[Download MP3 audio file of onboard audio. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.]
For clarity, a version of this audio file is included that has some noise reduction applied.
[Download MP3 audio file of onboard audio. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.]
085:02:19 Borman (onboard): You sick, Jim?
085:07:03 Borman (onboard): Yes. Fine.
085:07:08 Borman (onboard): I'll call you all in about 15 minutes for that TV show.
085:12:32 Borman (onboard): You sick?
085:13:27 Borman (onboard): We might as well go ahead. We might as well go ahead. Yes, we've got about 15 minutes to get set up.
085:13:34 Borman (onboard): Huh? Well, we've got to get the TV out now. I don't think we ought to screw around with this.
085:13:40 Borman (onboard): Huh?
085:14:34 Anders (onboard): [Garble] TV?
085:14:37 Borman (onboard): Well, let's talk about that; that's what I wanted.
085:14:40 Borman (onboard): Why don't we do this? Why don't you hold it out the window, like you did, and each one of us talk...
085:14:47 Anders (onboard): [Garble].
085:14:48 Borman (onboard): Well, they want to hang onto the terminator, but we'll go out, and then you talk about what you saw, and Jim will talk about what he saw, and I'll say a couple of words. And then we'll say something about how this kind of reminds you of how it might have started, and then you read the first four of those (lines of Genesis), and Jim reads the next four, and I'll read the last two, and we'll say good night.
085:15:08 Lovell (onboard): [Garble].
085:15:11 Borman (onboard): No, just this one. I don't want to complicate it any more than that, because we got the High Gain Antenna problem and everything.
085:15:20 Lovell (onboard): Why don't we [garble]?
085:15:22 Borman (onboard): Hey, wait. We've got to do it up right because there will be more people listening to this than ever listened to any other single person in history.
085:15:39 Lovell (onboard): [Garble] first four [garble].
085:15:41 Borman (onboard): Let Bill say the first four, and you say the next four, and I'll say the last two. There's no more.
085:16:03 Borman (onboard): Just put it away; don't you have time to?
085:16:08 Borman (onboard): All right.
085:16:20 Borman (onboard): No, I don't know where the tape is.
085:16:23 Borman (onboard): Huh? What'd you say, Bill?
085:16:38 Borman (onboard): Okay?
085:17:03 Borman (onboard): Then as soon as we go, through this, we go into a GI party. Everything gets put up, and we'll concentrate on TEI. Okay?
085:17:17 Lovell (onboard): [Garble].
085:17:18 Borman (onboard): We've got a lot of time.
085:17:23 Borman (onboard): Store all the cameras, store everything, because this burn will be a bang. How much do you need? What rate?
085:18:28 Lovell (onboard): [Garble].
085:18:29 Borman (onboard): Huh?
085:18:34 Borman (onboard): I can't hear you.
085:18:36 Borman (onboard): No. Yes, I got it completed.
085:18:43 Borman (onboard): That long? Here.
085:19:46 Borman (onboard): Why don't we each talk about one thing that impressed us most out of what we saw and describe it? Okay?
085:19:57 Borman (onboard): How much do you have? The same?
085:20:20 Borman (onboard): How [garble] a change?
085:20:26 Anders (onboard): We ought to make it perfectly.
085:20:28 Borman (onboard): Yes, they wanted it to drag on a little bit longer, but we'll cut it off when we feel like it. Okay?
085:20:43 Borman (onboard): Yes, then we could take all the lunar stuff and put it somewhere; you know, all the maps and things
085:20:48 Lovell (onboard): Yes, I got [garble].
085:20:49 Borman (onboard): ...and we'll put it all in one place and get the whole - Put all the cameras away and get the whole damn thing in shipshape.
085:21:02 Borman (onboard): Because now she's going to take us home!
085:21:13 Borman (onboard): Huh?
085:21:39 Borman (onboard): Let's only have the stuff out we're going to need to operate with for the burn. Here's some stuff stuck up here. There's cameras floating all over the place. Jim, fix me one of those.
[Download MP3 audio file of PAO announcer recording. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.]
This is Apollo Control, Houston; 85 hours, 21 minutes into the flight. A little more than 20 minutes since we've been in touch with Apollo 8. We should reacquire in about 18 minutes. To recap a bit, the crew was given a few hours extra rest, particularly Jim Lovell. On the 7th rev, Bill Anders, presumably, is also getting some nap time prior to the trans-Earth burn a little later tonight. One or two things might be pointed up from today's revolutions around the Earth [means Moon], we've noted the temperature excursions that have occurred. They weren't entirely unpredicted but the variance interested people here on the consoles. Excursions over a 50 degree range. Another point that's proving interesting here, with the passage of each rev, is the fact that our apogee tends to grow ever so slightly and our perigee tends to shrink. This has not been the experience in Earth orbital flight. The apogee tends to shrink ever so slightly and the perigee usually remains stable coming down somewhat but it - the Earth orbital experience is explained by the ever so slight amount of drag exercised on spacecraft at perigee which tends to pull down the apogee to slow the spacecraft somewhat at perigee and the effect of it comes in at the high point of the orbit and tends to drop it down somewhat. Somewhat the opposite effect seems to be taking place in these revolutions around the Moon. We have plots here on the first rev of 60.5 [nautical] miles [112.0 km] for apogee versus 60.9 [112.8 km] perigee. The next rev 60.4 apogee versus 61.7 perigee, then a 62 versus 60.1, a 62.3 [115.4 km] apogee versus a 59.8 [110.7 km] and the curve continues in that way. It's slight but it is interesting and it does not conform to the Earth orbital experience. Again another reason for wanting to fly this navigational-operational Apollo 8 mission. At 85 hours, 24 minutes into the flight; this is Apollo Control, Houston.
085:21:55 Lovell (onboard): [Garble].
085:21:58 Borman (onboard): All right. Here comes a couple of magazines - I don't know what...
085:22:14 Borman (onboard): What are these?
085:22:25 Borman (onboard): That doesn't [garble] - You better put all the camera equipment away in one place.
085:22:29 Lovell (onboard): Here we go.
085:23:34 Borman (onboard): This one? Huh?
085:23:37 Borman (onboard): No, put everything away.
085:23:56 Borman (onboard): Got this big 16-millimeter camera and the camera cord.
085:24:03 Borman (onboard): Huh?
085:24:06 Borman (onboard): It's about 10 minutes.
085:24:11 Borman (onboard): You want to tape that?
085:24:14 Borman (onboard): Huh?
085:24:19 Borman (onboard): Where do these brackets go?
085:24:22 Borman (onboard): All right.
085:24:52 Borman (onboard): Man, I wonder how...
085:24:57 Borman (onboard): Huh? I wonder how in the hell it goes in here. Who took it out?
085:25:39 Borman (onboard): You sure this one came out of here, too, Bill?
085:25:42 Anders (onboard): [Garble].
085:25:46 Borman (onboard): Jim, where did you get this camera bracket out of?
085:25:49 Lovell (onboard): [Garble].
085:25:51 Borman (onboard): They did?
085:25:56 Borman (onboard): Who's cutting - Somebody's closing off one of those inlets somewhere.
085:26:03 Borman (onboard): Is that toothpaste thing of yours going over that one, Bill.?
085:26:09 Borman (onboard): This one - this compressor started lugging down.
085:26:15 Lovell (onboard): What?
085:26:16 Borman (onboard): I said the compressor started lugging down.
085:27:16 Borman (onboard): Get all this junk off here, all the old P30's - There's - that monocular, too. Where did it go?
085:27:53 Borman (onboard): Huh? Where does that go?
085:28:17 Borman (onboard): There's a [garble].
085:28:19 Borman (onboard): No, put them all away.
085:28:51 Borman (onboard): I got that one; do you want to put them on?
085:29:03 Lovell (onboard): [Garble].
085:29:27 Borman (onboard): I don't know - How - how does this store, Bill? Together or separately?
085:29:30 Anders (onboard): Take...
085:29:40 Borman (onboard): I guess that 150 - 250-millimeter comes off, and this one goes on.
