Spacelog Apollo 8

Houston, Apollo 8. We're ready for the—your updates, your PAD's.

Apollo 8, Houston. Roger. I have updates, a map update for REV 5/6, and TEI 6 update. Which would you like first?

Okay. I've got the map update page now. Why don't you give me that one?

Okay. Map update for REV 5/6. LOS 78:58:49, sunrise 79:08:07, prime meridian 79:14:30, AOS 79:44:36, sunset 80:21:05; IP-1, time of closest approach to target B-1 80:09:00. Now your two new control points that Jim gave us: control point number 1, acquisition 79:10:32, control point number 2, acquisition 79:23:14. Over.

Roger. Copy. Ready for the TEI.

Okay, Bill. Before we read the big TEI update here, I'd like to give Jim briefly a procedure for P22. When he comes to NOUN 89, we request that he do a VERB 34 ENTER. Do not proceed, and by so doing then, he will not incorporate the lat and longitude from his mark, and he will not change the reference value of the landing site, and we will solve this AUTO OPTICS problem. Over.

Let me see if I have this correct, Mike. When flashing 0689 comes up with the latitude and longitude information, I will not proceed but will go to VERB 34 and terminate. Is that correct?

Yes, that is affirmative. Do a VERB 34 ENTER instead of a PROCEED. And that will -

Alright. Is this technique true -

Houston, is this technique true for both the node control point AUTO OPTICS on P25?

Stand by one, Jim.

And the LM …

That is affirmative, Apollo 8. That is always true.

Okay. Roger. True for the code AUTO OPTICS and no landmark. I'll proceed instead of going on—or I'll use 34 instead proceeding on 89.

Roger. Thank you, Jim, and I have the TEI 6 hour when you are ready—or TEI number 6.

Go ahead.

Ready to copy.

Roger. I'm glad you are ready to copy TEI number 6. I've got one last comment for Jim before you do so. The VERB 89—or correction—the NOUN 89 we are talking about is the one that he gets after marking. There are two NOUN 89's, one prior to marking and one after, and our procedure references NOUN 89 after marking. Over.

Roger. Understand.

Thank you, and, Bill, you still ready to copy?

Ready to copy, Mike.

TEI 6, SPS/G&N: 45701, minus 040, plus 157. Are you with me so far?

Roger.

081:21:24.43, plus 31776, minus 00823, minus 01365 180 016 001, not applicable, plus 00188. Are you still with me? Over.

That's Roger.

Good. 31816 302 31624 40 2699 396 033, down 054, left 21, plus 0810 control minus 16500 12968 36222 146:42:04; GDC align remains the same; Sirius and Rigel, roll 129, pitch 155, yaw 010, ullage four quads for 15 seconds; horizon on 6-degree line at TIG minus 3 minutes. Over.

Roger, Houston. TEI 6, SPS/G&N: 45701, minus 040, plus 157 018:21:24.43, plus 31776, minus 00823, minus 01365 180 016 001, NA, plus 00188 31816 302 31624 40 2699. Are you with me?

Yes, I'm with you, Bill.

396 033, down 054, left 21, plus 08 10 minus 16500 12968 36222 146:42:04; same GDC align; Sirius and Rigel, 129 155 010, four jet, 15 seconds, horizon 6 degrees, TIG minus 3. Over.

Roger, Bill. On your ignition time, GETI is 81 hours, 081. Over.

Roger. Got it, 081.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you, Michael. As a matter of interest, these side windows are so hazy that when the sun shines on them, they just about—they are real poor for any visual observation or photography—heads-up.

Roger. Understand.

Apollo 8, Houston. Over.

Go ahead, Houston.

Roger. The last state vector updates we sent you, Jim, was to the LM slots, and you will have to transfer that over to the CSM slots using VERB 47 ENTER. Over.

Roger. Will do.

Thank you.

Apollo 8, Houston.

Go ahead, Houston.

Roger. Bill has got his tape recorder back, and we noticed during that last dump, it was all in low bit rate. We wonder whether that was intentional or not? Over.

