Apollo 12
Day 4, part 1: Approaching the Moon
Corrected Transcript and Commentary Copyright © 2004 - 2022 by W. David Woods, Johannes Kemppanen and Lennox J. Waugh. All rights reserved.
Last updated 2022-11-10
This is Apollo Control 70 hours, 08 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. Distance now of Apollo 12 from the Moon 30,385 nautical miles, velocity toward the moon 3,558 feet per second. To summarize the last 8 hours of the Apollo 12 mission, which the Green Team of Flight Controllers under Flight Director Cliff Charlesworth are here in the Control Center, the crew of Apollo 12 went into the LM for the LM familiarization and housekeeping chores somewhat early. Also, the television pass, which had been scheduled to start at 63 hours, 30 minutes actually began at 62 hours, 52 minutes, about 38 minutes early. TV ran 56 minutes total time. During the TV pass the crew of Apollo 12 took the viewers on a tour of the lunar module and how they stowed the equipment in various stowage areas, a description of some of the pilot devices such as the Landing Point Designator, and they closed out with a view of the Earth and the Moon out the Command Module windows after the hatch's probe and drogue had been restowed in the tunnel. They continued on with their eat period and the presleep checklist had a negative crew status report. They have taken no medications. They are back on the timeline for the beginning of the rest period at 68 hours and since Midcourse Correction number 4 likely will not be made, the sleep period will be extended for a total of 10 hours to end some 7 hours, 48 minutes from now. Apollo 12 entered the Moon's sphere of influence or equigravisphere at 68 hours, 30 minutes 22 seconds. Handover is taking place now. The day shift, headed up by Flight Director Gerry Griffin, and here in Mission Control the new team of Flight Controllers, who likely were asleep at the time of the TV pass, are watching a replay on the large television projection screen and on individual monitors. At 70 hours, 11 minutes Ground Elapsed Time, this is Apollo Control.
This is Apollo Control at 71 hours, 18 minutes. Apollo 12 is 27,953 nautical miles from the Moon traveling at a velocity of 3,582 feet per second, that is Lunar referenced. Total weight of the vehicle, 96,117 pounds. Six hours, 41 minutes remaining in this sleep period. Systems performance on Apollo 12 continues normal. This is Mission Control, Houston at 71 hours, 18 minutes.
This is Apollo Control. It's 71 hours, 48 minutes. At this time we will replay the tape of the television transmission of early this morning. We'll play the video and audio back to the news center in building 1 at the Manned Spacecraft Center. Go to utilize the release line for the audio portion of this tape We'll play the tape now. Roll the tape.
This is Apollo Control at 72 hours, 44 minutes. All still going well with Apollo 12. 5 hours, 15 minutes remaining in the sleep period. Apollo 12 is 24,880 nautical miles from the Moon, approaching it at a velocity of 3,618 feet per second. This is Mission Control Houston at 72 hours, 45 minutes.
This is Apollo Control. It's 73 hours, 18 minutes. All still going well with Apollo 12. 4 hours and 41 minutes remaining in the sleep period. The only crewmen being monitored at the present time is the Command Module Pilot Dick Gordon. His heart rate is running around 65 which is his normal sleep heart rate, the flight surgeon reports. Apollo 12 is 23,681 nautical miles from the Moon, approaching at a velocity of 3,634 feet per second. This is Mission Control, Houston at 73 hours, 18 minutes.
This is Apollo Control at 74 hours, 18 minutes. Apollo 12 is 21,544 nautical miles away from the Moon. Velocity has increased to 3,666 feet per second. Systems performance still normal. We have 3 hours, 41 minutes remaining before we put in a call to awaken the crew. If they awake on their own before that time, we may expect to hear from them. At 74 hours, 18 minutes, this is Mission Control Houston.
This is Apollo Control at 75 hours, 18 minutes. Apollo 12 is 19,371 nautical miles from the Moon, velocity 3,705 feet per second. All continuing to go well, and we are 2 hours, 41 minutes away from crew wakeup time. This is Mission Control Houston at 75 hours, 18 minutes.
This is Apollo Control at 76 hours, 18 minutes. Apollo 12 is approaching the Moon at a velocity of 3,751 feet per second, distance from the Moon now, 17,180 nautical miles. We plan to put in a wake up call to the crew 1 hour, 41 minutes from this time. This is Mission Control Houston at 76 hours, 18 minutes.
This is Apollo Control at 76 hours, 46 minutes. The Flight Dynamics officer has just informed Flight Director Jerry Griffin that based on his latest update, he confirms positively now that no Midcourse Correction number 4 will be required. The magnitude of that maneuver is only 2 feet per second. We have been operating for the past number of hours on the assumption that it would not be performed and on that basis, had extended the sleep period 2 hours, shortly after it began. We are now 1 hour, 13 minutes from the wake up period of the extended sleep period; 10 hours instead of 8 hours. The Midcourse Correction number 4 will be incorporated into the Lunar Orbit Insertion maneuver number 1, and flight dynamics reports that burn will be targeted to produce a Lunar Orbit, of 62 by 169.3 nautical miles. His latest update shows that the closest approach to the Moon without the Lunar Orbit Insertion burn will be 64.73 nautical miles. That would occur at an elapsed time of 83 hours, 28 minutes, 32 seconds, and the velocity at closest approach would be 8,239 feet per second. At 76 hours, 48 minutes this is Mission Control Houston.
This is Apollo Control at 77 hours, 18 minutes. Apollo 12 is 14,967 nautical miles from the Moon. Its velocity, 3,811 feet per second. We're 41 minutes away from wake-up time. This is Mission Control, Houston.
This is Apollo Control at 77 hours, 45 minutes. Fourteen minutes remains in this sleep period but we have indications that the crew is awake. Communications officer reports that he can see through telemetry that they have configured their communications equipment for voice transmission, so we may be hearing from the crew prior to the official wake up time. We'll keep this circuit up live for any communication we may get from the crew.
Still no word from the crew and we're 5 minutes away from the time that we'll initiate a call to them. Apollo 12 is 13,615 nautical miles from the Moon, their velocity 3,856 feet per second. Reveille being played.
077:57:58 Gibson: ["Reveille" played on bugle].
We don't think the crew heard that because there was an antenna switch right at the start of that bugle call. If we don't hear from them shortly, we're liable to play it again.
078:00:51 Gibson: One more time. ["Reveille" played on bugle].
078:01:17 Gordon: Apollo 12, all present and accounted for, sir.
078:01:21 Gibson: Roger, 12. [Long pause.]
That was Dick Gordon responding.
078:01:59 Gordon: Houston, 12. Can you give me a roll angle to stop PTC to do the rest of that alignment?