085:30:05 Anders (onboard): Now, we'll open the [garble].
085:30:07 Borman (onboard): That goes on that other camera.
085:30:12 Anders (onboard): [Garble].
085:30:14 Lovell (onboard): Okay.
085:30:17 Borman (onboard): Let's take that clip off that wire there, too, shall we? I don't like that.
The onboard audio clip that follows covers the period up to and including the historic TV broadcast that is to come. It therefore gives an interesting "behind the scenes" point of view as to how the telecast played out within the spacecraft. A fuller description of the Apollo 8 Christmas Eve broadcast is provided at 85:44:50
[Download MP3 audio file of onboard audio. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.]
Again, we have included a version of the above audio with noise reduction applied.
[Download MP3 audio file of onboard audio. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.]
085:31:54 Lovell (onboard): [Coughing.]
085:32:10 Lovell (onboard): [Garble].
085:32:13 Anders (onboard): Flight Plan.
085:32:17 Lovell (onboard): That's it.
085:32:19 Borman (onboard): R3 is open. I got the tape right here.
085:32:36 Borman (onboard): Huh?
085:32:43 Borman (onboard): Bill, can we get through this place? Oops.
085:32:55 Borman (onboard): Did you stow the sextant bracket?
085:33:14 Borman (onboard): Bill? Want me to hold it? There it is.
085:34:00 Borman (onboard): After this [garble], I'll store the ORDEAL, too.
085:34:08 Borman (onboard): That should be...
085:34:15 Anders (onboard): [Garble] send down the update [garble].
085:34:20 Borman (onboard): Huh?
085:34:23 Borman (onboard): Yes.
085:34:56 Anders (onboard): May I see that blurb - that [garble] thing?
085:34:59 Borman (onboard): The what, Bill?
085:35:00 Anders (onboard): The thing we're supposed to read?
085:35:02 Borman (onboard): Oh, yes, what time is it? 85 something?
085:35:05 Anders (onboard): 85:35.
085:35:07 Lovell (onboard): And then [garble] complicated.
085:35:17 Anders (onboard): There you go. Why don't you get a map, Jim, so we can tell the folks what you're looking at?
085:35:23 Anders (onboard): Which one do you want - What do you want me to read?
085:35:25 Borman (onboard): The first four.
085:35:37 Anders (onboard): Okay.
085:35:39 Borman (onboard): Okay?
085:35:47 Anders (onboard): What time is AOS?
085:35:50 Borman (onboard): I don't know. It should be any time now.
085:36:39 Anders (onboard): I can't see it. There's so much light on here.
085:37:02 Anders (onboard): I'm not getting anything. What are you going to try to - What window are you going to do it out of?
085:37:06 Borman (onboard): Huh?
085:37:09 Anders (onboard): What are you going to do it out of? This side window here, the terminator, or what?
085:37:10 Borman (onboard): I can't hear you.
085:37:11 Anders (onboard): What window are you going to do it out of?
085:37:13 Borman (onboard): Well, wherever we can get the High Gain on. I'll point...
085:37:18 Anders (onboard): We're pointed straight up in the air, now.
085:37:20 Borman (onboard): No, we're not. We're just about horizontal.
085:37:23 Anders (onboard): Oh. My visual is off.
085:37:27 Lovell (onboard): (Singing.)
085:37:36 Lovell (onboard): (Singing.)
085:37:47 Borman (onboard): Probably be best out that rendezvous window there.
085:37:50 Anders (onboard): Yes. If you'd yaw about 30 degrees this way, you could probably pick the Earth coming up over the hill.
085:37:53 Borman (onboard): To the right?
085:37:55 Anders (onboard): Yes.
085:37:57 Borman (onboard): All right.
085:38:00 Anders (onboard): Where abouts are we?
085:38:02 Borman (onboard): Somewhere over the Moon.
085:38:05 Anders (onboard): Here, we'll take it out that window over there...
085:38:07 Borman (onboard): We'll have to yaw to the left, wouldn't I?
085:38:08 Anders (onboard): No, you'll have to yaw to the right, and - to get the rendezvous; maybe pitch up just a little bit.
085:38:15 Borman (onboard): Okay. It's...
085:38:22 Anders (onboard): It's on.
085:38:24 Borman (onboard): Are we getting them?
085:38:25 Anders (onboard): Well, it's just - The trouble is, I don't think would normally get it out the rendezvous window and have the High Gain, too, Frank.
085:38:42 Lovell (onboard): You tell me...
085:38:44 Anders (onboard): The thing to do would be, - if you want to get the Earth, to get the yaw - to yaw up and pitch up.
085:38:57 Borman (onboard): Try to get comm, will you, Bill?
085:39:03 Anders (onboard): Okay, well, gee - I don't see it out there anywhere. Do you? The Earth? I don't think we've had AOS yet.
085:39:14 Lovell (onboard): You're going down, it says right here.
085:39:16 Anders (onboard): I'll know when to get them as soon as we get on an Omni.
085:39:21 Anders (onboard): You'll have to pitch up, Frank; I can't get them now, on - on the...
085:39:24 Borman (onboard): Huh?
085:39:25 Anders (onboard): You'll have to pitch up; I can't get them on the High Gain there. Pitch or - or yaw - pitch up or yaw and/or yaw right.
085:39:34 Borman (onboard): I'll do both.
085:39:35 Anders (onboard): Okay.
[Download MP3 audio file of PAO announcer recording. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.]
Apollo Control, Houston here; 85 hours, 39 minutes and we're very nearly at the acquisition point. Only 10 seconds away. And we should, if we're on plan, move right into a television transmission. The time of 85 hours, 40 minutes has been passed to the crew. The prime site for this picture will be the Goldstone Station from California.
We're getting telemetry now via Honeysuckle Creek the dish in Australia. And no word yet on Goldstone.
Getting a carrier noise now. It's probably indicative of transmission coming.
085:39:52 Borman (onboard): How's that steam pressure, Bill?
085:39:53 Anders (onboard): Good.
085:39:54 Lovell (onboard): [Garble] Frank.
085:39:55 Anders (onboard): It isn't even boiling yet.
085:40:02 Anders (onboard): Yes, we just started.
085:40:09 Anders (onboard): Where's the PAD book? Doesn't it have the...
085:40:11 Borman (onboard): Here it comes!
085:40:12 Anders (onboard): Okay.
085:40:13 Borman (onboard): Oh boy!
085:40:14 Lovell (onboard): Get a good shot of her?
085:40:17 Borman (onboard): Yes, see it?
085:40:21 Lovell (onboard): Well, keep the camera there. Keep the camera.
085:40:23 Anders (onboard): Here it comes. Here it comes. But you're not on yet.
085:46:31 Anders (onboard): You got it - you got to do something.
085:40:37 Anders (onboard): Pitch up or yaw...
085:40:39 Borman (onboard): Yaw right?
085:40:46 Anders (onboard): Yaw right.
085:40:45 Lovell (onboard): Oh, Jesus.
085:40:46 Borman (onboard): Oh, I get it off this camera - window over here.
085:40:51 Anders (onboard): Okay.
085:40:54 Lovell (onboard): Houston, Apollo 8.
085:40:58 Anders (onboard): Roll her a little bit. Roll her a little bit to the - to the right.
085:41:06 Lovell (onboard): Here, you want me to fly it just to come a...
085:41:07 Anders (onboard): That one's got it, the roll. Yes, yes. It's the roll that's got it. Roll right, if you can.
085:41:12 Lovell (onboard): We're rolling.
085:41:18 Anders (onboard): Come on, gang.
085:41:25 Lovell (onboard): We're going to radial out. Are we - You got her coming up? You see her, Frank?
085:41:33 Borman (onboard): Yes, it's beautiful.
085:41:39 Anders (onboard): You got to roll.
085:41:41 Lovell (onboard): It's rolling.
085:41:43 Borman (onboard): Watch the gimbal lock.
085:41:45 Lovell (onboard): Yes.
085:42:00 Anders (onboard): You got to roll...
085:42:01 Lovell (onboard): Right.
