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Day 1, part 3: Earth orbit, rev 2 Journal Home Page Day 1, part 5: LM extraction and S-IVB separation

Apollo 10

Day 1, part 4: Translunar Injection & Docking

Corrected Transcript and Commentary Copyright © 2009-2021 by W. David Woods, Robin Wheeler and Ian Roberts. All rights reserved.
Last updated 2022-02-06
002:33:27 Stafford: Light on?
One second before ignition, the light for the number one engine in the cluster of five indicator lights comes on. Actual S-IVB ignition is at 002:33:27.6 GET. Two seconds later the light goes out. When it next comes on, it will be to announce J-2 engine cut-off and the end of the burn.
Launch vehicle indicator lights
(Click to see location on Panel 1).
002:33:28 Duke: Roger.
002:33:29 Stafford: We're burning.
002:33:30 Duke: Roger. Burning.
002:33:32 Stafford: We're on the way.
002:33:36 Duke: Roger. We confirm.
002:33:45 Duke: 10, Houston. Your S-IVB looks good.
002:33:47 Stafford: Roger.
002:33:50 Duke: And guidance looks good.
002:33:52 Stafford: Roger.
002:34:02 SC: [Garble] light [garble].
26,400 per second velocity now.
002:34:29 Duke: Hello. Apollo 10, Houston. At 1 minute, you're looking great.
002:34:32 Stafford: Roger. One minute, everything looks good on board.
002:34:47 Stafford: It's starting to pick up the yaw, just as programmed.
002:34:50 Duke: Roger.
002:34:58 Young (onboard): [Garble] off. Beautiful!
002:35:01 Cernan (onboard): Here comes the Sun.
002:35:10 Cernan (onboard): 01:45.
002:35:29 Cernan (onboard): 2 minutes.
Velocity 27,500 feet per second.
002:35:31 Duke: 10, 2 minutes. You're looking great.
002:35:34 Stafford: Roger.
002:35:35 Cernan (onboard): Where's it going?
002:35:37 Stafford (onboard): I don't know. I just - Feels like we're pitching [garble]. Steady as a rock.
002:35:44 Young (onboard): Feel it - I can see it yawing.
002:35:45 Cernan (onboard): Yawing?
002:35:46 Stafford (onboard): It's yawing.
002:35:54 Cernan: What a way to watch a sunrise!
That was Gene Cernan.
002:35:57 Duke: Roger.
002:35:59 Young (onboard): Okay, at 02:30; 105. 28,819 [garble].
29,000 feet per second.
002:36:11 Stafford: Three-quarters of a g.
002:36:13 Duke: Roger. Copy, Tom.
Tom Stafford reporting ¾ of one G.
002:36:20 Cernan (onboard): [Garble] the sunrise. We must be getting higher, you know it? Okay, ... coming up on 3 minutes. Mark it.
002:36:27 Duke: Apollo 10, Houston. Coming up 3 minutes; trajectory looks great.
002:36:30 Cernan (onboard): 3 minutes.
Stafford, from the 1969 Technical debrief: "The S-IVB lit off exactly to the second, on time. It started its pitchdown 5 degrees. We were all getting very sensitive to any motion. The thing we noticed right away was the growling of the S-IVB and these oscillations. There were little lateral and longitudinal oscillations and a growl. Then between 3 minutes and 3 minutes and 5 seconds, a high-frequency oscillation noise and vibration were superimposed upon the growling. All three of us thought the flight was going to be over right then."
Young, from the 1969 Technical debrief: "It was a zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz - like that. Maybe 60 cycles or somewhere around there. It's hard to say."
Stafford, from the 1969 Technical debrief: "And you could feel the vibration in the couches."
Young, from the 1969 Technical debrief: "Feel it and hear it. So we all figured the flight was over right there. So, from 3 minutes on, we held our breath."
Cernan, from the 1969 Technical debrief: "It provoked comments like, 'burn, baby, burn.' You can't call it pogo."
