Jerry Carr (CAPCOM)

Well, I guess that is about it Frank.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Thank you, Jerry. I appreciate that.

Jim Lovell (CMP)

Jerry, this is Jim. We concur on that midcourse 6.2 of a foot per second—is what we get.

Jerry Carr (CAPCOM)

Do you just want to turn off your radios and come back without us?

Bill Anders (LMP)

No. We can't read out the amazing erasable memory if we have to go into PROGRAM 01 again. (Laughter)

Jim Lovell (CMP)

I'd tried to get us back on the launch pad a little bit earlier.

Jerry Carr (CAPCOM)

Frank, one other little item in the news here, I thought might be interesting is—. Stand by.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Go ahead. You are loud and clear.

Jerry Carr (CAPCOM)

Okay. I got interrupted there for a minute. Bob Hope is back out in Viet Nam again with his troops, doing a great job as usual. One little name in the news story here is from the USS New Jersey. Bob Hope joked from atop of a huge gun turret yesterday—or Wednesday—to delight the 1500 men aboard the battle ship New Jersey on its 20th Christmas entertaining US troops abroad. Hope and his 27 member troop entertained the New Jersey seamen after attending a Christmas mass aboard the carrier Hancock, both off Viet Nam. “This must be the biggest Cris Craft in the world,” Hope told the seamen. “It looks like Wake Island with a rudder.” “I think it was nice of them to take the ship out of mothballs just to give me a 21-gun salute,” he said. Hope joked while standing on one of the ships 16 inch gun turrets. The sailors were particularly impressed by a squad of long legged girls who came aboard with Hope including Actress Ann-Margaret and Miss World.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Did you say that was his 20th trip ever there at Christmas time, or overseas at Christmas time?

Jerry Carr (CAPCOM)

That's right, it's the 20th time he has been over—overseas for Christmas with the troops.

Frank Borman (CDR)

He's as old as Jack Benny.

Jerry Carr (CAPCOM)

Roger. Hey, you can turn off the water dump now.

Frank Borman (CDR)

We're in the process, or as we say in the aerospace business: that's in work.

Jerry Carr (CAPCOM)

Roger. You do good work.

Jerry Carr (CAPCOM)

That other aviator that's going around the world, Max Conrad with his light plane—he spent Christmas day in the Antarctics—at Puento Aranes in Chili; he's waiting for good weather so he can continue his flight down to the South Pole. He hopes to get around the world. He is going around both Poles, and he's going to fly from Palmer to Byrd, from Byrd to the South Pole, and then return home to the United States by way of New Zealand, Australia, and Hawaii.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Brother. He had better take some No Doze with him.

Jim Lovell (CMP)

I tried to talk Frank into the same trip.

Bill Anders (LMP)

You can give him a weather report from Apollo 8. The South Pole was really clobbered or at least it was the other day.

Jerry Carr (CAPCOM)

I don't imagine there are many alternates down there.

Frank Borman (CDR)

We have some pretty clear weather up here.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Actually, it's snowing outside right now with that waste water dump that Bill just did.

Jerry Carr (CAPCOM)

Roger. Does it look a little bit like Christmas?

Frank Borman (CDR)

Jerry, do you have a decision about what we are going to do about this next midcourse?

Jerry Carr (CAPCOM)

No, Frank. We don't need it.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Okay. I just wanted to make sure officially we'll scrub MCC 6?

Frank Borman (CDR)

I guess—Jim said that was already official. I was sleeping at the time. I didn't hear it.

Jerry Carr (CAPCOM)

Okay. Frank, by the way, how do you feel about your EMS now? You feel like you've got all the answers to the little funnies you saw earlier?

Frank Borman (CDR)

Yes. The answer is don't turn it into AUTO fast. It seems to be very sensitive to jerks, or separation.

Jerry Carr (CAPCOM)

Okay, you, you figure it's all pretty much just a switch throwing anomaly and if you play it by the numbers and then slow and deliberate you will be okay?

Frank Borman (CDR)

Yes. Ken, I'm getting razzed up here because I said it was sensitive to jerks.

Jerry Carr (CAPCOM)

(Laughter) We thought of that, too, down here.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Yes, I figured you did.

Jim Lovell (CMP)

I told Ken last night at separation after TLI, when we separated from the S-IVB, we got a nice bang out of the pyros and the EMS jumped over 100 feet per second.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Jerry, do you want to—I've got it in the flight plan to start charging our battery B. Do you want that started at 100 now also?

Jerry Carr (CAPCOM)

Frank, we expect it will take about 3 or 4 hours.

Frank Borman (CDR)

And we're happy to report the earth is getting larger.

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Spoken on Dec. 26, 1968, 2:02 p.m. UTC (55 years, 9 months ago). Link to this transcript range is: Tweet

Jerry Carr (CAPCOM)

Roger, that's comforting. Looks like you are going to make earth instead of Venus, huh?