085:42:02 Anders (onboard): ...and yaw.
085:42:05 Lovell (onboard): We're over 45 degrees in yaw right now.
085:42:10 Lovell (onboard): We're still yawing, and we're still rolling.
085:42:12 Anders (onboard): Where is it, Frank? Point to it.
085:42:13 Borman (onboard): I'm pointing right at it with the camera.
085:42:15 Anders (onboard): Then why in the hell we're not getting it? Okay.
085:42:18 Borman (onboard): Should be getting it.
085:42:20 Anders (onboard): Try again here.
085:42:36 Borman (onboard): Got it?
085:42:37 Lovell (onboard): There, you got it; you're on.
085:42:46 Anders (onboard): There you got it. It was in some kind of a gimbal lock up there.
That is, lockup of the High Gain Antenna gimbals, not those on the IMU.
085:42:51 Borman (onboard): Try - try it - call them.
[Download MP3 audio file of PAO announcer recording. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.]
There's still no calls, although we're a minute and a half - we're a minute and a half into acquisition. The capsule communicator has been advised to pass to the crew, when we acquire, that all of the systems look good.
Two minutes now since we did acquire the spacecraft. Rather noisy data. The data on the 9th revolution around the Moon, with an apogee of 63 [nautical] miles [116.7 km] of a perigee of 58.9 [nautical] miles [109.1 km]. Velocity, 5,352 feet per second. We've got a picture here, and we've got a voice to go with it. Bill Anders.
The following audio clip begins as Apollo 8 emerges from behind the Moon to begin its ninth revolution. The historic TV broadcast commences immediately upon Acquisition of Signal from the spacecraft.
085:43:03 Mattingly: We've got a picture, Apollo 8.
085:43:07 Anders: Roger. We've got the T - Roger. We've got the TV [garble]. [Pause.]
085:43:04 Lovell (onboard): Roll - roll left.
085:43:05 Anders (onboard): Huh?
085:43:06 Borman (onboard): Roll left a little, can you?
085:43:07 Lovell (onboard): Yes.
085:43:11 Borman (onboard): Did he say it was a good picture?
085:43:13 Anders: How does the picture look, Houston?
085:43:16 Mattingly: Loud and clear. [Pause.]
085:43:21 Anders: The TV look okay?
085:43:23 Mattingly: That's very good. [Pause.]
085:43:28 Lovell: Welcome from the Moon, Houston.
085:43:28 Borman (onboard): And the world.
085:43:33 Mattingly: Thank you. [Long pause.]
085:43:40 Lovell (onboard): Okay, why don't you describe what - where abouts are we here anyway?
085:43:45 Borman (onboard): Tell them - this camera's just the thing. Tell them what we're going to do.
085:43:54 Lovell (onboard): You got the - got the thingamajig? Want me to roll a little bit?
085:44:00 Anders: Houston, you're seeing a view of the Earth taken below the lunar horizon. We're going to follow the track until the terminator, where we will turn the spacecraft and give you a view of the long shadowed terrain at the terminator, which should come in quite well in the TV.
085:44:26 Mattingly: Roger.
[Download MP3 audio file of PAO announcer recording. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.]
We're theorizing here that that bright spot in the top left center of your picture is the Earth. It's not very clear.
085:44:28 Lovell: We don't know whether you can see it from the TV screen, but the Moon is nothing but a milky white. Completely void.
085:44:35 Borman (onboard): You're going to have to show it out that picture now; I've lost it.
085:44:37 Anders (onboard): Okay.
085:44:41 Lovell: We're changing the cameras to the other window now. [Long pause.]
085:44:41 Anders (onboard): Can you pitch down now and...
085:44:44 Borman (onboard): Pitch down.
085:44:46 Anders (onboard): ...and let me get out the rendezvous window and yaw, maybe?
085:44:50 Lovell (onboard): Which way do you want to yaw?
085:44:50 Anders (onboard): Yaw toward me and away from - away from the Earth.
For the next 23 minutes, Frank Borman directs a TV broadcast from the spacecraft that he has been concocting in his head for a while now. Realising the historic significance of the flight, and given his own faith, he has arranged a TV show that will extend across the lighted part of the Moon's near side. He has worked out that the deep shadows of the terminator at the end of the show will look particularly good on the crude TV system they have. The climax of his orchestration, however, will be to have the crew read passages from the Book of Genesis that relate to the creation of the Universe just as they pass into night, and then to keep quiet; to allow time for the significance of the moment to sink into the audience. In the view of this author, whose professional life is in broadcasting, Borman's vision is masterly in its execution. The power of the broadcast has never been forgotten, even if it has been eclipsed by Neil Armstrong's first step.
The ability of the TV system to reproduce the subtle tones of the lunar landscape lit by a high Sun is limited and until they near the terminator, the definition is poor. Journal contributors, René and Jonathan Cantin, have produced an extraordinary video file, viewable on YouTube that covers the entire transmission and which uses a split-screen to illustrate and annotate the features in the landscape they are flying over.
085:44:58 Borman: This is Apollo 8, coming to you live from the Moon. We've had to switch the TV camera now. We showed you first a view of Earth as we've been watching it for the past 16 hours. Now we're switching so that we can show you the Moon that we've been flying over at 60 miles altitude for the last 16 hours. Bill Anders, Jim Lovell, and myself have spent the - the day before Christmas up here doing experiments, taking pictures, and firing our spacecraft engines to maneuver around. What we'll do now is follow the trail that we've been following all day and take you on through to a lunar sunset. The Moon is a different thing to each one of us. I think that each one of - each one carries his own impression of what he's seen today. I know my own impression is that it's a vast, lonely, forbidding-type existence, or expanse of nothing, that looks rather like clouds and clouds of pumice stone...
085:46:09 Anders (onboard): Can't you get it down? I can't see it, Jim.
085:46:13 Borman (onboard): ...and it certainly would not appear to be a very...
085:46:12 Anders (onboard): [Garble] 30 degrees.
085:46:16 Borman:...inviting place to live or work. Jim, what have you thought most about?
085:46:23 Lovell: Well, Frank, my thoughts are very similar. The vast loneliness up here of the Moon is awe inspiring, and it makes you realize just what you have back there on Earth. The Earth from here is a grand oasis in the big vastness of space.
085:46:41 Borman: Bill, what do you think?
085:46:44 Anders: I think the thing that impressed me the most were the lunar sunrises and sunsets. These in particular bring out the stark nature of the terrain, and the long shadows really bring out the relief that is here and hard to see in this very bright surface that we're going over right now.
085:47:05 Borman: You're describe - that's not color, Bill. Describe some of the physical features of what you're showing the people. [Pause.]
085:47:10 Anders (onboard): I'm changing to the other window now.
085:47:17 Mattingly: Apollo 8, Houston. We're not receiving a picture now. Over. [Pause.]
085:47:20 Anders (onboard): What sea are we coming up to? Smyth's Sea?
085:47:24 Anders: We are now coming on to Smyth's Sea, a small mare region covered with a dark, level material. There is a fresh, bright, impact crater on the edge towards us and a mountain range on the other side.
085:47:43 Lovell (onboard): Pyrenees. Okay, hold it right there. Hold it.
085:47:46 Anders: These mountains are the Pyrenees. [onboard] Is that right?
085:47:47 Lovell (onboard): No, I take that back; it's [garble].
085:47:48 Mattingly: Apollo 8, we are not receiving modulation on the signal; we have - do have sync.
085:47:58 Borman: Are you reading us? Apollo 8, Houston. [onboard] Maybe it's turned off, Bill.
085:48:02 Mattingly: Apollo 8, we're reading you loud and clear, but no picture. We have no modulation.
085:48:03 Borman (onboard): Somehow it got Off again.
085:48:04 Anders (onboard): What?
085:48:07 Lovell: Roger. We understand. Take a look now.
085:48:06 Anders (onboard): It's On now.
085:48:09 Lovell: How about now? Apollo.
085:48:11 Anders (onboard): Yaw it if you can.
085:48:12 Mattingly: Loud and clear. [Pause.]