Stafford, from the 1969 Technical debrief: "But we never had a longitudinal pogo. There was no longitudinal pogo. What we had were these motions."
Cernan, from the 1969 Technical debrief: "It was a random buzz."
Young, from the 1969 Technical debrief: "This might have been a high-frequency pogo for all we know."
Stafford, from the 1969 Technical debrief: "But it just came on like that, and it lasted all the way through until shutdown."
Stafford, from the 1969 Technical debrief: "We'd never seen it before and never heard about it. It really scared the hell out of us - not from a safety point of view we thought the flight was going to be over shortly."
Cernan, from the 1969 Technical debrief: "And I was trying to figure how we'd do a TLI - plus 10 "
002:36:31 Stafford: Three minutes. Everything looks good, Charlie.
002:36:35 Young (onboard): Cabin pressure [garble] high.
002:36:42 Duke: Apollo 10, Houston. We've got a predicted cut-off: 2 plus 39 plus 10.
002:36:48 Stafford: 2 plus 39 plus 10.
002:36:55 Stafford: Wow! Right into the Sun, here.
002:36:59 Duke: Roger.
002:37:01 Young (onboard): Holy [garble].
002:37:07 Stafford (onboard): [Garble].
002:37:14 Cernan (onboard): Okay, babe, there's a 03:50 coming up.
002:37:25 Cernan (onboard): Coming up on 4 minutes.
002:37:27 Cernan (onboard): Mark it.
002:37:29 Duke: And, Apollo 10, Houston. At 4 minutes everybody is saying Go. The S-IVB is looking great.
002:37:33 Stafford: [Garble]. Roger, Houston. 10 looks good [garble].
31,000 feet per second velocity. Present altitude; 123 miles.
002:37:35 Duke: Roger, Houston. 10, here. Looks good on board.
002:37:55 Young (onboard): [Garble] I don't know either.
002:37:58 Cernan (onboard): There's [garble].
002:38:06 Stafford: We're getting a little [garble] high-frequency vibrations in the cabin.
002:38:11 Duke: Say again?
002:38:12 Stafford: Were getting small high-frequency vibrations. Nothing to worry about...
002:38:17 Duke: Understand. Small yaw oscillation. 10?
002:38:21 Stafford: Negative. High frequency vibrations.
002:38:23 Duke: Oh, Ah so.
002:38:26 Stafford (onboard): Gosh!
002:38:28 Cernan (onboard): Come on, we've got another 40 seconds to burn.
002:38:30 Duke: At 5 minutes, we still have you Go, 10.
002:38:51 Cernan (onboard): Okay, we're coming up on 05:25, predicted 05:43. 05:30.
002:39:02 Duke: 10, Houston, in the blind. At cut-off, Up Telemetry, IU to Accept.
002:39:06 Stafford (onboard): [Garble].
002:39:08 Cernan (onboard): Going on 40; 1, 2, 3. SECO! Son of a bitch!
002:39:11 Stafford: SECO.
The Number 1 light on the launch vehicle indicator comes back on to indicate engine cut-off. It also signals the beginning of Time-Base 7, concerned with controlling the pressure in the S-IVB fuel tank, and with control of the Saturn's attitude in preparation for the separation and docking manoeuvre.
002:39:13 Duke: Roger. SECO. We confirm the cut-off.
002:39:15 Cernan (onboard): Okay, we've gone 35,514[fps]. H-dot 42211 [4221.1 fps]. Up Telemetry, IU to Accept at 172.5 [altitude, nautical miles] at cut-off.
002:39:23 Duke: Roger. Copy.
002:39:30 Stafford: And would you believe, my Delta-VC. reads minus 0.6?
002:39:35 Duke: Roger. Minus 0.6 on the Delta-VC. That's beautiful.
002:39:39 Stafford: Can't beat that, Charlie.