078:02:09 Gibson: Sure will, 12. Stand by. [Long pause.]
078:02:26 Gibson: 12, Houston. You can continue to do PTC during the alignment as you have before. If you want stop, go to 270.
078:02:42 Gordon: We'll keep doing PTC to save some gas.
078:02:46 Gibson: Roger. [Long pause.]
078:03:05 Gibson: ["Sweepers, Man Your Brooms" played on Boatswain whistle].
078:03:22 Gibson: The next ...
[Comm break.]
And that was 'Sweepers Man Your Brooms' on the boatswain pipe that we just played up for the crew.
078:04:38 Conrad: Houston, 12.
078:04:40 Gibson: Morning, 12; Houston. Go ahead.
078:04:45 Conrad: Okay. On the crew status report, the CDR slept 9; the CMP, 8; the LMP, 8. The PRD's: CDR, 11013; CMP, 11013; the LMP, 04014. We cycled the fan, and we're back to the normal lunar comm mode.
078:05:11 Gibson: Roger, 12. We copy. When you cycle the fans, could you do that for 3 minutes this time rather than the usual one, so we can get a little better hack on the readouts?
078:05:25 Conrad: Okay. We'll go back and do it for 3. We just completed it for 2. We'll go back and do it for 3.
078:06:05 SC: Houston, 12. Can we start battery charge on Batt A now?
078:06:11 Gibson: That's affirmative, 12. Go ahead. We also have a Flight Plan update, when you're ready.
078:06:24 Conrad: Okay. We're ready to copy.
078:06:26 Gibson: Okay. First is, seeing we have no MCC4, replace the flight plan timeline pages from GET 78 to 82 with the pages you'll find in the back - that's 6-7 to 6-9. And then you'll be picking it up again at page 3-58. At 78:00, for no MCC 4, delete stop PTC and continue PTC until 80 plus 50. This is optional. Insert - Then, at 80 plus 50, insert stop PTC at roll 300, and that's the Moon view attitude in roll. And at 79:45, would you perform a rendezvous radar transponder self-test to see if there was any effect on it during launch?
078:07:44 Conrad: Okay. We got 80:50 stop PTC at 300; 79:45 rendezvous radar transponder self-test, and we have the proper pages out of the Flight Plan.
078:07:58 Gibson: Roger, 12.
078:16:21 Gibson: Apollo 12, Houston.
078:16:26 Conrad: Go ahead, Houston.
078:16:28 Gibson: 12, we have your consumables update and some comments on the - your P23's, as well as an alteration to your LOI abort card when you're ready to copy.
078:16:45 Conrad: Okay. Let's have the consumables update and all that stuff, in, that order.
078:16:52 Gibson: Okay, 12. Consumables at 78 plus 15: RCS total, 79.8; and Alfa up through Delta, in that order, 77.5, 83.4, 77.3, 81.2; and that gives you about 92 below the predicted. H
2 total, 71.2, 69.9. H
2 total, 70 - I'm sorry, that's O
2 total, 70.9, 72.5.
078:17:46 Gibson: And, 12, for the P23, no Comm procedures. Dick, your first sighting exercises showed an excellent performance although the use of two different horizon locators resulted in quite different apparent horizons. The CMC horizon should be updated to 19 kilometers rather than the 24 for the no Comm contingency. Change the erasable address 1351 from its present value of 27340 to 22434. Your second set of P23's done at about 15:30 were excellent. Therefore, use the same locator as in this set. As you expected, the best results are obtained when the star is positioned precisely on the substellar point when you're using only the center two-thirds of the sextant field of view and you center the star on the locator.
078:18:50 Gibson: 12, do you have those values for the erasable?
078:18:53 Gordon: Okay. We've got all of them.
078:18:57 Gordon: Say again?
078:19:01 Gibson: 12, confirm do you have the valuable - value for the erasable.
078:19:14 Conrad: Okay, Houston. The address was 1351 and change it to 22434. Is that correct?
078:19:20 Gibson: That's correct. 12, on the LOI abort card which you have in the checklist F-13-2, your hybrid trajectory is a little different than nominal; your TLI was slightly off nominal, and your curve for the LOI abort is very sensitive to the dispersions in your TLI.
078:19:43 Conrad: Hold it, Houston, until you get a good antenna.
078:19:45 Gibson: Okay. [Long pause.]
078:20:18 Conrad: Hello, Houston. How do you read?
078:20:23 Gibson: 12, we read you with a fair amount of static in the background. Let's wait until we clear it up before we proceed. [Long pause.]
078:21:05 Conrad: Hello, Houston; 12. How do you read?
078:21:09 Gibson: 12, we read you now. I think the static is dropping off. We're ready to proceed. [Long pause.]
078:21:49 Gibson: Apollo 12, Houston.
078:21:56 Conrad: Go ahead, Houston.
078:21:57 Gibson: 12, a reminder, it would help if you turned the uplink squelch off.
078:22:06 Conrad: Okay. Uplink squelch going off.
078:22:11 Gibson: Pete, we have a discussion of the LOI abort card when you're ready. That's in your checklist F13-2.
078:22:25 Gordon: Hang on a second, Houston. Do you have the DSKY or torquing angles?
078:22:31 Gibson: Stand by, Dick. Dick, we have them. Go ahead. [Pause.]
078:23:07 Conrad: Okay, Houston. Give me the page again in the checklist you were talking about.
078:23:13 Gibson: Okay, Pete. That's your LOI abort card on F13-2.
078:23:24 Conrad: Okay. And we lost you there. All I heard you say - something about the trajectory, and you faded out.
078:23:32 Gibson: Roger, Pete. There's a change necessitated here because your hybrid trajectory is different than nominal. Your TLI was slightly off nominal, and the abort curve is very sensitive to dispersions in the TLI. The curve itself should be lowered slightly, and we can give you the co-ordinates for four different points, and you'll be able to plot that curve yourself. Are you ready to copy?
078:24:02 Conrad: Yes. Go ahead.
078:24:04 Gibson: Okay. The four points under LOI Delta-V
M: 400, 290, 135, and 60. Your correspon - corresponding abort Delta-V's: 2240, 2065, 1865, 1800. You copy?
078:24:51 Conrad: Okay. Let's see, we had four points: 400, 290, 135, and 600, and they correspond to 2240, 2065, 1865, and 1800. Is that correct?
078:25:10 Gibson: Pete, on - one correction - on your LOI Delta-V
M. Your last one is 60 - That's 60, rather than 600.
078:25:27 Gibson: Your CSM gimbal angles, which you'll see down in the lower right, are roll, 295; pitch, 271; yaw 332.