085:48:13 Borman (onboard): Right or left?
085:48:15 Anders (onboard): Right.
085:48:17 Borman (onboard): Okay.
085:18:18 Anders (onboard): Roll.
085:48:18 Mattingly: Good picture. [Pause.]
085:48:20 Borman (onboard): Right.
085:48:25 Lovell: What you're seeing as we cross Smyth's Sea are the craters Castner and Gilbert...
085:48:30 Borman (onboard): Tell them there's a very bright impact crater now.
085:48:35 Lovell: ...and what we've noticed especially, that you cannot see from the Earth, are these small bright impact craters that dominate the lunar surface. [Long pause.]
085:48:44 Borman (onboard): How's that now, Bill?
085:48:45 Anders (onboard): Yes, the more right roll, the better.
085:48:47 Borman (onboard): All right, more right roll.
085:48:53 Borman (onboard): Can you show the horizon?
085:48:54 Anders (onboard): That's what I'm on.
085:48:57 Borman (onboard): Describe the horizon.
085:49:03 Anders: The horizon here is very, very stark.
085:49:03 Borman (onboard): I can't even see it is the trouble.
085:49:06 Anders: The sky is pitch black, and the Earth - or the Moon, rather, excuse me, is quite light. And the contrast between the sky and the Moon is a vivid dark line. Coming into view of the camera now are some interesting old double ring craters, some interesting features that are quite common in the mare region and have been filled by some material - the same consistency of the maria and the same color. Here are three or four of these interesting features. Further on the horizon you see the Pyr - [Pause]. [onboard] These are the Pyrenees, aren't they?...
085:49:46 Lovell (onboard): After the Sea of Fertility; first, we're going over the Sea of Crises.
085:49:47 Anders (onboard): What are these mountains?
085:49:49 Lovell (onboard): Well, there's the Foaming Sea.
085:49:54 Anders: Okay. The mountains coming up now are heavily impacted with numerous craters whose central peaks you can see in many of the larger ones.
085:50:08 Lovell: Actually, I think the best way to describe this area is a vastness of black and white, absolutely no color. [Pause.]
085:50:22 Anders: The sky up here is also rather forbidding, foreboding expanse of blackness, with no stars visible when we're flying over the Ear - over the Moon in daylight. [Long pause.]
085:50:33 Lovell (onboard): Are we coming up near our - near our target area?
085:50:38 Borman (onboard): No, I don't think - we've got quite a ways to go.
085:50:47 Lovell (onboard): Do you need this anymore? I'll find out where we are here in a hurry.
085:50:52 Anders: You can see by the numerous craters...
085:50:54 Borman (onboard): Yes, you better leave it on there.
085:50:57 Anders: ...that this planet has been bombarded through the eons with numerous small asteroids and meteoroids, pock marking the surface every square inch.
085:51:11 Lovell: And one of the amazing features of the surface is the roundness that most of the craters - seems that most of them have a round mound type of appearance instead of sharp, jagged rocks.
085:51:23 Anders: Only the very newest features have any sharp definition to them, and eventually they get eroded down by the constant bombardment of small meteorites. [Long pause.]
085:51:33 Lovell (onboard): You hope.
085:51:37 Anders (onboard): Okay, there's two big craters coming up on the right. I don't know which ones they are.
085:51:43 Lovell (onboard): Where? What does it look like here?
085:51:45 Anders: How's the picture now, Houston? [Pause.]
085:51:50 Borman (onboard): Don't tell me we've broken lock.
085:51:53 Anders: Houston, are you reading us?
085:51:53 Mattingly: Our picture is - Loud and clear, and the picture looks real fine.
085:51:56 Borman (onboard): Good.
085:52:00 Anders: Thank you.
085:52:04 Anders: Can you see the two large craters to the - just to the right of our track, Houston? [Pause.]
085:52:20 Anders (onboard): That might be Kastner and Gilbert, although I'm no too sure. I can't see out.
085:52:25 Anders (onboard): It's hard to get me and the camera in the window at the same time [laughter].
085:52:28 Lovell (onboard): Could I look out here just a second just to find out where we are? Well, we're still over the - Okay, we're still over the east side. Here comes Smyth's Sea now.
085:52:51 Anders: The very bright features you see are the new impact craters, and the longer a crater has been on the surface of the Moon, why, the more mottled and subdued it becomes. Some of the... [Stops himself. Long pause].
The Flight Director thinks voice contact has been lost and asks Mattingly to check with them. In fact, Bill was cut off by Frank who worries that Bill is getting a bit too esoteric with his terminology.
085:53:06 Borman (onboard): Hey, Bill, you're not talking to geologists.
085:53:07 Anders (onboard): What do you want me to say?
085:53:09 Lovell (onboard): Here's - here's where we are.
085:53:11 Anders (onboard): Okay. Go ahead...
085:53:12 Lovell (onboard): Smyth's Sea...
085:53:13 Anders (onboard): You read it off.
085:53:18 Lovell (onboard): Excuse me a second.
085:53:25 Mattingly: Apollo 8, we've apparently lost your voice; the picture is still good.
085:53:32 Anders: Roger. [Pause.]
085:53:37 Lovell:. Houston, we're passing over an area that's just to the east of Smyth's Sea now, in checking our charts. Smyth's Sea is coming up in a few minutes.
085:53:51 Mattingly: Roger. [Long pause.]
085:53:52 Anders (onboard): [Garble] that gimbal lock back.
085:53:56 Lovell (onboard): Yes, watch out for gimbal lock, please.
085:54:00 Lovell (onboard): How are you doing, Bill? Can you see it?
085:54:02 Anders (onboard): Yes, that's good. I can't see much out here with this camera in the way.
085:54:13 Borman (onboard): Huh? Bill.
085:54:12 Mattingly: Apollo 8, if you go to P00 and Accept, why, we'll uplink some information. [Long pause.]
This is so Mission Control can uplink a revised state vector into the slots in memory normally reserved for the Lunar Module.
085:54:20 Anders (onboard): [Laughter.] We're not over Smyth's Sea.
085:54:35 Borman (onboard): Boy, that baby really took some [garble], didn't it?
085:54:43 Anders: We are now coming up towards the terminator, and I hope that soon we'll be able to show you the varying contrast of white as we go into the darkness. [Pause.]
085:54:51 Borman (onboard): Okay.
085:54:53 Lovell (onboard): Well, the terminator's...
085:54:56 Borman: Houston, we're in P00, and you have the computer.
085:54:58 Mattingly: Thank you. [Long pause.]
085:54:58 Lovell (onboard): ...is where we're ending.
085:55:02 Borman (onboard): Don't stop, Bill, [laughter] I didn't mean to cut you off.
085:55:05 Anders (onboard): We'll have another thought soon - there are a lot of holes down there.
085:55:16 Anders: We're now approaching a series of small impact craters. There is a dark area between us and them which could possibily be an old lava flow. [Long pause.]
085:55:37 Anders (onboard): We going sideways?
085:55:38 Borman (onboard): (or CMP) Yes.
085:55:42 Lovell (onboard): Is that crater on the backside called Tchaikovsky Kil - Kil - Kilkowsky [Tsiolkovsky] or something like that?
085:55:50 Anders (onboard): It's an old Russian name, isn't it? That's the Goddard of...
085:55:54 Lovell (onboard): Yes.
085:55:57 Anders: You can see the large mountains on the horizon now ahead of the spacecraft, to the north of our track. [Long pause.]
085:56:07 Lovell (onboard): Okay. [garble] his camera over there [garble].
085:56:08 Anders (onboard): Are those the Pyrenees?
085:56:14 Lovell (onboard): I'm checking that. No, we - think maybe - No, there's a bright crater right there.
[Download MP3 audio file of PAO announcer recording. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.]
We estimate it's about 325 miles to the horizon just to help your reference.
085:56:25 Anders: The intensity of the Sun's reflection in this area...
085:56:24 Lovell (onboard): Unless we could have rotated off here.