Their jubilation comes from having seen how accurately their systems can both control and monitor their engine burns. During the TLI burn, the Saturn's guidance system had to add 10,437.6 feet per second to their velocity. At the start of the burn, the EMS had the same figure on its display and, using its own accelerometer, was decrementing that number down towards zero as they gained speed. When the Saturn shut the J-2 engine down, the EMS had overshot zero by only 0.6 fps, meaning that the two independent systems differed by only 0.006 per cent, an astounding accuracy.
002:39:40 Cernan (onboard): Okay. Did you get that [garble]...
002:39:42 Young: And, Charlie, we've got an O2 Flow High and a light in the middle of the burn, here, which we can't account for.
002:39:49 Duke: Stand by, John.
002:39:52 Cernan (onboard): Okay, TVC Servo Power, [garble].
002:39:54 Stafford (onboard): [Garble].
002:39:55 Cernan (onboard): PCM Bit Rate, Low.
002:39:57 Stafford (onboard): Okay, [garble]...
Communications are now via the tracking ship, USNS Redstone.
002:40:19 Duke: Apollo 10, Houston. In the blind. Have LOS at Redstone 2 plus 41. See you over Hawaii, 2 plus 44.
002:40:27 Young: Roger. In trouble-shooting that thing, I went to Auto 2 on the suit circuit water accumulator. That's the only thing I could think of. It was right at 10 minutes when it happened.
002:40:37 Duke: Roger. We think that cabin pressure regs kicked in for that O2 flow, John.
002:40:45 Stafford: They just went out, and the flow is starting to drop now, Charlie. Looks like we're in good shape.
002:40:48 Duke: Okay, fine. You're beginning to fade out. We think we'll be losing you through the Redstone here in about 30 seconds. Hawaii at 2 plus 44.
002:41:06 CapCom: And, 10, in the blind. Everything we got looks nominal. You're on your way
This is Apollo Control. 2 hours and 41 minutes into the mission. Apollo 10 on the way to the Moon. We have lost signal for about 3 or 4 minutes. We will pick up at Hawaii at 2 hours, 44 minutes. This is Mission Control in Houston.
Post TLI Groundtrack
002:42:31 SC (onboard): ...have to worry about besides radiation.
002:42:40 SC (onboard): [Garble] the cabin?
002:42:42 SC (onboard): Not yet, [garble].
002:42:49 SC (onboard): [Garble]?
002:42:58 SC (onboard): I read nothing.
002:43:01 SC (onboard): Nothing on what?
002:43:03 SC (onboard): On that red flowmeter.
002:43:19 Stafford (onboard): Oh, shit.
002:43:30 Stafford (onboard): Okay.
002:43:35 Cernan (onboard): Here's your card there, okay?
002:43:38 Stafford (onboard): I believe it worked slick as a whistle.
002:43:39 Cernan (onboard): Do you want to - [garble], Okay?
002:43:42 Stafford (onboard): Yes, okay. Do you want to stow your suit now, babe?
002:43:46 Cernan (onboard): I can't. I ain't [garble].
002:43:50 Stafford (onboard): [Garble]. Okay?
002:43:53 Cernan (onboard): Well, yes. We won't switch leads.
002:43:56 Stafford (onboard): Okay, You can use your - your thing here, right? You can talk on that.
002:44:01 Young (onboard): I can see stars in the day - I can see something in the day - they're not stars. Shit. It's a bunch of crap.
002:44:08 Stafford (onboard): [Garble]. Look at that world.
002:44:15 Young (onboard): Okay.
002:44:16 Stafford (onboard): You got the TV in each side up, José?
This is Apollo Control; 2 hours, 44 minutes. Charlie Duke's just put in a call to the spacecraft. We're showing present altitude 608 nautical miles. The velocity starting to drop off already; 33,602 feet per second.
002:44:19 Duke: Hello. Apollo 10, Houston through Hawaii. How do you read? Over.
002:44:23 Stafford: Roger. Houston, Apollo 10. Would you believe the world is starting to fade away?
002:44:30 Duke: Roger. We believe it, Tom. You're all Go here. FIDO confirms it was a perfect insertion. We'd like you to confirm that you're on omni Delta, and we're all Go.