078:25:48 Conrad: Okay. 295, 271, and 332.
078:25:52 Gibson: That's correct. When you plot the curve over, you'll see that your crossover point for mode 1 occurs at 320 - 320 rather than 290 as shown. This would have to be changed then in three places. First of all, the table, which you have on the card, your first value - first range goes from 290 to 650; that would now go from 320 to 650. On your Flight Plan, the value 290 is found also on page 3-59. That would have to be changed to 320. Also, the LMP cue card should be changed, 390 to 320. All of the other limits are unchanged.
078:26:55 Conrad: Okay. We got that.
078:27:00 Gibson: Okay, Pete. That's it.
This is Apollo Control, at 78 hours, 30 minutes. The Change Of Shift news conference in the Houston News Center will begin at 5:30 PM, Central Standard Time. 5:30 PM for the Change Of Shift news conference.
078:38:05 Gibson: 12, Houston.
078:38:10 Conrad: Go ahead.
078:38:11 Gibson: 12, for your information, after 68:30, a little over 10 hours ago, you started accelerating back towards the Moon. And you now are around 12,192 nautical miles out, and your velocity is building. You're presently going 3,911 feet per second. We have some morning news for you. The news of the flight of Apollo 12 continues to maintain world-wide interest, and your television broadcasts are getting priority preference on the local and network newscasts. There's a lot of foreign press here at Houston Press Center, and it is expected to intensify as you get closer to the lunar landing. Incidentally, there's a new baby boy born to a Baltimore, Maryland, mother at the precise time of your lift-off. Her name - or his name is Charles Richard Alan. Wilson is their last name.
078:39:11 Gibson: We have some sport news, and one of the leading items is...
078:39:15 Conrad: Who did you say was first?
078:39:16 Gibson: Say again. Say again, 12.
078:39:22 Conrad: Who did - Who did you say was first?
078:39:25 Gibson: First name turned out to be Charles, Charles Richard Alan. Al, I guess you just snuck in there. [Long pause.]
078:39:46 Gibson: We'll be back to you within a minute with the sports news as soon as we get a better antenna.
078:44:19 Gibson: 12, Houston. We'll continue with the sports news when you're squared away.
078:44:25 Conrad: Okay. Go ahead.
078:44:29 Gibson: News reports say that Notre Dame may be about to accept a bowl invitation. This would be for the first time since 1925. If it turns out to be the Cotton Bowl, they will undoubtedly play the winner of the Texas-Arkansas Southwest Conference Championship in Fayette on December 6. Notre Dame has a 7-1-1 record, losing only to Purdue at the beginning of its season. Bobby Roseburg took an early lead and held on Sunday to defeat Jimmy Wright by one stroke in the $50,000 PGA Club Championship at the Road Runner Golf resort in Scotsdale. Results of yesterday's ball games: first, in the National League, Los Angeles took Philadelphia, 23 to 17; it was Dallas over Washington, 41 to 28; Minnesota, 9 and Green Bay, 7; Cleveland was over Pittsburgh, 24 to 3; San Francisco, 20 and Baltimore, 17; in a close one, New Orleans, 25, New York, 24; Atlanta took Chicago 48 to 31; and Detroit over St. Louis, 20 to 0. In the American League: Kansas City, 34 and New York, 16; Oakland, 21 and San Diego, 16; Buffalo over Miami, 28 to S; and Boston took Cincinnati, 25 to 14; Houston and Denver played to a 20-20 tie. However, in the - Houston really made a classic comeback in the last 11 minutes. They put 17 points on when they were down 3 to 20 inside of 11 minutes. First of all, right tackle Domres scampered into the end zone after picking up a yun - fumble and running 35 yards. Beathard then got one long bomb to Jerry Levias which was over 80 yards, and in the last - or at the last 3 seconds left, Gerela kicked one field goal. Pete Beathard looked pretty good, and - especially in the last quarter and especially on that one last long bomb. He laid it right into the hands of Levias.
078:46:58 Gibson: And, Pete, one last - one last item - Al Onser won the Phoenix 200 race.
078:47:09 Conrad: Roger. Thank you.
Apollo 12's present distance from the Moon at 78 hours, 48 minutes is 11,546 nautical miles. Velocity, 3,940 feet per second. Flight director, Glynn Lunney and his black team is in the process of taking over from Flight Director, Jerry Griffin and the Gold team. The CapCom on the oncoming shift will be Astronaut Paul Weitz.
This is Apollo Control at the present time, the crew is scheduled to be eating breakfast. We don't anticipate a great deal of conversation from them. The change of shift press conference is scheduled to begin shortly in the Houston news center. We will be taping any conversation from Mission Control to the crew during the press conference, playing it back immediately following. At 79 hours, 2 minutes into the flight, Apollo 12 is at an altitude of 11,058 nautical miles from the Moon, traveling at a speed of 3,964 feet per second. This is Apollo Control, Houston.
079:03:22 Weitz: Hello, 12; Houston. We have a state vector and a clock update for you, if you'll give us P00 and Accept, please.
079:03:30 Conrad: Roger-Roger. P00 and Accept. [Pause.]
079:03:44 Conrad: Boy, that Moon looks big today, Houston. Thing's about the size of a baseball held at arm's length. And you can see all the mountains and craters. It's really a beautiful sight. We're starting to move on the far side of the Sun from it, so we only see about an eighth of it. But that eighth of it is really stark. You can see - particularly up near the poles - On the LM, you can start to see that it's not a nice smooth ball anymore. It's got some little ridges and bumps that would be mountains or craters if you could see them right head on. It's a beautiful sight.
079:04:28 Weitz: Roger. Understand, 12. That's a good sign if it's getting be - look bigger.
079:04:34 Conrad: On the other hand, the Earth - Yes - On the other hand, the Earth looks like about the size of a quarter held at arm's length, which is pretty small.
079:06:16 Weitz: 12, Houston. We're waiting to get High Bit Rate before we send up that load is the reason for the delay.
079:11:17 Weitz: 12, Houston. Computer's yours.
This is Apollo Control at 79 hours, 25 minutes. During the Change of Shift Briefing we had one brief conversation with the spacecraft. Commander Pete Conrad came on to describe the Moon for us. The spacecraft, at the present time, is about 10,113 nautical miles from the Moon traveling at a speed of 4,015 feet per second. We'll play back that tape for you and then continue to stand by live.
079:36:33 Conrad: Houston, 12.
079:36:41 Conrad: Roger. You want to watch this rendezvous radar transponder self-test? We're about ready to do that any time you are.
079:36:51 Weitz: Okay, stand by.