085:56:28 Anders: ...makes it difficult for us to distinguish the features we see on the surface, and I suppose it's even harder on the television, but as we approach the terminator and the shadows become longer, you'll see a marked change. [Long pause.]
085:56:48 Lovell (onboard): I don't know where we are now because we yawed off so much.
085:56:51 Anders (onboard): We're going sideways. Frank's window would be the best one to look - Do you see the terminator coming yet, Frank?
085:56:55 Lovell (onboard): Yes.
085:56:56 Borman (onboard): I don't know which way it is. I - I didn't look to see which way we were going.
085:57:00 Anders: There's a very dark crater in the filling material in this valley in front of us now. It's rather unusual in that it's sharply defined, yet it's dark all over its interior walls, whereas most new-looking craters are very bright interior. [Long pause.]
085:57:38 Anders: Small impact crater in front of us now in the little mare. Well defined, quite new, and another one approaching. The spacecraft is facing north. From our track, we are going sideways to our left. [Long pause.]
085:57:57 Anders (onboard): What is that mare up there now, that big one?
085:58:00 Lovell (onboard): Straight ahead?
085:58:01 Anders (onboard): Yes.
085:58:03 Lovell (onboard): North? Okay, let me check it here. Well, there's the Sea of Crises coming up - Oh, that big one is the Sea of Crises over there.
085:58:11 Anders: You're now seeing the Sea of Crises coming over the horizon.
085:58:11 Lovell (onboard): I made a mistake with the...
085:58:12 Anders (onboard): What's the name of that crater right between us and it?
085:58:16 Lovell (onboard): Okay, I'll get it for you right now. That's - Condorcet Crater.
085:58:28 Anders (onboard): Condorcet?
085:58:30 Lovell (onboard): Let me see just to make sure. Are we under a sea right now, Smyth's Sea? That's the Condorcet Crater. Condorcet.
085:58:37 Anders: We believe the crater, the large dark crater between the spacecraft and the Sea of Crises is Condorcet crater. The Sea of Crises is amazingly smooth as far as the horizon, past this rather rough, mountainous region in front of the spacecraft. [Long pause.]
085:58:54 Lovell (onboard): How are you doing? [garble].
085:58:56 Borman (onboard): [Garble].
085:59:10 Mattingly: Apollo 8, we're through with the computer, if you go back to Block, and it looks like we are getting a lot of reflection off your window now. [Long pause.]
085:59:20 Borman (onboard): You want me to try it out this window?
085:59:21 Anders (onboard): Yes, that'll be better.
085:59:24 Borman (onboard): I'll have to watch out for gimbal lock this way
085:59:29 Borman (onboard): Is it still On, Bill?
085:59:31 Anders (onboard): Yes. Be careful when you grab that handle, because apparently you can turn it Off.
085:59:35 Borman (onboard): Ask him how that is.
085:59:39 Anders: How's that look now, Ken?
085:59:41 Mattingly: That's real fine. [Long pause.]
085:59:45 Anders (onboard): Okay, you'll have to - [garble] I can't see where you are, Frank.
085:59:58 Borman (onboard): I wonder what - Oh, hell.
086:00:02 Anders (onboard): Okay, what is the problem here? Okay.
086:00:11 Borman (onboard): Pitch up.
086:00:12 Lovell (onboard): I can't pitch up too much.
086:00:13 Anders (onboard): Can you roll? Don't pitch up, just roll You can roll...
086:00:18 Lovell (onboard): Right?
086:00:19 Anders (onboard): Roll right, and you can yaw - yaw left, - Get your right gimbal off a little bit. Roll right and yaw left.
086:00:26 Lovell (onboard): Okay, I'm doing it.
086:00:26 Mattingly: Apollo 8, can you tell us which window you're looking out? And there's a large crater, looks like it's sticking up in the upper right hand corner of our picture. Can you identify that one? [Pause.]
086:00:35 Anders (onboard): All right, you better - We're going to lose it if you don't move over.
086:00:43 Borman: Roger. We're just about to lose our lock here. That's why we're slowing up a little bit. [onboard] You're alright.
086:00:50 Anders: We see the Sea of Crises in front of us now. We are looking out the left hand rendezvous window. [Pause.]
086:00:55 Lovell (onboard): That might be - Firmicus.
086:00:59 Borman (onboard): What's the name of the crater out in the Sea of Crises? That's probably the one they're talking about.
086:01:02 Lovell (onboard): Picard is right out there on the right-hand - left-hand side of it.
086:01:06 Anders: We... [Long pause.]
086:01:06 Borman (onboard): How are we going to keep lock now, Bill?
086:01:08 Anders (onboard): Okay, keep - the thing to do is to - is to roll right - is the best thing to do.
086:01:16 Lovell (onboard): Okay, I'm rolling right. I've got - I'm in there right now...
086:01:20 Anders (onboard): Well, we're not able - That's their problem.
086:01:23 Borman (onboard): Their problem?
086:01:24 Lovell (onboard): Tell them that's Picard.
086:01:28 Anders: Houston, how you reading us now?
086:01:30 Mattingly: Loud and clear.
086:01:34 Anders: The crater you see on the horizon is the Sea of Crises. [Pause through static.] How are you reading us, Houston?
086:01:47 Mattingly: Loud and clear, Apollo 8, and we have a picture that's good.
086:01:53 Anders: Roger. We're getting a lot of static. The Sea of Crises is in front of us on the horizon, and the dark crater Picard can be seen in the middle. We're now breaking the Moon's sunrise or the spacecraft's sunset. This is an area that the Sun has just recently come up on the Moon. [Long pause.]
086:02:23 Anders (onboard): What's this - what sea are we over now, Jim?
086:02:28 Lovell (onboard): This is part of the Sea of...
086:02:29 Anders (onboard): Don't - don't - You better - you better yaw a little bit to the left. You're going to get the Sun on Frank's window now.
086:02:36 Borman (onboard): Yes, yaw left.
086:02:39 Lovell (onboard): Do you want me to still roll?
086:02:42 Anders: See the mare we're over now has a mottled look about it,...
086:02:45 Lovell (onboard): The Sea of Fertility we're on.
086:02:48 Anders: ...but not very heavily cratered, so it must be relatively new.
086:02:50 Lovell (onboard): We're over the Sea of Fertility.
086:02:53 Anders: This is the Sea of Fertility, and we're coming up on a large crater, the delta rim variety. [Pause.] Has a strange circular cracks pattern around the middle of it. [Long pause.]
086:03:14 Anders (onboard): How many miles across is that crater?
086:03:17 Lovell (onboard): Is that - You're looking at Taruntius?
086:03:20 Anders (onboard): Yes.
086:03:21 Lovell (onboard): Taruntius, probably.
086:03:24 Anders (onboard): Yes, how many - Just give me a guess. 20 miles? 30miles?
086:03:29 Lovell (onboard): Must be 30 or 40 miles.
086:03:31 Anders: The crater that you're seeing now is about 30 or 40 miles across. [Long pause.]
086:03:37 Anders (onboard): Ro - You better - You better roll left.
086:03:40 Lovell (onboard): Roll left?
086:03:41 Anders (onboard): Yes.
086:03:44 Borman (onboard): Yaw left, too. I see the - Here's Earth in our background.
086:03:49 Lovell (onboard): Okay, I'm rolling left.
086:03:51 Anders: How's your picture quality, Houston?
086:03:55 Mattingly: This is phenomenal!
086:04:00 Anders: There's an interesting rille directly in front of the spacecraft now, running along the edge of a small mountain. Rather sinuous shape with right angle turns. [Long pause.]
Anders (continued, onboard): What - what - Keep rolling - keep rolling - You're - Roll it left, Jim.
086:04:22 Lovell (onboard): Roll left, okay.
086:04:30 Lovell: This area just to the west of the Sea of Crises is called the Marsh of Sleep, and to the west of that is the Sea of Tranquillity.
086:04:40 Anders: Can you see the fracture patterns going across the mare in front of us now, Houston?
086:04:46 Borman (onboard): Now, you better stop the roll.
086:04:47 Mattingly: That doesn't quite stand out.
086:04:48 Anders (onboard): Yes.
