)

Roger. Can we wait till sunset?

Bill Anders (LMP)

Okay. I think we are coming up on Miller right now.

Bill Anders (LMP)

There's a very new bright impact crater; should be in the field of view now.

Bill Anders (LMP)

You see it in the upper part of your screen.

Jerry Carr (CAPCOM)

Say, Bill, how would you describe the color of the moon from here?

Bill Anders (LMP)

The color of the moon looks like a very whitish gray, like dirty beach sand with lots of footprints in it.

Jim Lovell (CMP)

Some of these craters look like pickaxes striking concrete leaving a lot of fine haze dust.

Bill Anders (LMP)

There's some interesting features out on the other window. Let me switch windows on you now.