079:36:58 Weitz: 12, Houston. There's nothing meaningful we can monitor on that, Pete. Just go ahead with it.
079:37:03 Conrad: Okay. It's in work.
079:39:27 Conrad: Houston, 12.
079:39:33 Conrad: Best we could determine, it's a good transponder. System test in A gave us 4.2; system test B gave us 2.0. With it in Operate on D, it gave us zero; and system test indicator in C Unlock gave us 0.4.
079:40:01 Weitz: Roger. Copy, 12. Understand. Thank you.
079:40:03 Conrad: Anything else you need?
079:40:05 Weitz: If you're finished eating, I've got a pericynthion plus 2 abort PAD for you.
079:40:14 Conrad: Okay. Al is ready to copy.
079:40:19 Weitz: Okay. Pericynthion plus 2. SPS/G&N: 62491, plus 0.90, minus 0.17, 085:25:17.92, plus 1601.0 plus 1561.9, minus 3498.1. The roll angle is NA is unconstrained. The pitch angle is 031. The remainder of the PAD is NA. And that's no ullage and, of course, it will be a docked burn. Over.
079:41:38 Bean: Okay, Houston. That's pericynthion plus 2. SPS/G&N: 62491, plus 0.90, minus 0.17, 085:25:17.92, plus 1601.0, plus 1561.9, minus 3498.1, NA, 031; the rest of the PAD is NA; no ullage; dock burn.
079:42:13 Weitz: That's for Charlie, Al.
079:47:25 Weitz: Apollo 12, Houston. I have some checklist changes and updates for you if you want to break out your LM contingency checklist and the LM time line book, please.
079:47:39 Conrad: Okay. Be with you in just a second. They are buried up here in R-3. We're going after them.
079:47:50 Weitz: Okay. [Long pause.]
079:48:35 Conrad: Okay. I've got the time line out. Let's go over those changes first, please.
079:48:41 Weitz: Okay. On the LM time line book, page 6.
079:48:54 Bean: Okay. Go ahead.
079:48:56 Weitz: Okay, that's Touchdown plus 3 through T-2 abort. At top left-hand part on about the eighth or ninth step down, there's descent vent fire. You got that?
079:49:13 Weitz: Okay. Insert after that, if the SHe pressure drops 15 psi, then close both vents.
079:49:29 Conrad: We got it.
079:49:30 Weitz: Okay. As Spence said he briefed you on, before launch, then we vent the oxidizer per the checklist and vent the fuel at 8 psi.
079:49:42 Bean: Roger. I have [garble] we
079:49:46 Weitz: Okay. Now, we go to the contingency book.
079:49:51 Bean: We don't have that book aboard. It's in the LM right now, but we'll take a note on the Flight Plan and move it over there.
079:50:00 Weitz: Okay. Page Delta/Alfa-6, step 1. After the step which says Guidance Control to PGNCS, add - on the Commander's PTCA Throttle, Min. The reason for that is if the engine is on longer than 2 minutes, as it may be, when you run through the rest of this check, if it is on longer than 2 minutes without the PTCA in Throttle in 10 percent, you may damage the throttle actuator.
079:50:50 Bean: I understand.
079:50:52 Weitz: Okay. On page D/A-7, after step 1, we want you to set the lunar-centered bit. You do that with a Verb 25, Noun 07, Enter, 104, Enter, 06000, Enter, 1, Enter. Over.
079:51:29 Bean: Roger. That's Verb 25, Noun 07, Enter, 104, Enter, 06000, Enter, 1, Enter.
079:51:36 Weitz: That's affirm, Al.
079:51:41 Bean: That's interesting that we have to set it then, and we never have to set it during normal operations.
079:51:49 Weitz: Okay. Let me see if I can get an answer for you on that.
079:51:54 Bean: Also, the first one you sent up, we made the change in our Activation Checklist - correction -lunar surface checklist, first page, to reflect also the new vent pressures.
079:53:24 Weitz: Hello, 12; Houston. The reason for this, Al, is that in the normal activation sequence - that setting the lunar-centered bit that you asked about - in the normal activation sequence, the ground uplinks the vector and in the other stuff that they send up with that vector, they set this lunar-centered bit. However, the page we're talking about is the contingency for a docked DPS burn, that vector is not set up - sent up, and you will have to set this bit on board.
079:54:00 Bean: Roger. Understand now.
This is Apollo Control at 80 hours, 3 minutes. Apollo 12 is 8,642 nautical miles from the Moon. Traveling at a speed of 4,114 feet per second. The data transmitted to the ground from the Apollo 12 crew following the rendezvous radar transponder soft test indicated that there is no problem with that piece of equipment on the Command Module. The crew at the present time is running through some of the Lunar Orbit Insertion checklists and checks for the maneuver, scheduled to occur at some 83 hours, 25 minutes into the mission. We have a TV transmission scheduled at 81 hours, 30 minutes which will be about 7:52 p.m. Central Standard Time.
080:13:52 Bean: Houston, Apollo 12.
080:13:54 Weitz: Go ahead, 12.
080:13:58 Bean: Roger. LiOH canister change number 7 is complete, and we are getting ready to pressurize the CSM and then the LM.
080:14:07 Weitz: Roger. Understand, and you verify the position the oxidizer flow valve for me, please.
080:14:22 Gordon: It's at Increase.
080:14:23 Weitz: Thank you.
080:14:24 Bean: It's at Full Increase right now, and it shows Max in the window. It was at Normal when we started the burn for the midcourse; and, then the minute it started, I moved it to Increase, and it finally made Max by the time we shut down. So, we are planning to burn at Full Increase.
080:14:40 Weitz: Okay. Thank you, Al.
080:15:57 Bean: Boy, the Moon is still getting big out there, Houston. It's about the size of a large grapefruit when you hold it about half-arm's length. It's a monster.
080:16:04 Weitz: Yes, that's a good sign, Al, and Pete wanted a reminder on breaking out the monocular if you are getting in close to the Moon there.
080:16:14 Bean: Okay. We have been using it pretty regularly; we didn't know we were going to use it so much on translunar, but it turned out to be pretty I good even at great distances, and using it up close like this, the features are very, very stark, and I never really realized how high the edges of these craters are. These large craters are steep, and it is a pretty rough looking satellite.
080:16:41 Weitz: Roger. Understand.
080:16:50 Bean: Say again, Houston.
080:16:53 Weitz: Just rogered for your transmission.
080:17:00 Conrad: Houston, Apollo 12. The LM is pressurized.
080:17:04 Weitz: Roger, 12.
080:17:26 Conrad: And, Houston. The LM's pressurized.
080:17:29 Weitz: Roger, 12.