086:04:49 Lovell (onboard): Cut the roll.
086:04:53 Anders: Roger. The series of cracks or faults across the middle of the mare; they drop down in about three steps to the south. The parallel fault pattern to the north has a drop-down in the center. [Long pause.] [onboard] I think you may be going too far now, Jim.
086:05:16 Lovell (onboard): Too far which way?
086:05:17 Anders (onboard): Yawing a little bit too far left.
086:05:19 Lovell (onboard): Yawing too far left?
086:05:20 Anders (onboard): Yes, why don't you yaw right a little bit?
086:05:22 Borman (onboard): Yaw right a little bit.
086:05:23 Anders (onboard): Yes, we want to...
086:05:24 Borman (onboard): Yaw right.
086:05:25 Anders (onboard): Or else, you may just - If you went to keep going, I'll put it out this window now.
086:05:28 Borman (onboard): That's fine on there - that's fine. Who do you want to give it to?
086:05:32 Lovell (onboard): Now, that crater right out there is - that nice round one is...
086:05:39 Anders (onboard): Well, they can - Frank is at the other one.
086:05:42 Anders: I hope that all of you back on Earth can see what we mean when we say that it's a rather foreboding horizon, a very - rather...
086:05:49 Borman (onboard): Stark, maybe.
086:05:50 Anders: ...stark and unappetizing looking place.
086:05:53 Anders (onboard): Is this our landing site we're going over now?
086:05:55 Lovell (onboard): Yes, this is our landing site right down here.
086:06:00 Anders: ...approaching one of our future landing sites...
086:06:00 Lovell (onboard): Right now.
086:06:02 Anders: ...selected in this smooth region to...
086:06:05 Lovell (onboard): Called the Sea of Tranquility.
086:06:67 Anders: ...called the Sea of Tranquility - smooth in order to make it easy for the initial landing attempts in order to preclude having to dodge mountains. Now you can see the long shadows of the lunar sunrise. [Long pause.]
086:06:26 Borman (onboard): Hey, why don't we start reading that thing, and that would be a good place to end it.
086:06:34 Lovell (onboard): No, we've got to go into it very nicely. Why don't we - as we go into sunset...
086:06:36 Anders (onboard): Right.
086:06:37 Lovell (onboard): ...or is it sunrise? This is sunrise, yes. We're approaching lunar sunrise.
In this instance, the terms 'sunset' and 'sunrise' are both applicable. In the case of the spacecraft and its path around the Moon, it is about to go into the Moon's shadow, so for Apollo 8 and its crew, the Sun is about to set. At the same time, the landscape they are passing over is experiencing a lunar morning and they will soon cross the Moon's sunrise terminator.
086:06:40 Anders: We are now approaching lunar sunrise, and for all the people back on Earth, the crew of Apollo 8 has a message that we would like to send to you.
086:06:56 Anders: In the beginning, God created the Heaven and the Earth. And the Earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters, and God said, "Let there be light." And there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good, and God divided the light from the darkness. [Pause.]
086:07:24 Lovell (onboard): You got it, Frank.
086:07:25 Borman (onboard): No, it's your...
086:07:29 Lovell: And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. And God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters. And let it divide the waters from the waters." And God made the firmament and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament. And it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. [Pause.]
086:07:59 Borman (onboard): Can you hold this camera?
086:08:00 Anders (onboard): You want to pass it over here, Jim?
086:08:02 Borman (onboard): No, it's perfect right where it is.
086:08:03 Anders (onboard): Okay.
086:08:07 Borman: And God said, "Let the waters under the Heavens be gathered together into one place. And let the dry land appear." And it was so. And God called the dry land Earth. And the gathering together of the waters called he seas. And God saw that it was good. And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas and God bless all of you - all of you on the good Earth.
Comm break.
086:08:39 Lovell (onboard): That's it.
086:08:40 Borman (onboard): Don't say anymore now.
086:08:41 Anders (onboard): I just turned it Off. You want it On again?
086:08:42 Borman (onboard): No. leave it Off. Great! Great!
086:08:43 Anders (onboard): Off?
086:08:44 Borman (onboard): Yes.
086:08:45 Anders (onboard): Okay.
086:08:46 Lovell (onboard): Camera's Off?
086:08:47 Anders (onboard): Yes.
086:08:49 Borman (onboard): Hey, how can you beat that? Geeze, we just went into the terminator right in time.
086:08:54 Lovell (onboard): Okay, let's get the spacecraft back in even keel again. Here, here's this, Frank.
086:09:06 Borman (onboard): All right, let's get the Flight Plan out here.
086:09:09 Borman (onboard): We've got to get it.
086:09:11 Lovell (onboard): Okay.
086:09:21 Anders (onboard): Whew! Pretty impressive out there.
086:09:22 Borman (onboard): Boy, it sure is.
086:09:37 Borman (onboard): Okay, men.
086:09:39 Lovell (onboard): It's 86 hours.
[Download MP3 audio file of PAO announcer recording. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.]
This is Apollo Control, Houston. The speakers in the order that they read from what we believe to be chapters from Genesis were Bill Anders and Jim Lovell, and close out with Frank Borman. That's both a biblical and a geological lesson that none of us will forget. At 86 hours, 9 minutes into the flight; this is Apollo Control, Houston.
086:09:46 Borman: Houston, how do you read? Apollo 8.
086:09:48 Mattingly: Loud and clear, Apollo 8. And thank you for a very good show. We have a maneuver PAD for you when you're ready to copy.
086:09:53 Borman (onboard): Don't tell me they didn't hear us.
Good comm was never a given on these missions and Frank may be a little non-plussed that Houston is right back to business without any further words of appreciation. Fortunately, this is clarified in the exchange that follows.
086:10:00 Borman: Houston, Apollo 8.
086:10:02 Mattingly: Apollo 8, read you loud and clear.
086:10:07 Borman: Roger. Are we off the air now? [Long pause.]
086:10:18 Anders (onboard): Why don't you just roll-over to the right, Frank, and then you can ...
086:10:21 Mattingly: That's affirmative, Apollo 8. You are.
086:10:26 Borman: Did you read everything that we had to say there?
086:10:29 Mattingly: Loud and clear. Thank you for a real good show.
086:10:34 Borman: Okay. Now, Ken, we'd like to get all squared away for TEI here. Can you give us some good words like you promised?
086:10:41 Mattingly: Yes, sir. I have a maneuver PAD. I think we'd like to start by dumping the tape. If we can have that, I have your...
086:10:50 Lovell (onboard): You want me to get that, or...
086:10:49 Mattingly: ...TEI-10 maneuver PAD, and then we will run through a systems brief. [Pause.]
086:10:59 Borman: I understand this is the maneuver PAD that we will use for TEI. Is that correct? [Pause.]
086:11:11 Anders: And you got the tape, Houston.
086:11:13 Mattingly: Thank you. [Pause.]
086:11:18 Lovell: Ready to copy, Ken.
086:11:20 Mattingly: Roger. TEI-10; SPS/G&N; 45597; minus 0.40, plus 1.57; 089:19:15.64; plus 3518.9, minus 0151.3, minus 0034.6; 180, 007, 000; November Alpha, plus 0018.6; 3522.3, 3:18, 3501.9; 42, 092.8, 25.3; boresight star, Scorpi Delta - another name for it is Dschubba - down 07.1, left 4.5; plus 07.48, minus 165.00; 1299.5, 36300, 146:50:05; primary star, Sirius; secondary, Rigel; 129, 155, 010; four quads, 15 second ullage; horizon on the 2.9 window line at T minus 3; use high-speed procedure with minus Mike Alpha. Over. [Pause.]
The PAD is interpreted as follows:
Purpose: The PAD is a preliminary version for the burn that will return the Apollo 8 crew to Earth at the end of Rev 10.
Systems: The burn will be made using the SPS engine, under the control of the Guidance and Navigation system.
CSM Weight (Noun 47): 45,597 pounds (20,682 kg).
Pitch and yaw trim (Noun 48): -0.40° and +1.57°.
