Spacelog Apollo 8

Apollo 8, Houston.

Go ahead, Houston.

Okay. We have checked into your drogue time, and the number of 08:16 on your entry PAD is correct. We'll be giving you an updated entry PAD on the scheduled time of 143:30. At the same time, we'll be giving you an update of your state vectors for the LM and CSM. The midcourse correction number 7 was less than seven-tenths foot per second, and we will not execute it. You have a P52 scheduled at 143:30 which is not required. It's your option. However, if you decide to delete the P52, the CMC self-check and DSKY condition light test are still requirements. Over.

On that DSKY check . ..

Apollo 8, Houston. That's my mistake on CMC self-check and DSKY condition light. That's an optional test. Over.

That's what we thought, Ken. Gosh, if that's been working perfectly for 6 days, I don't see any reason to test it.

I agree.

Thank you.

Morning, Ken. How's Houston this morning?

Just fine. Nice and balmy.

Houston, Apollo 8. Over.

Go ahead, Apollo 8.

Apollo 8, go ahead.

I am just—It is my understanding that we are to bring up the secondary loop at 1 hour prior to SEP, isn't that right?

That is affirmative, about page Echo 9.

Okay.

And Bill, … suggested if we have the water boiler going on the primary loop, that you—you might wait about 5 minutes or so before you initiate the secondary loop.

Wait 5 minutes from what? From the time the primary loop starts or from 1 hour?

From the time the primary loop starts; this will give you a check to see if it had a chance to dry out or not.

Oh, I am with you. Okay.

And for your information, we already have a VHF downlink. It's poor quality, but we do have contact.

Okay. We haven't turned anything over to VHF yet.

Okay.

We tried to call you on the VHF though, Ken.

Roger. I say, the quality is pretty poor; they may not be able to understand you.

Houston, Apollo 8. Over.

Go ahead, Apollo 8.

Apollo 8, Houston. Go ahead.

Ken, we got two things going here which make this suit heat exchanger flow a little different. One of them is we are not doing a coldsoak, and the other one is we are powering down the secondary loop prior to SEP. And I wonder if it is a good idea to have the suit heat exchanger only on a secondary loop in that case. And plus the fact that we haven't got any cabin heat exchanger.

I don't think that was the intent, Bill. What they had in mind, we have the suit heat exchanger on both loops; and if they got too cold, you could use the panel switching to shut down the primary loop through the heat exchanger. But in any event, you would always have something going to the suit heat exchanger. I recognize that we are going to be shutting down the secondary heat exchanger pre-SEP and then turning it back on prior to entry, but the idea was to have both primary and secondary loops on the suit heat exchanger simultaneously.

Yes, my checklist doesn't reflect that. I think that's a good idea because we are a little suspect of our cabin fans and don't plan to use them.

Houston, Apollo 8. Over.

Go ahead, 8.

Apollo 8, Apollo 8. Go ahead.

Apollo 8, Houston. We will be making a handover from, Carnarvon to Honeysuckle at 15.

Houston, Apollo 8. Over.

Apollo 8, go ahead.

I am still a little bit confused on that- on this activating the secondary loop. You indicated inactivating it at 1 hour or 5 minutes after the primary evaporator comes on the line. My checklist shows that the primary evaporator probably won't come on the line until we bypass the radiators. Have you got something else in mind I don't know about?

Okay, Bill. We passed up an update some time back on page E-9 step 38 right at the beginning, and you have got a final GET drift check. And between there and the step 39 where it says terminate CM RCS preheat, that was the place we wanted to activate the primary loop by putting the glycol evaporator water switch to AUTO and the glycol evaporator steam pressure to AUTO.

Roger. I don't expect it to boil, though. Do you?

Okay, Bill. We are hoping that it will there. It looks like we will have had a stable attitude for sometime, and we anticipate that it will be warm enough to make it boil. That is the reason it's suggested if it is boiling, that you wait. If it isn't, go ahead and turn on the secondary loop.

Okay. Well, that's where I was confused. I am waking up. Thank you.

Yes, sir.

That's affirmative; ours has stabilized now. It was reading full just a few minutes ago.

Roger. I don't think—we can't account for any sudden drop in water.

Okay. We looked in the malfunction procedures, and number 28 doesn't reveal anything very startling.

Houston, Apollo 8. Over.

Go ahead, 8.

Okay. I'm looking at malfunction 28, and it takes you to box 6, but I don't really think that's the problem because the waste tank quantity hasn't changed any. Over.

Okay. I concur. We're watching the same thing.

Look, we don't care about the potable tank, but we do about the waste tank, so just in case there is a problem somewhere, I'm going to shut the potable tank off and leave the waste tank inlet valve open. How does that sound to you?

Stand by. Okay, 8. We concur.