This is Apollo Control. That was Al Bean giving us the report on the moon. Commander Pete Conrad reporting the LM pressurized.
080:21:01 Conrad: Houston, we are going to do our pre-LOI secondary ECS loop check right now.
080:21:07 Weitz: Roger, 12.
080:24:56 Gordon: Houston, 12.
080:25:01 Gordon: Roger. Secondary loop looks okay to us. Glycol Evap temperature's coming down, and the Quantity dropped just a little bit when the temperature's coming down, and also the radiator's being filled up with that stuff for the first time. What do you think? It looks pretty stable to us right now.
080:25:19 Weitz: Roger. It looks good here on the ground, Dick.
080:25:21 Gordon: Dropped to a quantity of about - yes. Dropped on an indicated quantity of about ...
080:25:25 Conrad: ...Okay, we are going to go ahead and secure it.
080:27:14 Bean: The Moon is about the size of a volleyball now - at arm's length.
080:27:21 Weitz: Roger. You guys must really be closing in on it, huh?
080:27:31 Bean: This is the first time we have been able to look at it, and in the mare area - up to now - it looked very, very smooth; but now when you look at the mare area, you can see there's a, quite a number of long ridges, and what have you, that mar the maria a little bit.
080:27:50 Weitz: Roger. Understand.
080:28:02 Weitz: 12, Houston. You can terminate charge on Bat A. [Long pause.]
080:29:09 Bean: Roger. Terminate the charge on Bat A.
080:29:28 Bean: Yes, Houston, we're closing to the Moon fast enough now that every time we do a 360, you pick it back up in the windows again. You can see it grow quite considerably.
080:29:40 Weitz: Roger, 12.
This is Apollo Control at 80 hours, 32 minutes. Flight Director Glynn Lunney has just gone around the room getting a status from all of the Flight Controllers for Lunar Orbit Insertion 1. Our report from each is that we are on the Flight Plan. Everything normal. Apollo 12 is presently 7,488 nautical miles from the Moon, as we continue to see a rapid decrease in the altitude and a correspondingly rapid increase in the velocity. In the next 3 hours prior to Lunar Orbit Insertion, the velocity will just about double, going from the current 4,213 feet per second to something on the order of 8,000 feet per second.
080:38:20 Conrad: Okay, Houston. The next trip past 300, we'll go ahead and stop PTC. We're just out of about 50 degrees roll now, coming around, and we'll stop PTC at 300.
080:38:34 Weitz: Roger, 12.
080:45:48 Weitz: Hello, Apollo 12; Houston. If you'll give us P00 and Accept, we'll send up your target load and your REFSMMAT; and your last state vector is still good. We will not be sending up a new state vector.
080:46:01 Conrad: Okay. You've got it. P00 and Accept.
080:48:27 Bean: Houston, Apollo 12.
080:48:29 Weitz: Go ahead, 12.
080:48:39 Bean: Hey, another interesting thing is you look out on the mare, it didn't show so much from your maps that I've seen on Earth from the photos, there's isolated large mountains - hills, or something - right scattered throughout the Mare. And in this low Sun-angle that we've got on the Moon right now, which is about, little less than an eighth, maybe a tenth of the Moon; they almost look like cumulus clouds at first glance because they're very bright on top, and they're significantly higher than the mare. And then when you look at them closer in the monocular, you can see that they're just very high hills.
080:49:24 Weitz: Roger, 12. Understand. [Long pause.]
080:49:43 Weitz: Hello, 12; Houston [garble]...
080:49:45 Conrad: ... He's really working on that doctoring.
080:49:51 Weitz: Say again what you're working on, Pete.
080:49:57 Conrad: Never mind.
080:50:01 Weitz: Oh, Roger. Understand. Yes.
080:50:10 Weitz: He started a little early this time.
080:50:14 Conrad: He won't - he won't let either one of us look.
080:50:18 Weitz: Understand. Hey, Jack Schmitt's here. He wants to know how Al spells mare. It's a pop quiz.
080:50:29 Conrad: Is that that geology pop quiz you were going to give us the other day?
080:50:34 Weitz: That's the first question [laughter].
080:50:36 Conrad: He refuses to take it. He won't take it today.
080:50:43 Weitz: Okay. If Al wants to do something worthwhile, I've got a PAD for him.
080:50:50 Conrad: Thank you [garble]; now we can look.
080:50:55 Weitz: Okay. LOI-1 SPS/G&N: 62491, plus 0.90, minus 0.17, 083:25:18.51, minus 2821.3, plus 0603.6, plus 0112.4, 002, 263, 018, HA and HP are NA, 2887.3, 5:58, 2880.4, sextant star is 02, 254.0, 38.0. The rest of the pad is NA. Your GDC stars are Sirius, 15 - that's your Z-axis star - and Rigel, 12. The angles are 134, 230, and 357. The LM weight is 33585. Over.
080:52:57 Bean: LOI-1, SPS/G&N: 62491, plus 0.90, minus 0.17, 083:25:18.51, minus 2821.3, plus 0603.6, plus 0112.4, 002, 263, 018, NA, NA, 2887.3, 5:58, 2880.4, 02, 254.0 38.0; Sirius, 15, is the Z-axis star; Rigel, 12; 134, 230, 357; and the LM is 33585.
080:53:57 Weitz: That's affirmative, Al, and if you'll get out two more PADs, I've got TEI-1 and 4 for you.
080:54:12 Bean: Go ahead. Ready to copy.
080:54:14 Weitz: TEI-1, SPS/G&N: 38641, minus 0.59, plus 0.64, 085:32:39.16, plus 3207.1, plus 0813.0, minus 0310.9; NA for roll; pitch is 093; the rest of the pad is NA. Your ullage is four jets for 11 seconds; burn undocked. Over.
080:55:26 Bean: Okay, Houston. TEI-1 SPS/G&N: 38641, minus 0.59, plus 0.64, 085:32:39.16, plus 3207.1, plus 0813.0, minus 0310.9, NA, 093. The rest is NA. Ullage is four jets for 11 seconds; burn undocked.
080:55:59 Weitz: That's affirmative, and you are ready for TEI-4?
080:56:08 Weitz: Okay. This also is SPS/G&N: NA, NA, NA down to time, the time 092:00:46.70, plus 3519.6, plus 0967.2, minus 0177.4, NA, 084; remainder is NA; same ullage; undocked, assumes no LOI-2. Over.
080:57:11 Bean: Roger. SPS/G&N again: NA, NA, NA, 092:00:46.70, plus 3519.6, plus 0967.2, minus 0177.4, NA, 084 NA, rest NA; ullage the same as previous; undocked, and this assumes no LOI-2.