Time of ignition (Noun 33): 89 hours, 19 minutes, 15.64 seconds.
Change in velocity (Noun 81), fps (m/s): X, +3,518.9 (+1,072.6); Y, -151.3 (-46.1); Z, -34.6 (-10.5). The large positive number in the X direction implies a large prograde component, essentially adding to their orbital velocity, exactly what would be expected from an escape manoeuvre.
Spacecraft attitude: Roll, 180°; Pitch, 7°; Yaw, 0°. The desired spacecraft attitude is measured relative to the alignment of the guidance platform which itself has been aligned per the LOI-2 REFSMMAT.
Expected apogee of resulting orbit (Noun 44): Not applicable. Being initiated around the Moon, the apogee of the resulting orbit around Earth is too large to register on the computer.
Expected perigee of resulting orbit (Noun 44): 18.6 nautical miles (34.4 km).
Delta-VT: 3,522.3 fps (1,073.6 m/s). The total sum of the three velocity components.
Burn duration or burn time: 3 minutes, 18 seconds.
Delta-VC: 3,501.9 fps. This figure will be entered into the EMS to allow it to shut down the engine as a backup in case the G&N system fails to do so.
Sextant star: Star 42 (Peacock, or Alpha Pavonis) visible in sextant when shaft and trunnion angles are 92.8° and 25.3° respectively.
Boresight star: Dschubba, or Delta Scorpii.
COAS Pitch Angle: Down 7.1°.
COAS X Position Angle: Left 4.5°.
The next five parameters all relate to re-entry, during which an important milestone is "Entry Interface," defined as being 400,000 feet (121.92 km) altitude. In this context, a more important milestone is when atmospheric drag on the spacecraft imparts a deceleration of 0.05 g.
Expected splashdown point (Noun 61): 7.48° north, 165° west; which is in the mid-Pacific.
Range to go at the 0.05 g event: 1,299.5 nautical miles. To set up their EMS (Entry Monitor System) before re-entry, the crew need to know the expected distance the CM would travel from the 0.05 g event to landing. This figure will be decremented by the EMS based on signals from its own accelerometer.
Expected velocity at the 0.05 g event: 36,300 fps. This is another entry for the EMS. It is entered into the unit's Delta-V counter and will be decremented based on signals from its own accelerometer.
Predicted GET of 0.05 g event: 146 hours, 50 minutes and 5 seconds GET.
GDC Align stars: Stars to be used for GDC Align purposes are Sirius and Rigel.
There are four additional notes given in the PAD. An ullage burn of 15 seconds should be made by all four RCS quads to settle the contents of the half-empty SPS tanks prior to the burn. This is to minimise the chance of helium gas being ingested when the engine ignites. The Moon's horizon should be lined up on the rendezvous window's 2.9° line at three minutes prior to ignition. They would use a high-speed procedure with -MA (major axis) in the sums.
086:14:40 Lovell: Okay. TEI PAD as follows: SPS/G&N; 45597; minus 0.40, plus 1.57; 089:19:15.64; plus 3518.9, minus 0151.3, minus 0034.6; 180, 007, 000; not applicable, plus 0018.6; 3522.3, 3:18, 3501.9; 42, 092.8, 25.3; Scorpi Delta, Dschubba, down 07.1, left 4.5; plus 07.48, minus 165.00; 1299.5, 36300, 146:50:05; Sirius, Rigel, 129, 155, 010; four quads, 15 seconds; 2.9-degree window line at TIG minus 3; high-speed procedure, minus MA.
086:16:09 Mattingly: That's correct, Apollo 8. [Pause.]
086:16:17 Borman: Ken, this is Frank. I want to - I want to make one thing certain. This the load that we're to use to burn with, right? This is not just a PAD data for a [TEI-]10 abort? [Pause.]
086:16:32 Mattingly: Okay, Apollo 8. We will update this PAD prior to the burn.
086:16:40 Borman: Oh, you will? Okay.
086:16:42 Mattingly: Yes, sir.
086:16:46 Borman: Say again.
Comm break.
[Download MP3 audio file of PAO announcer recording. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.]
This is Apollo Control, Houston at 86 hours, 18 minutes into the flight. Just a word or two on where the crew is looking. They're particularly - they identified the track extremely well as they moved along. But some of the areas were not so well identified because of the reading which concluded their pass. The reading came while they were moving across [the Sea of] Tranquility in a generally westerly direction. The look angle is to the northwest and to a series of mountains, rimming the northwest edge of the Sea of Tranquility. Earlier we, you recall, they pointed out the Sea of Crises, concluding that the Picard Craters. And immediately after we lost the picture lock, we went back to work with this update on - with this tape.
086:19:46 Mattingly: Roger. I'm reading you with a lot of background noise. Can you read me clearly?
086:19:54 Borman: Roger.
086:19:56 Mattingly: Okay. I'm going to give you a quick summary of the systems. Basically, all systems are good. In respect to your return trajectory, we can still get to the mid-Pacific line at 146 hours by waiting as late as the 13th rev. After 138 seconds of the burn, you're on your way home. The weather in the recovery area looks good. Apollo 8, did you call?
086:22:47 Mattingly: Okay, Apollo 8. While we're... [Pause.]
086:22:57 Mattingly: Apollo 8 - while we are waiting for the High Gain, I will continue the trajectory summary. We can still get back to the mid-Pacific line in 146 hours from the thirteenth rev, and you're on your way after 138 seconds of the burn. That's 138 seconds, gets you clear of the butterfly region. We recommend not trying reignitions or restart after 20 seconds. If you go beyond 20 seconds, this may get the trajectory beyond the correction - RCS correction capability to a free return. The weather in recovery area is good. We have an AOS following TEI of 89 plus 28 plus 39, and an AOS without TEI of 89 plus 37 plus 24. During the burn, you may notice a slight change in chamber pressure and tank pressures due to the fuel exhaustion in the storage tank and going to the sump tank. This may occur somewhere around 2 to 5 seconds into the burn. It'll be a small change in pressures in both systems. Going down the systems, all systems are Go. In ECS, we want to stop water boiling after TEI for trajectory purposes. Your water dump situation looks good; you should be good to greater than 105 hours. We'll try to hold off the water dump until after MCC-5. In the EPS, we'd like to stir the cryos prior to TLI - correction TEI. The next purge on the fuel cells will occur at approximately 92 hours and that will be both hydrogen and oxygen. Your battery status: battery A, 34.9; battery B, 39.1; and Charlie, 38.5. We have single tank cryo capability. SPS: looking at the performance on the previous burns, you can anticipate a normal burn taking approximately 3.7 seconds in excess of the computed values. Engine performance looks nominal, and all parameters have been steady. RCS looks good; all four quads according to the computer programs have approximately the same capacity. You have a good REFSMMAT to take you through TEI. We'll have a post-TEI PTC attitude for you in a few minutes, and that just about wraps up what we have on the systems. Over.
086:26:43 Lovell: Roger. Thank you, Houston. We appreciate the summary. We're trying to get High Gain.
086:26:49 Mattingly: Rog.
086:26:53 Lovell: I think we have it.
086:26:54 Borman: You do have the High Gain (antenna). Now, Ken, as I understand it, if it shuts down after 20 seconds of burn, you don't want us to try to relight it. Is that what you said?
086:27:04 Mattingly: Stand by. [Pause.]
086:27:12 Mattingly: Apollo 8, the intent was; do not delay ignitions beyond 20 seconds. Over.
086:27:21 Borman: Oh, do not delay ignition beyond 20 seconds. Roger.
086:27:24 Mattingly: That's affirm.
086:27:27 Borman: Okay. You want me to start it on bank A and then switch to B again, like we did on LOI, right? [Pause.]
086:27:39 Mattingly: That's affirmative.
086:27:43 Borman: Okay.
086:27:47 Borman: Did you put in this PAD for us? Should P30 and 40 be in our computer now? [Long pause.]
086:28:19 Mattingly: Apollo 8, that's negative. We had not uplinked this PAD. We'll put this one in on the next pass.