Roger. We didn't have much to say; we couldn't see out of the windows very well, Mike.

Roger. Understand.

It was really too bad.

Apollo 8, Houston. —

Go ahead —

Roger, Bill. This next time around into the sunlight, we do not expect any problem with the primary evaporator. If it does start drying out, we think it is best just to close the back pressure valve, and there is no need to activate the secondary boiler. Over.

Okay. I guess the 6O-degree limit will still hold then.

Stand by.

Apollo 8, Houston. We are suggesting you disregard the 60 degree limit, and let it go ahead and rise up above 60. There is no need to activate the secondary. Over.

Okay. We just don't want to boil our IMU.

Roger. Understand then. Apollo 8, you are GO for the next lunar orbit REV.

Roger, Houston.

Roger, Houston. I'll read the book this time.

Apollo 8, Houston. Over.

Go ahead, Houston. Apollo 8 —

Roger. We have about 4-1/2 minutes left before we have LOS; we'd like your last PRD readout. Over.

Stand by. The commander is asleep; we'll get his when he wakes up. The LMP is still 6 … 0.64, C is 9, CMP is 0.09.

Apollo 8, Houston. About 40 seconds to LOS, and everything's looking good down here.

Roger. Houston. We will give it another try here.

Apollo 8, this is Houston. Over.

Apollo 8, this is Houston. Over.

Apollo 8, this is Houston. Over.

Apollo 8, this is Houston. Over.

Houston, Apollo 8. Over.

Reading you very weak but—a lot of background noise. Welcome back around. How are you reading us?

Reading you fine.

Houston, Apollo 8.

Apollo 8, Houston. Go ahead.

Roger, Houston. A few words on our optics tracking system. I used AUTO OPTICS for control points 1 and 2 on the backside, and they worked beautifully, tracked both the targets for me. And I went to the control point 3 as designated in our orbital control book to see the latitude and longitude that was given to me and used AUTO OPTICS to track that particular coordinate system, and it was very close to the actual tracking plot. I picked the mark there where I did a final marking and recorded latitude and longitude. I'm now about to come up on the landing site and using AUTO OPTICS in the coded input to see how that works.

Apollo 8, Houston.

Go ahead.

Roger. We know you're busy so we are not going to bother you. We are watching your progress on the DSKY. You are looking good; all your systems are looking good, and we have maneuver PAD's for you any time at your convenience.

Roger. We will take them when we are doing the P52, if that's okay.

Mike, Apollo 8.

Apollo 8, go ahead.

Mike, there are an awful lot of objects down on the landing site. It would just warm up Jack Schmidt's heart. The AUTO OPTICS are tracking perfectly on the target, and the two high peaks stand out beautifully. I have a beautiful view of it. The first I've seen just barely beneath the vertical now, and the second one coming up—It's just a grand view!

Roger, Jim. Glad to hear it. Jack's listening.

Jack, the information—The triangles that we see now are from the first IP, second IP, and the B-1 are just right, I think, for landing conditions. The shadows aren't too deep for you to get confused, but the land has texture to it, and there are enough shadows there to make everything stand out.

If Jack's listening, tell him that the optical may be doing all right, but the eyeball is having a little trouble looking through all this smear on the windows.

Roger. Understand the optics are doing better than the eyeballs. How about the cameras?

We always have the same smear to look through. The rendezvous windows are okay, but they're so small and looking in the wrong directions here so far.

Roger.

I think the vertical stereo will be okay.

It certainly looks like we're picking the more interesting places on the moon to land in. The backside looks like a sand pile my kids have been playing in for a long time. It's all beat up, no definition. Just a lot of bumps and holes.

I'm looking at 2P-2 right now, Houston, and it's a great spot.

The area we're over right now gives some hint of possible volcanic, though I really can't eyeball it at the moment to pin that down. There are some craters and buildups that just definitely suggest volcanic activity.

Roger. Understand, Bill, and understand Jim thinks the old 2P-2 is a winner.

Yes, that backside doesn't look good at all.

Roger.