080:57:38 Weitz: That's affirmative.
081:02:37 Gordon: Hello, Houston; Apollo 12.
081:02:39 Weitz: Go, Dick.
081:02:44 Gordon: We're set up in the attitude for looking at the Moon. We can see it pretty good. We're worried about the Sun angle on it for television. We'll take a look at it, and while we're doing that, I'll go ahead and do the landing site REFSMMAT orientation. Okay?
081:02:59 Weitz: That'll be fine. And if you are getting sunlight in the camera, about the only - that's expected - would help is to point as far away from the Sun as you can, toward the points of the crescent.
081:03:15 Conrad: No, that's not our problem. Our problem is the Sun is shining on the center hatch window, and the hatch window's got so much gunk on it that it's just so shiny that I'm afraid the TV wouldn't look through it. The Sun is not directly in the window yet. But we'll - We'll look at it, as we close it. Of course, we're going to drop behind anyhow and eclipse the Sun here in a minute.
081:03:42 Weitz: Roger. [Long pause.]
081:04:38 Weitz: 12, Houston. You might consider if that hatch window is really clobbered, Pete, looking out one of the side windows. We've got some angles here if you want to use window number 1, and we can work some up for window number 5, if that's a better window.
081:04:57 Conrad: Five is absolutely the best window. It's the only one that we're ever going to get any pictures out of. The rest of them are so clobbered that we're not going to get much out of any of them.
081:05:05 Weitz: Okay. We'll have to run that through and cheek and make sure we ...
081:05:07 Conrad: ...we need an angle for window 5.
081:05:09 Weitz: Okay. We'll have to run it through and make sure we can get high gain and the window at the Moon.
081:06:44 Bean: Okay, Houston, you looking at our torquing angle?
081:06:53 Weitz: We got it, 12.
This is Apollo Control at 81 hours, 10 minutes. We're now about 20 minutes from the start of the scheduled TV transmission from the spacecraft as Apollo 12 nears the Moon. The spacecraft presently some 5,900 nautical miles from the Moon, traveling at a speed of 4,391 feet per second.
081:09:58 Conrad: Houston, 12. Shall we give you the high gain now?
081:10:05 Weitz: That's affirmative.
081:13:17 Weitz: Hello, 12; Houston. Looking out window number 5, Pete, does not give us satisfactory high gain angle. So looks like we got our choice of the hatch window or window number 1. Also on previous flights it is indicated that even though the windows looked pretty grungy to the people on board, with the TV camera focus set at infinity, you kind of look through some of that stuff on the window and it's not as bad to us as it is to you.
081:13:48 Conrad: Okay. Let us give it a try here for a minute out this center window and see what happens.
081:13:53 Weitz: Okay. Now if you'd rather use window number 1, we've got some - we've got some angles for you, or you can go ahead and Use the hatch window.
081:14:05 Conrad: I think we're better off with the center window in this case, and we'll - We'll give her a try here. Let's see what happens.
081:14:22 Conrad: We're not going to send you any TV. We're just going to experiment with it for a while in here and see what we get.
081:14:27 Weitz: Understand.
081:14:29 Conrad: If it doesn't turn out right, we'd just as soon not send it.
081:14:35 Weitz: Okay. [Long pause.]
081:15:16 Weitz: 12, Houston. To minimize perturbations to your trajectory now, we're requesting that you go out of single jet attitude control vector couples. Over.
081:15:33 Conrad: Roger. In work.
081:19:26 Conrad: Houston, 12.
081:19:29 Weitz: Go ahead, 12.
081:19:35 Conrad: All the TV is doing is an excellent job of picking up all the droplets and glare and rivulets on the window. It's pretty - pretty hopeless.
081:19:45 Weitz: Okay. One suggestion is to try to fake it out a little bit by putting your ALC switch to the inside position and see if that makes any difference.
081:20:00 Conrad: Okay. We - We tried both.
081:20:07 Weitz: Roger. [Long pause.]
081:20:47 Conrad: Houston, how long are you going to have Goldstone? It could be that when we slip behind the Moon, we - the Sun gets behind there - We may be able to give you some then.
081:21:02 Weitz: Okay. Stand by. [Long pause.]
081:21:21 Weitz: 12, Houston. We can - We have Goldstone scheduled for 20 minutes. We can keep it as long as we need it.
081:21:41 Conrad: Okay, Houston. Why don't you hang on to him for a little while, and we'll see if we can pick anything else up out this window for you?
081:21:51 Weitz: Okay. Thank you.
081:21:57 Conrad: Roger. Looks like it's about 10 or 15 degrees between the lighted limb of the Moon and the Sun right now, and it's just making our glass glare so much that there's no possibility of showing you what we see. We have to sort of get over near the edge where we can block the Sun with the window frame before we cau see it ourself. Maybe when we go behind it, we can open up the aperture and you can see some from earthshine. I don't know if that's possible or not.
081:22:25 Weitz: Okay. The solar - solar corona will probably look great if you can get that coming by. That's supposed to be a pretty good camera for picking that up.
081:22:39 Conrad: We'll give it a go.
081:22:40 Weitz: Okay. Pick up a few credits in electives there.
081:22:53 Conrad: Yes, if that's okay.
081:22:57 Gordon: If you're going to do that, you'd better do something about that maneuver schedule for 81:55.
081:27:08 Weitz: Hello, 12; Houston. We're going to keep Goldstone standing by, but as far as going to burn attitude 81:55, we'll do that; we'll press on with the flight plan as advertised.
081:27:24 Conrad: Roger-Roger. We concur. [Long pause.]
081:27:51 Conrad: It's a shame that we don't have a shade of some kind that we could shade that window with because this is really quite a sight. Our motion to the left is not as apparent as our motion towards the Moon, and therefore, we have the decided impression that we're going right into the center of that baby right now.
081:28:12 Weitz: Okay. We'll check it out for you.
081:28:18 Conrad: [Laughter]. No, I trust you. I trust you.
This is Apollo Control at 81 hours, 29 minutes. We'd like to re-summarize at this point what we know about the television transmission scheduled to begin at 81 hours, 30 minutes. Pete Conrad advised that the Sun glare through the window, which is apparently the only window available to us for getting a shot of the lunar surface, with the High Gain antenna at the same time pointing toward Earth, is not acceptable. Apparently would not give us a usable picture of the lunar surface from the spacecraft because of Sun glare. We intend to stick with the Flight Plan as far as maneuvering the spacecraft to the burn attitude, the attitude for the LOI insertion burn. Now that maneuver to attitude is scheduled to occur at 81 hours, 55 minutes. And going to the burn attitude, the windows would not be in a position also for a television picture of the lunar surface. We do not at this time, I don't know whether the crew intends to transmit a picture from inside the spacecraft and we'll continue to standby.