002:44:33 Young (onboard): [Garble]? It's easy to see [garble].
002:44:38 Stafford (onboard): John, why don't you go hook up that [garble]?
002:44:40 Stafford: Roger.
002:44:41 Young (onboard): I've already hooked it up. How do you think this [garble] here cable here [garble]? You want to talk about something fantastic...
002:44:46 Cernan: We're on omni Delta, Charlie, and there sure ain't any question about it from here.
Cernan is confirming which of the four S-band antennae mounted around the periphery of the CM is currently selected.
CSM Antenna locations
002:44:50 Duke: Roger.
002:44:53 Cernan: I don't meant the Delta, I mean the world.
002:44:56 Duke: We got you; we understand.
002:45:18 Duke: 10, Houston. We expect the S-IVB to start to Sep attitude at 2 plus 54 plus 10, right on time. And your Sep attitude is looking good.
The S-IVB maneuvers the whole remaining stack to the separation attitude using the two APS (Auxiliary Propulsion System) units.
002:45:33 Cernan: Roger.
002:45:34 Stafford: Okay. John's in the left seat now, and I'm in the center seat. We've already changed,
002:45:39 Duke: Roger, Tom. Did you get a chance to get that radiation survey meter out?
002:45:47 Cernan: Yes, I did, Charlie, and I read zero on every scale.
002:45:50 Duke: Okay. And what was the GET of that, Gene? About 245?
002:45:57 Cernan: About 243.
002:45:58 Duke: Okay.
002:47:18 Duke: 10, Houston. We'll have you AOS now until you get to LOS at the Moon.
002:47:28 Stafford: Sounds like Chris has pretty good coverage.
Stafford is referring to Chris Kraft jnr who, at the time of Apollo 10, was Director of Flight Operations.
Apollo 10 was launched to the east and travelled around Earth in that direction. Now, as it leaves for the Moon, its groundtrack slows and will eventually loop back on itself as Earth's rotation catches up with a spacecraft that is travelling away from the planet rather than across it. An important effect is that only three major ground stations spaced roughly 120° around the planet are required to give constant communications to the spacecraft.
002:47:31 Duke: Yes, sir. He's sitting back there smiling.
002:47:37 Stafford: You ought to see us.
002:47:43 Duke: Chris says there ain't no backing out now.
002:47:47 Stafford: That's for sure.
002:47:49 Cernan: You can play our favorite song, Charlie, the one about Fly me Someplace or Somewhere.
002:47:53 Cooper: Roger, That's up to you.
002:48:00 Duke: We've got three Marshall guys here, smiling from ear to ear, too.
The Marshall guys Charlie Duke refers to are the booster systems engineers on the console and what they refer to is the trench.
Velocity is 32,603 feet per second, altitude 857 nautical miles.
002:49:55 Duke: Apollo 10, Houston. We'd like you to do a Verb 66 to get the state vector in the right position. And, if you've got time, comment on the ORDEAL tracking there for that backup TLI.
002:50:07 Stafford: Okay. The initial track was just right on what the nominal was, and the ORDEAL was looking just what it should be.
Stafford, from the 1969 Technical debrief: "TLI monitor procedure - the new procedure that we worked out with respect to manual backup guidance worked out very well. We set the Orb-rate ball to the lunar torquing rate at 200 nautical miles - the way it should match coming down - and it worked great. We were all confident that - if it were required to do a manual TLI, we could have done it - just no problem. The correlation, there, was great."
002:50:14 Duke: Roger, Tom.
Heart rates during that long S-IVB burn: Tom Stafford, 116; John Young, 97; Gene Cernan, 104.
002:52:23 Cernan: Say, Charlie. Looks like we might have a little closed-circuit TV up here.
Cernan is advising that he has the onboard color TV operating and that he has a picture on his monitor. The picture has not yet been received at MCC Houston.
002:52:27 Duke: Okay. How's it looking, Gene?
002:52:28 Cernan: Well, I can't really tell too much, but at least it works closed-circuit.
