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Mike Collins (CAPCOM)
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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.
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Bill Anders (LMP)
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Roger. We didn't have much to say; we couldn't see out of the windows very well, Mike.
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Mike Collins (CAPCOM)
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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.
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Mike Collins (CAPCOM)
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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.
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Mike Collins (CAPCOM)
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Roger. We have about 4-1/2 minutes left before we have LOS; we'd like your last PRD readout. Over.
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Jim Lovell (CMP)
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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.
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Mike Collins (CAPCOM)
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Apollo 8, Houston. About 40 seconds to LOS, and everything's looking good down here.
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Mike Collins (CAPCOM)
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Reading you very weak but—a lot of background noise. Welcome back around. How are you reading us?
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Jim Lovell (CMP)
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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.
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Mike Collins (CAPCOM)
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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.
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Jim Lovell (CMP)
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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!
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Bill Anders (LMP)
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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.
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Bill Anders (LMP)
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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.
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Mike Collins (CAPCOM)
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Roger. Understand the optics are doing better than the eyeballs. How about the cameras?
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Bill Anders (LMP)
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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.
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Bill Anders (LMP)
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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.
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Bill Anders (LMP)
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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.
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Mike Collins (CAPCOM)
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Roger, Jim. We have you on the high-gain antenna. We'd like you to take the DSE and dump it over.
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Mike Collins (CAPCOM)
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That's affirmative, Jim. We'd like to—stand by one, and I'll tell you when to go to P00 and ACCEPT.
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Mike Collins (CAPCOM)
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Jim, would you please go to P00 in ACCEPT, and we'll send you a P27 and run a state vector update.
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Jim Lovell (CMP)
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Houston, this is Apollo 8. We have a little piece of useful information if you're interested in deliberating over it.
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Jim Lovell (CMP)
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Roger. Our first control point is very near the terminator, and as the optics were tracking it, I had occasion to watch the sun come up. And at about 2 minutes before sunrise, you get—the limb begins to brighten up into sort of a fine white haze, a fine glow completely over the space just behind the limb.
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Mike Collins (CAPCOM)
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Roger. I understand. About 2 minutes before the sun comes up, you get a fine white haze radiating out from behind the limb. How far out does it extend?
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Jim Lovell (CMP)
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It goes up quite a ways. It takes a fan shape, unlike the sunrise on earth where the atmosphere affects it. This just sort of is a complete haze all over the local area. It's concentrated at the exact spot where the sun comes up at ignition and then goes away from the sun spots. Very interesting.
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Mike Collins (CAPCOM)
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Okay. When you get your—before you get your map book out, the Houston COMM TECHS have got a little word for an old ex-CAP COMM. They say they consider you in NONREMOTE. Over.
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Mike Collins (CAPCOM)
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Okay. Your map update for REV 6/7: LOS 80:57:24, sunrise 81:06:57, prime meridian 81:13:02. Are you with me?
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Mike Collins (CAPCOM)
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AOS 81:43:05, sunset 82:13:54. Remarks: IP-1 TCA for B-1 82:07:39, and now I've got four more times for you which—acquisition times for when various things come over the horizon. Over.
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Mike Collins (CAPCOM)
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Okay. Control point 1, acquisition time 81:09:05; control point 2, acquisition time 81:21:48; control point 3, acquisition time 81:43:17. B-1 acquisition time 82:03:54. And I say again all those ACQ times are when they first come over the horizon. Over.
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Bill Anders (LMP)
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Just a matter of general interest, Houston: everybody is feeling good, and the CDR is taking a snooze.
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Mike Collins (CAPCOM)
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Roger. Glad to hear it. We were just talking about a water dump down here. We've got one coming up, and it looks like on this REV prior to the time around LOS or just prior to LOS, would be a convenient time to do it. Do you concur?
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Mike Collins (CAPCOM)
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That's affirmative, and we'd also be interested in any comments about what these various dumps have done to your optics, if anything, and how long the effects last after a dump.
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Bill Anders (LMP)
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Don't seem to have done anything to the optics, but they've definitely got in some of the windows. There are a few little chunks of ice on window number 1, which is nearest the vent, and also on window number 5 a little bit; windows 2 and 4 remain amazingly clear.
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Mike Collins (CAPCOM)
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Alright. Weight 45701, minus 040, plus 157 083:18:20.80, plus 32346, minus 01168, plus 05730. Are you with me so far? Over.
Spoken on Dec. 24, 1968, 8:58 p.m. UTC (55 years, 8 months ago). Link to this transcript range is: Tweet
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