081:32:17 Conrad: Houston, 12. It's really a shame we can't show you this sight because we're dropping behind it in a hurry, with respect to the Sun, and we've only got about 2 degrees of a crescent Moon right now, and the rest of it, of course, is all in the black, but we're dropping behind it fast enough that we can just sit here over a few minutes period of time and see it get smaller and smaller, the illuminated portion. Also, of course, it's filling more and more of the window all the time because we're - we're really smoking in there.
081:32:56 Weitz: Roger, 12.
This is Apollo Control based on that last comment from Pete Conrad, we do not expect a television transmission from the spacecraft as scheduled at this time. To recap, Conrad advised that the Sun glare through the window with the deposits on the window had made a usable television picture impossible. There was some thought to waiting until the spacecraft passed into the shadow of the Moon at which the time the window would be shielded from the glare and possibly get a picture of the Solar Corona however, this would interfere with the maneuver to the burn attitudes scheduled at 81 hours, 55 minutes. We do not expect a television transmission. At the present time, Apollo 12 is 4,886 nautical miles from the lunar surface traveling at a speed of 4,559 feet per second. This is Apollo Control at 81 hours, 49 minutes continuing to standby.
081:46:44 Bean: Houston, Apollo 12.
081:46:46 Weitz: Go ahead, 12.
081:46:50 Bean: Could you give us your estimation of the fuel quantity and the helium pressure, SPS helium pressure, after the burn's complete? Your latest guess.
081:47:01 Weitz: Will do. Stand by.
081:51:12 Bean: Okay, Houston. We are maneuvering to the burn attitude.
081:51:15 Weitz: Roger. We copied that, 12.
081:51:57 Weitz: Hello, 12; Houston. After the burn, Al, your fuel quantity should show 39 percent remaining; your SPS helium pressure should be 1500 psi.
081:52:16 Bean: Thank you.
This is Apollo Control at 81 hours, 53 minutes. The spacecraft now traveling at a speed of 4,726 feet per second and about 4,000 nautical miles from the lunar surface. We have the preliminary figures on the Lunar Orbit Insertion maneuver, the first of two maneuvers to place the spacecraft in a more or less circular orbit about the Moon. The ignition for LOI-1 ignition time will be 83 hours, 25 minutes, 19 seconds. A burn duration will be 5 minutes, 58 seconds, and we'll subtract about 2,880 feet per second from the spacecraft velocity with that maneuver. In performing that 5 minute, 58 second burn, the Service Propulsion System engine will consume about 33,500 pounds of propellant or about 60 percent - 61 percent of the propellant carried. The spacecraft currently weighs 96,076 pounds. We estimate after the Lunar Orbit Insertion maneuver, the weight will be about 62,491 pounds - the difference in weight, of course, being accounted for in the propellant consumed in the burn. The television transmission scheduled at 81 hours, 30 minutes, was scrubbed after the crew reported the center hatch window which they had intended to use for transmitting the picture of the lunar surface was not useable due to a combination of deposits on the window and very bright Sun glare. Pete Conrad reported at the time that the number 5 window, which is the window adjacent to the Lunar Module pilot's couch, to the right of the cockpit, was quite a bit better and would have been useable. However, it was not possible to point the number 5 window at the lunar surface and at the same time point the High Gain antenna, which is needed to transmit the television signal back to Earth - in the direction of Earth - and it was therefore necessary to scrub the television transmission. We do not expect that the glare on the window will be a significant problem for the television transmission scheduled at 84 hours. At this time the spacecraft would be pointed at the lunar surface and the glare from the sun should be greatly reduced. The Apollo 12 crew advised a short while ago that they were maneuvering to the burn attitude. They will continue making checks of all of their spacecraft's systems prior to the maneuver. That will be consuming the majority of their time between now and ignition for Lunar Orbit Insertion, which is scheduled to occur at 83 hours, 25 minutes, 19 seconds. At 81 hours, 56 minutes, this is Apollo Control.
082:11:46 Weitz: Hello, 12; Houston. You give us P00 and Accept, we'll send up your state vector and target load.
082:11:54 Conrad: Right, sir.
082:11:56 Weitz: Got a map update for you.
082:11:57 Conrad: P00 and Accept.
082:12:03 Weitz: Okay. Map update for Rev 1: 83:11:46, 83:24:35, 83:43:57, 83:36:36. Over.
082:12:32 Bean: Roger. 83:11:46, 83:24:35, 83:43:57, 83:36:36.
082:12:42 Weitz: That's affirmative. [Long pause.]
082:13:46 Conrad: Houston, Apollo 12.
082:13:53 Conrad: Roger. The pre-LOI-1 systems checks are complete.
082:13:57 Weitz: Roger. Thank you, 12.
082:15:03 Weitz: Hello, 12; Houston. I have update to your LOI-1 PAD.
082:15:11 Bean: Okay. Wait 1.
082:15:18 Bean: Go ahead, Houston.
082:15:20 Weitz: All right. Al, now the seconds for your burn time will change. It is now 22.68. The Noun 81: your Delta-V
y is now +0607.0; Delta-V
z is now plus 0142.0; dropping down to Delta-V
t, that value is now 2889.3; Delta-V
c is 2882.4. Remainder of the PAD is unchanged.
082:16:14 Bean: Okay. In Noun 33, the seconds register should be 22.68; Noun 81, Delta-V
y plus 0607.0; Delta-V
z plus 0142.O; Delta-V
t 2889.3; Delta-V
c 2882.4.
082:16:38 Weitz: That's affirmative, 12. [Long pause.]
082:17:12 Weitz: 12, Houston. The computer's yours.
082:17:17 Bean: Roger, Houston.
This is Apollo Control at 82 hours, 19 minutes. Apollo 12 now 2,914 nautical miles from the Moon. A velocity up to 5,078 feet per second. We just passed up to the crew some updates to the information they'll need to perform the Lunar Orbit Insertion No. 1 maneuver. The ignition time has been changed slightly and the new ignition time is 83 hours, 25 minutes 23 seconds. They've also made a slight upward increase in the total Delta-V to be gained from the maneuver - increase in the Delta-V by about 2 feet per second. The current figure is 2,889.3 feet per second. We also have a correction to a figure we gave you earlier on the amount of propellant to be consumed in that maneuver. The previous figure given was about 33,500 pounds of propellant. This is incorrect. The figure should have been 23,700 pounds of propellant. A Service Propulsion System engine consumes propellant at the rate of about 66.4 pounds per second. The burn duration is about 358 seconds. The crew advised that they had completed the pre-LOI-1 systems checks and they reported that at about 82 hours, 14 minutes, which would mean that they're running about 30 minutes ahead of the Flight Plan, and getting ready for that burn. Here in Mission Control it bas been rather quiet up to this time - Flight Controllers are checking and rechecking the burn figures. The room is now starting to fill up. Now we're getting additional people here in the back row of consoles. Chris Kraft, George Low and Jim McDivitt are now in the Control Center. Also at the CapCom console we see Director of Flight Crew Operations, Deke Slayton, as well as astronaut Dave Scott and Jim Irwin. Roco Petrone, Director of the Apollo Program is also here in Mission Control as we continue to prepare for this Lunar Orbit Insertion maneuver. At 82 hours, 22 minutes, this is Apollo Control Houston.