002:52:33 Duke: Okay, fine. Goldstone's all configured. We'll be standing by.
002:53:11 Cernan: Charlie, it's beautiful closed-circuit.
002:53:16 Duke: Hey, great, Gene. We can't wait...
002:53:20 Cernan: I've got my own little show of these two guys up here. It's beautiful, really is.
002:53:22 Duke: Well, great. I hope it's that good down here. We're sitting on pins and needles waiting for it. And, if you've got a second, we'd like to, Tom, we'd like you to recap these S-IVB oscillations; give the guys one up on starting work on it.
002:53:35 Stafford: Yes, okay. All the way through even into Earth orbit boost the S-IVB had just a slight little - it felt like - like both lateral and longitudinal vibrations to it, and after - It felt like it was running rough, at least compared to the Titan.
002:53:53 Duke: Okay.
002:53:55 Stafford: And then after 3 minutes, superimposed upon the low frequency vibrations, came a real high frequency vib; I'd say in the ball park of 20 cps, something like that. And of course we were sweating it all the way, but it shut down right on time; but there was a definite shift to a high frequency superimposed upon the low frequency, at about 3 minutes into the TLI burn.
Stafford is referring back to the vibrations encountered during the TLI burn. See crew debrief comments detailed at GET 2 hours, 36 minutes, 30 seconds.
002:54:18 Duke: Roger. Is it a - give you a feeling like it - 2.2 Mach in the 104, something like that, just a real rumble?
002:54:26 Stafford: Yes, kind of. Just about so much. We are starting the maneuver now, so we'll tell you later.
S-IVB is maneuvering to separation attitude.
002:54:30 Duke: Roger.
002:54:49 Stafford: Okay. Cabin pressure has [garble] to 57. Direct O2 coming Off.
002:54:51 Duke: Roger.
Altitude is 1,598 miles, velocity 30,077 feet per second.
002:57:08 Young: Okay. We show ourselves at the attitude. Over.
002:57:11 Duke: We confirm, 10. You're Go for Sep.
002:57:14 Young: Roger. We're going to check the thrusters here, now.
The crew are checking the operation of the RCS thrusters on the SM, required to control the CSM during the transposition and docking manoeuvre.
002:57:22 Duke: 10, you're Go for Pyro Arm and Go for Sep.
Crew has been given the Go to arm the pyrotechnic devices that will separate the CSM from the SLA, and then separate the four SLA panel that have been protecting the stowed LM up until this point. See below.
SLA separation planes
SLA panel ejector mechanism
002:57:25 Young: Roger.
That's John Young. He will do the docking to the LM.
He is now in the left seat flying the Command/Service Module. A minute and a half from separation. The Command and Service Modules will separate from the S-IVB at about...
002:58:45 SC: [Garble].
002:58:51 Young: Houston, this is Apollo 10. Could you confirm the firings? Over.
002:58:56 Duke: Say again.
002:58:59 Young: Could you confirm the thruster firings? Over.
002:59:00 Duke: Stand by.
002:59:10 Duke: 10, Houston. We confirm all the rotational inputs; we did not confirm the translational. As far as we're concerned, you are Go.
002:59:17 Young: Roger.
002:59:23 Duke: 10, we did see plus and minus X on the translational.
002:59:27 Young: Roger.
003:01:14 Duke: 10, Houston. The Noun 22 looks good to us.
003:02:51 Stafford: We have SEP.
Young, from the 1969 Technical debrief: "We applied 0.6 ft/sec velocity to about 40 seconds and nulled the velocity to zero, essentially. We then started our pitch around at about a degree and a half per second. When we got around, we were about 150 feet away from the S-IVB (which is not a bad place to be). But that's about 100 feet further away than we should have been. I don't have any explanation for this. It took us a little more gas to get back there."
Young (continued): "Better to be safe than sorry. We were still moving away from the vehicle when we turned around. It took three different positive translations of 0.2 to 0.3 ft/sec to start closing on the vehicle."
