Spacelog Apollo 8

Go ahead, Houston.

Roger, Bill. We had an erasable memory dump a few hours back. I think it was while you were asleep, but anyway we've checked the computer's erasable memory bit by bit, and everything agrees 100 percent. Over.

Mighty fine. Glad to hear it, Mike. Thank you.

Roger. Are you going to brief Frank on your tape recorder before you go to sleep?

He can't handle it. It's too complicated.

Apollo 8, Houston. Give us a different OMNI, please.

Apollo 8, Houston. Over.

Apollo 8, this is Houston. Over.

Go ahead, Michael.

Roger. We are going to switch our ground antennas in about a minute and a half. You can expect a COMM glitch then.

Thank you.

…, Mike.

Apollo 8, this is Houston through Carnarvon. Were you calling a minute ago, Frank?

Y'all in Australia, do you hear us?

Yes, we are reading you loud and clear now.

Carnarvon, how do you read? Apollo 8.

Apollo 8, this is Houston. Reading you loud and clear through Carnarvon.

Hello, Houston.

Go ahead, Frank.

We are just listening to all the guys around the NET.

Can you hear them?

I could that time, all the way from Carnarvon to Texas.

How did they ever get an old maintenance officer on the midnight shift?

Frank, you are on GOSS Conference if you would like to be brave. Over.

Apollo 8, Houston. OMNI Bravo, please.

Houston, Apollo 8.

Apollo 8, this is Houston. Over.

Apollo 8, this is Houston. Over.

Have you noticed how long I've stayed locked in this PTC mode?

Just about an hour and a quarter looks to us like, Frank.

I haven't even touched the hand control here for about 20 minutes, and it just hasn't moved outside that zero; I've never seen it like this before.

Be sure and have your troops give me a call if it gets close to gimbal lock, will you? I'm snoozing a little bit now and then up here.

Yes, we sure will, Frank.

Thank you.

And if you'd switch the antennas, you'd really be good guys.

Apollo 8, Houston.

Apollo 8, this is Houston. Over.

Houston, Apollo 8.

Roger. Just a check on the radio, and if it's practical, BIOMED switch left, please.

Okay, Mike. We had a crew change in the watch again.

Well, that was quick. Did you decide you didn't want to sleep after all?

Well, it wasn't my decision.

Yes, that's what I figured.

Apollo 8, Houston. We will be changing antennas in about 2-1/2 minutes; you can expect a COMM glitch.

Roger. What are you changing to?

Apollo 8, Houston. Over.

Go ahead, Houston.

Roger, Apollo 8. Your Green Team will be signing off in a few minutes, and before we do, Charlesworth and the rest of us would like to say we have enjoyed it and look forward to seeing you back in Houston. Over.

We have sure enjoyed it, too, troops, and you guys have really done a good job. We really do appreciate it.

Well, nice words there. We will be seeing you, Bill.

Okay, Mike. We will see you, Buddy. Tell old Cliff adios for me, too.

Apollo 8, Houston.

Go ahead, Houston.

Apollo 8, we'd like to have you, before you get in a P52 going here, we'd like to have you rezero the optics and read us the mechanical CDU's. We're trying to collect a little data for troubleshooting.

Roger. Stand by.

Thank you.

What's the trouble you are trying to troubleshoot?

This goes back to some of the problems we had prior to LOI; trying to see if the software readouts we're getting down here compare with the mechanical readouts. It's not a current problem as far as we know.

Okay.

Apollo 8, Houston.

Go ahead, Houston.

Okay. Why don't you just read me the mechanical CDU's there now, and then it looks from the ground like you're clear to go ahead with the P52.

Okay. We'll get the navigator squared away here in just a minute.

Good morning, Captain.

Good morning, sir.

This will be a piece of stew out of a deep sleep. Okay, stand by one.

Trunnion mechanical CDU looks like it's reading about 1/100.

Roger.

And the shaft mechanical CDU looks like it is reading about 4/100 below zero, which would be about 364. Yes.

Understand, Jim. That is 4/100 below zero on that shaft; is that affirm?

Yes. Stand by one. About 35996 on the shaft.

Okay. Thank you. You can go ahead with P52 now.

I always said he did better in his sleep.

Apollo 8, Houston.

Go ahead, Houston.

Okay. It looks like we're getting down on the service module RCS to the place where we ought to go ahead and activate the secondary service module RCS propellant.

Okay. Stand by.

Apollo 8, Houston.

Go ahead.

Okay. We've got a new PTC attitude. For the pitch 180, and the yaw 315.

Roger. Yaw 315.

Roger. And pitch 180.

Okay.

Can't you pick one a little further away?

Not in our normal sphere.

Ken, this is Jim.

Go ahead.

Aren't we still a little high on the quantity side to activate the secondary?

Negative. We have quad Bravo and quad Delta which are getting right down, according to the calculated numbers, next to where we ought to be activating them. The numbers you are reading are going to be a little bit high, but the computer data on the ground shows that you have about 134 pounds in Bravo and Delta, and about 130 pounds is where you ought to be on the secondary.

Okay. Roger. We will activate the secondary and turn off the primary.

Okay. It's just to keep you from running one of them up.

Roger.