Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

Apollo 8, Houston. Over.

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

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.

Bill Anders (LMP)

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

Mike Collins (CAPCOM)

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

Bill Anders (LMP)

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

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

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.

Bill Anders (LMP)

What's the trouble you are trying to troubleshoot?

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

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.

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

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.

Bill Anders (LMP)

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

Jim Lovell (CMP)

Good morning, Captain.

Jim Lovell (CMP)

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

Jim Lovell (CMP)

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

Jim Lovell (CMP)

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

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

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

Jim Lovell (CMP)

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

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

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

Bill Anders (LMP)

I always said he did better in his sleep.

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

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.

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

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

Bill Anders (LMP)

Can't you pick one a little further away?

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

Not in our normal sphere.

Jim Lovell (CMP)

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

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

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.

Jim Lovell (CMP)

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

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

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

Jim Lovell (CMP)

Secondary activation.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Ken, on this maneuver, MCC 7, are you going to—are we going to burn the PAD data that we got some time ago, or is there a new maneuver coming up, or what's going on in that regard?

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

Okay, Apollo 8. If required, we'll give you a new one. Right now, we are looking at not making a maneuver burn at all.

Frank Borman (CDR)

You say we may not even have another one now?

Frank Borman (CDR)

Okay. You're the boss.

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

Apollo 8, Houston. Could you try another OMNI?

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

Apollo 8, Houston. Try another CMRI, please.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Go ahead, Houston. Apollo 8.

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

Okay. Read you loud and clear now. Just wanted to remind you that in the event of a loss of COMM, we don't want you to burn MCC 7. Your present entry PAD is good. We'll be updating your landing points at the same time that you would have gotten MCC 7, and I'd like to have a crew status report from you when it's convenient.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Okay, Ken. I understand. If we would lose COMM, you do not want us to burn MCC 7, just go ahead and use the entry PAD you've given us?

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

That's affirmative. You'll be within 0.06 degrees of your entry angle target line.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Alright. The crew status is everybody has gotten real good rest last night, and everybody is in good shape. Jim is just waking up, and Bill is starting the initial stowage, and we all feel very well.

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

Okay. And we'd like to—guess we need a PRD reading from you. And we'll be needing one in the neighborhood of 145-hour period, somewhere when it's convenient in there again.

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

Apollo 8, Apollo 8, Houston. Go ahead.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Roger. Could you give us our range—correction, our velocity and range from the earth now?

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

Apollo 8, Apollo 8, Houston. At time 51, your velocity will be 9526, altitude 42946. Over.

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

Apollo 8, Houston. You call?

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

Apollo 8, Apollo 8. Did you call?

Frank Borman (CDR)

Negative, this is Apollo 8. We did not call you.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Go ahead, Houston. Apollo 8.

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

Okay. I've got some weather and recovery force status and a couple of last minute items to run down any time it is convenient for you.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Alright. It's convenient right now, any time.

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

Okay. For the mid-Pacific, the general condition is good. You can expect cloud bases 2000 foot scattered, visibility 10 miles, wind 070 at 12, wave heights 4 feet, altimeter 2974. Sunrise will be 17:10 Zulu, and first light 16:49 Zulu. The recovery forces: ship will be Yorktown; the aircraft will be Airboss number 1 and 2, and Recoveries 1, 2, and 3. The estimated time to a target point: the ship is—Yorktown is on the target point, Airboss aircraft 15 minutes and will be on-scene commander. Recoveries 1, 2, and 3 are SH3 Alfas, and they go with the Yorktown, so they are at the target point. All of them have swimmers aboard. If the recovery aircraft do not hear from the spacecraft; they will go ahead and put swimmers in the water, and if you are in good shape and give them a call, then they will hold off on dropping swimmers until sunrise.

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Spoken on Dec. 27, 1968, 7:12 a.m. UTC (55 years, 10 months ago). Link to this transcript range is: Tweet

Frank Borman (CDR)

Roger. Say again the sunrise and first light time for me, would you, please?

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

Apollo 8, Houston. Notice the rather large middle gimbal angle. Over.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Would you say again the daylight time, please, sunrise, and first light.

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

Okay. Sunrise is 17:10 Zulu, and first light is 16:49 Zulu.

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

Okay. Looking over the weather I gave you was—the 2000 foot scattered at the target point may have a 6000 foot broken layer above that. At the MAX lift point, you will have about the same thing, and altimeter is the same down the range. As you go further to the east, the weather should improve slightly; there is no problem with thunderstorms or rain showers in any of your recovery area.

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

The items that we still need will be a PRD reading as late as you can do it conveniently prior to a final stowage. And we don't have any numbers on the last crew sleep period. I'd like to verify that the secondary RCS was activated on all four quads. And I have about five comments on the entry checklist procedures to verify.

Frank Borman (CDR)

It was activated on all four quads; that's correct. Our final stowage is completed. We'll read out the PRD's for you now.

Frank Borman (CDR)

The LMP's reads 0.64; I believe it's been that way throughout the flight. The CMP's reads 0.11, that's 1.11.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Stand by a minute. Let me look at it closely. That's 0.11.

Frank Borman (CDR)

And the one I ended up with reads 3.10.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Okay. Go ahead, Ken. What else do you want to talk about?

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

Okay. To make everybody happy, we can use an estimate of the number of hours sleep the people got.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Just a minute, I'll give you that; I forgot. Bill Anders got about 5 hours, and Jim Lovell got about five, and I got about five and a half or six.

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

Sounds good. Okay. We went through an exercise with the mockup on the preentry preparations, and we noticed that in the LMP's checklist on page S-12, when you go to top off the repress bottles, I believe it is a misprint; it should read the PLSS fill valve rather than the REPRESS valve, and we should be going to the FILL position as opposed to going to ON.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Roger. That's what we do.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Go ahead. We agree that's what we do.

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

Okay. On page E-7 of the entry checklist and under step 34, as long as you have panel 382 open, that's a convenient time to go ahead and have the evaporator water controls, both primary and secondary, to AUTO, and the suit heat exchanger for the secondary glycol to FLOW.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Those items are already accomplished.

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

Very good. On page E-9, when you are getting ready to transfer the RCS to the command module position, if you want to avoid having the engines fire as a result of attitude correction, you might want to take the manual attitude switches to ACCEL COMMAND or MINIMAL IMPULSE. And again on E-9 Alfa at step 41 Bravo, if you want to go back to attitude hold, bring your manual attitude switches back to RATE.

Frank Borman (CDR)

What was that last step?

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

Step 41 Bravo on page-E-9 Alfa. It's if you decide to use either MINIMAL IMPULSE or ACCEL COMMAND on page E-9, step 41 Bravo would be a good place to go back to RATE COMMAND.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Okay. We do a purge or —

Frank Borman (CDR)

I didn't put all those control configurations changes on the checklist, but that's exactly what we did, used MINIMUM IMPULSE.

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

Apollo 8, Apollo 8. Go ahead.

Frank Borman (CDR)

I'd like to confirm one item on the PAD message, please.

Frank Borman (CDR)

Time to retro-drogues, reference you last time to drogues, please.

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

Okay. I'll check that one out.

Frank Borman (CDR)

And also, Ken, we are going to turn on our VHF now, about 4 hours before entry.

Ken Mattingly (CAPCOM)

Real fine. Thank you. I'll let you know when we pick it up.