086:28:26 Borman: Okay. Roger.
Long comm break.
[Download MP3 audio file of PAO announcer recording. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.]
This is Apollo Control at 86 hours, 33 minutes. A part of the information passed up to the crew during that last series of conversations was the information they will use for their Trans-Earth Injection maneuver. This is preliminary information. We do anticipate that it will be updated, probably on the next revolution. These figures, as they were read up to the crew, are as follows: the time of ignition is 89 hours, 19 minutes and 16 seconds; the burn duration will be 3 minutes, 17.8 seconds; and that will give us a nominal change in velocity of 3,522.3 feet per second, and the maneuver will occur at 174 degrees east longitude and 9 degrees, 17 minutes south latitude over the Moon. This would give us a nominal return time to Earth of 146 hours, 49 seconds. And we do anticipate to update the burn information prior to the maneuver. At 86 hours, 34 minutes into the flight; this is Apollo Control.
086:38:29 Mattingly: Apollo 8, Houston. We've completed the tape dump, and the recorder is yours.
086:38:35 Borman: Thank you.
Long comm break.
[Download MP3 audio file of onboard audio. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.]
A version of this file with noise reduction applied is included.
[Download MP3 audio file of onboard audio. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.]
086:38:45 Lovell (onboard): [Singing.]
086:39:14 Anders (onboard): Do you still have the [garble]?
086:39:17 Borman (onboard): I'll get it afterwards, Bill.
086:39:21 Lovell (onboard): That temporary storage bag, Bill, is located - Yeah, it's up here.
086:39:28 Lovell (onboard): I got trash in that temporary storage bag I'm leaving there.
086:39:34 Anders (onboard): Okay.
086:39:38 Lovell (onboard): It stinks to high heaven.
086:39:40 Borman (onboard): All that urine always stinks real bad, too.
086:39:52 Borman (onboard): What was the time for the rev before?
086:39:55 Anders (onboard): 85:17.
086:39:59 Borman (onboard): No, I don't know what day it is. This is day 4. No, hell; eat it - it doesn't matter. Eat any one you want.
086:40:11 Lovell (onboard): 87:19.
086:40:12 Borman (onboard): What?
086:40:13 Lovell (onboard): 87:19.
086:40:16 Borman (onboard): Yeah. What were the gimbal angles there? 180, 8 - See, it's about the same. And the horizon was what? 1.2?
086:40:22 Lovell (onboard): Degrees.
086:40:23 Borman (onboard): Okay. minus 3, right? So, we'll get the...
086:40:24 Lovell (onboard): [Garble].
086:40:25 Borman (onboard): This is the picture it's going to be right now.
086:40:26 Lovell (onboard): 52.9.
086:40:27 Borman (onboard): Huh?
086:40:29 Lovell (onboard): 52.9.
086:40:31 Borman (onboard): Yeah. That's ours - The other one was 1.8.
086:40:34 Lovell (onboard): I've got to update this one.
086:40:35 Borman (onboard): Yeah, but we'll see - see, what I'm saying is we'll see just as we come around into the - into the Sun now, we should see just the way it's going to be. See what I mean?
086:41:06 Lovell (onboard): Checking that boresight star is going to be kind of difficult.
086:41:08 Borman (onboard): Yes, you're looking right into the Earth's - the Earth. And it looks like the Sun's going to be right in our face, too.
086:41:27 Borman (onboard): You can probably check your star through the sextant while we're on the other side. Maybe.
086:41:35 Lovell (onboard): Well, if you maintain the same position we're burning as we go around...
086:41:38 Borman (onboard): Unless the platform drifts.
086:41:40 Lovell (onboard): ...I'll check it - It was like this. If we get a good enough - well, we won't though, see? We go around like this. I could check it when you're over here. Maybe I can.
086:42:05 Borman (onboard): We want to make sure that we're burning the way we're going, too. You know?
086:42:09 Lovell (onboard): Yes.
086:42:35 Borman (onboard): Okay, now we're on - I think you're supposed to go Manual on the other one, first. Yes.
086:42:51 Lovell (onboard): That's D.
086:42:53 Borman (onboard): I don't think that's any good. That's a good one.
086:43:53 Borman (onboard): Okay, you're not - Are you under me?
086:43:54 Anders (onboard): Yes.
086:43:55 Borman (onboard): Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't want to hurt you. I didn't? Huh? Good.
086:44:11 Lovell (onboard): Look for hardware junk that's floating around.
086:44:42 Lovell (onboard): (Singing.)
086:45:08 Lovell (onboard): Yeah. Need some help down there?
086:45:47 Borman (onboard): See, here we are right now, right where it [garble].
086:45:59 Lovell (onboard): I'll be able to check it back here.
086:46:02 Borman (onboard): Think so?
086:46:03 Lovell (onboard): Well, if we come up like this.
086:46:05 Borman (onboard): Yeah. Hey, look at that - Earthshine from somewhere, Oh, my gosh, look you can see the - Hey, look right ahead there. There's a star.
086:46:18 Lovell (onboard): I can't tell.
086:46:20 Borman (onboard): Son of a bitch, we're going backwards.
086:46:25 Lovell (onboard): Yes.
086:46:27 Borman (onboard): What time is this post burn supposed to be?
086:46:37 Lovell (onboard): You're right. They're coming up this way.
086:46:33 Borman (onboard): Huh?
086:46:39 Lovell (onboard): If you're looking like that, they're coming this way
086:46:42 Borman (onboard): From underneath.
086:46:49 Borman (onboard): What? I don't see that.
086:46:59 Borman (onboard): We're going to burn out this way, I guess, huh?
086:47:02 Lovell (onboard): But on the other side, right?
086:47:01 Borman (onboard): Yeah.
086:47:05 Lovell (onboard): So it'll be upside down - We'll be upside down, forward. Okay.
086:47:09 Borman (onboard): What time is that supposed to be? 27 - 87 what? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we're alright.
086:47:21 Lovell (onboard): Well, it ought to be 87:19.
086:47:22 Mattingly: Apollo 8, Houston. We're 5 minutes to LOS; We'll have AOS Honeysuckle at 87:38:42.
086:47:27 Borman (onboard): 87:19, huh?
086:47:36 Lovell: Roger.
Long comm break.
086:47:57 Borman (onboard): I'm going to take a leak, a little leak would feel good.
[Download MP3 audio file of PAO announcer recording. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.]
This is Apollo Control at 86 hours, 48 minutes into the flight. At the present time, we have just about 5 minutes before Loss of Signal, and we've had about a minute and a half of conversation with the crew since our last report. We'll play that back for you and then stand by for any parting conversations from the crew before they go over the lunar horizon on this revolution.
086:48:05 Lovell (onboard): ... went floating by here.
086:48:07 Borman (onboard): Huh?
086:48:09 Lovell (onboard): A bunch of crap just went floating by.
086:48:17 Borman (onboard): Where are you, Bill?
086:48:35 Lovell (onboard): Here's another piece that got away from somebody.
086:49:29 Lovell (onboard): Okay, we're maneuvering up, Bill - or Frank. You see?
086:49:51 Lovell (onboard): You want to leave these suits in the L-shaped bag?
086:50:36 Lovell (onboard): What say? Where? The tape? With the helmet? The helmet?
[Download MP3 audio file of PAO announcer recording. Clip courtesy John Stoll, ACR Senior Technician at NASA Johnson.]
This is Apollo Control. I'd like to clarify one aspect of the figures we gave you concerning that Trans-Earth Injection maneuver. The return time that was listed; Ground Elapsed Time of 146 hours, 49 minutes, 37 seconds; was the time at which the spacecraft could nominally reach 400,000 feet altitude. The splash time would be about 14 minutes, 10 seconds beyond that, and these numbers of course will be updated both prior to the Trans-Earth Injection maneuver, and also en route back to Earth, so we would expect some change in those, some update. We're now less than 2 minutes from Loss of Signal. We'll pick up the spacecraft again at a Ground Elapsed Time of 87 hours, 38 minutes, 42 seconds. At 86 hours, 50 minutes; this is Apollo Control.