This is Apollo Control at 82 hours, 37 minutes. One of the clocks on our front display board here at Mission Control shows that we bare 34 minutes, 38 seconds until Loss Of Signal as the spacecraft goes behind the moon at prior to the Lunar Orbit Insertion maneuver. That maneuver is scheduled to be performed in 47 minutes, 56 seconds. LOI-1 ignition time is 83 hours, 25 minutes, 23 seconds. The burn duration is currently planned for 5 minutes, 58 seconds reducing the spacecraft velocity by 2,889 feet per second. The spacecraft weight combined CSM/LM weight prior to the burn will be 96,076 pounds. Following the burn we estimate the weight will be 72,225 pounds. The Lunar Orbit Insertion 1 maneuver is targeted for 62 by 169.3 nautical mile orbit. Lunar orbit insertion No. 2 is targeted for a 54 by 66 nautical mile orbit. That burn is scheduled to occur at 87 hours, 48 minutes, 33 seconds with a total Delta-V of 161.6 feet per second. Apollo 12 is now nearing the 2,000 nautical mile mark altitude above the lunar surface. That altitude continuing to decrease ever more rapidly and the velocity building up at an increasing rate, now reading 5,511 feet or 5,511 feet per second. Flight Director Glynn Lunney is periodically going around the room checking on status for the maneuver. A short while ago he advised Flight Controllers that we are moving along well according to the Flight Plan and have completed all scheduled activities listed by the Flight Plan at this time in preparation for the maneuver. The next scheduled activities on the Flight Plan are rolling to burn attitude verifying the burn attitude with a star check through the spacecraft sextant and aligning the gyro display coupler to the inertial measurement unit. At 82 hours, 40 minutes this is Mission Control, Houston.
082:44:10 Conrad: Houston, 12. We're beginning to go into darkness at this time.
082:44:16 Weitz: Roger, 12.
082:44:17 Conrad: As a matter of fact, we're there.
082:47:03 Gordon: Hello, Houston. P40's up. How's it look?
082:47:07 Weitz: We're checking now, Dick.
082:47:28 Weitz: Apollo 12, Houston. Looks real good.
082:47:34 Gordon: Okay. If you're happy, we'll go ahead and roll to 2 degrees.
082:47:38 Weitz: Okay. Go ahead.
082:50:01 Gordon: And, Houston, we're going Omni B now.
082:50:03 Weitz: Roger, 12.
This is Apollo Control at 82 hours, 54 minutes. We're now 18 minutes from Loss Of Signal as the spacecraft goes behind the Moon. The Loss Of Signal is scheduled to occur at 83 hours, 11 minutes 46 seconds. If the burn is performed as scheduled, we'll reacquire this signal at 83 hours, 43 minutes 57 seconds. Without the Lunar Orbit Insertion burn, we would acquire the spacecraft at 83 hours, 36 minutes 36 seconds. Apollo 12 now 1,297 nautical miles from the Moon's surface. Velocity is up to 6,050 feet per second. A short while ago, the crew placed their spacecraft computer in the proper program for performing the Service Propulsion System burn to put them into Lunar Orbit. All that remains at this point is to roll into the final burn attitude, to check that attitude by sighting on a star through the spacecraft sextant. We're now 17 minutes to Loss Of Signal. Our Guidance Officer has just advised that the spacecraft is in the proper burn attitude.
083:00:04 Gordon: Houston, 12.
083:00:10 Gordon: Roger. Sextant star check okay.
083:00:14 Weitz: Roger. Thank you.
083:02:58 Weitz: Hello, 12; Houston. You're Go for LOI.
083:03:04 Conrad: Roger, Houston. Go for LOI. Burn checklist is complete to minus 6 minutes, and we're holding at that point.
083:03:12 Conrad: [Garble] the other side.
083:03:13 Weitz: Okay, Pete. We'll see you at 43:57.
083:03:20 Conrad: Roger-Roger.
We're coming up on 8 minutes now until Loss Of Signal. Our displays show the spacecraft at an altitude of 848 nautical miles from the Moon. Velocity, 6,550 feet per second. Flight Director Glynn Lunney having just completed going around the room for the Go-No-Go decision, and as indicated by the word passed up to the crew by CapCom, Paul Weitz, we are Go for Lunar Orbit Insertion.
This is Apollo Control 83 hours, 8 minutes. We're coming up now on 3 minutes, 50 seconds until Loss Of Signal as Apollo 12 goes behind the Moon in preparation for inserting the spacecraft into Lunar Orbit. We'll continue to standby for any parting remarks from the crew before we lose contact with them. We should be out of contact for about 32 minutes, 11 seconds. Assuming the burn is performed as scheduled. Without performing the Lunar Orbit Insertion maneuver, we would reacquire the spacecraft about 24 minutes, 50 seconds after Loss Of Signal. And the spacecraft without performing that maneuver would pass within about 65 miles of the Moon's surface, at its closest point. We're now 3 minutes, 6 seconds from Loss Of Signal. Apollo 12,624 nautical miles from the Moon's surface traveling at 6,900 feet per second.
083:09:44 Weitz: Hello, 12; Houston. Two minutes to LOS; be seeing you shortly.
083:09:52 Conrad: Roger, Houston.
We're coming up now on 36 seconds until Loss Of Signal. All flight controllers here in Mission Control getting one last look at their data before the spacecraft goes behind the Moon. All systems looking very good, prior to this Lunar Orbit Insertion maneuver. And our Network Controller reports we have Loss Of Signal right on schedule. We should reacquire Apollo 12 in about 32 minutes. Without the burn, the reacquisition time would be 24 minutes, 40 seconds from now. At last look, just before we lost data, the spacecraft was at an altitude of 471.9 nautical miles velocity at 7,188 feet per second. At 83 hours, 13 minutes into the flight of Apollo 12, this is Mission Control Houston.