Young (continued): "I don't understand it, but it didn't cause any problem. If you are going to be safe about it, why not do it that way?"
Young (continued): "We didn't do any formation flying; we just turned around and went back into docking. Transposition was a degree and a quarter per second to turnaround. We were doing 0.2 ft/sec and we docked in CMC Auto. It was easy. There were no vehicle oscillations. Alignment, as far as I was concerned, was absolutely perfect - a piece of cake."
Young (continued): "The CSM handled perfectly. The handling characteristics are just exactly what they were in the simulator. It's easy to fly in Auto control. There was nothing to it. Sunlight was no problem. I don't feel that the sunlight will ever be a problem on docking. I don't think there is any need to constrain the angle of sunlight except that you'd like to have it somewhere behind you, maybe within plus or minus 60 degrees of being behind you. It doesn't seem to make any difference. Now, when we were far out there, coming in, because the brightness off the LM, the COAS was washed out. But, when we got in closer, it came back in again and was there the whole way in. As soon as we hit, if I'd fired the bottle we'd have been all right. But I turned everything off and we sat there, and slowly the vehicle drifted down a couple of degrees. I wanted to get it back. So I fired a couple of down pulses and it slowly picked the vehicle right back up and then we fired the bottles and went on in. I don't really believe we had any misalignment to speak of at contact."
From the Apollo 10 Mission Report: "Separation of the Command and Service Modules from the S-IVB was initiated at 3:02:42 and docking was completed at 3:17:37, but the estimated distance at turnaround was reported to have been 150 feet, instead of the intended 50 feet. Crew procedures for this maneuver were based on those for Apollo 9 and were executed properly; however, a reduced S-IVB weight from Apollo 9 and the fact that some plus-X translation velocity remained when an attempt was made to null the separation rate probably resulted in the increased separation distance. The lower S-IVB weight affected separation in that the impulse derived during firing of the pyrotechnic separation charge and the velocity gained from any reaction control plume impingement would both be greater than expected. Each of these effects have been analyzed, and results show the increased separation distance can be accounted for within the estimation accuracy of the crew."
003:02:53 Duke: Roger.
Apollo 10 is pitching around now, the Guidance Control officers says, pitching around and then will come back in and dock with the Lunar Module. Altitude now 3,580 nautical miles; velocity is down to 25,401.
003:04:23 Cernan: That world is just incredible. There goes a panel, Charlie.
003:04:27 Duke: Roger. How do you read me, Gene?
003:04:30 Cernan: Loud and clear. We don't have the S-IVB yet, but there goes a panel.
Cernan has seen one of the SLA panels separating from the S-IVB.
003:04:33 Duke: Roger.
003:04:37 Cernan: That world is incredible.
003:04:38 Duke: Really moving?
003:04:40 Cernan: Holy Moly, I sure hope we can show it to you, I really do.
003:04:51 Stafford: Okay. I got the S-IVB.
003:04:53 Duke: Roger.
003:04:55 Cernan: And there goes another [SLA] panel.
003:04:59 Duke: Roger. All retrograde, we hope.
Charlie Duke is making the observation that he hopes all of the SLA panels are travelling retrograde, that is moving outward and behind the S-IVB / LM combination, so that they do not pose any risk when the CSM moves back in for the docking with the LM 'Snoopy'.
003:05:08 Young: I don't know what [garble] it is up here right now.
Those are the SLA panels that house the Lunar Module. They've been jettisoned.
003:05:11 Duke: Yes.
003:05:30 Cernan: Charlie, I've got the world on closed circuit here, so we're going to try and get High Gain.
003:05:34 Duke: Roger. Standing by.
003:05:40 Cernan: Okay, babe. There's High Gain. The TV is On. I should be coming down to you, and I'll have to adjust it as we come along into the S-IVB.
Cernan has now switched from the S-band omnidirectional antenna to the S-band high-gain directional dish antenna (panel 3). The High Gain Antenna deploys from its stowed position when the CSM separates from the SLA panels.
S-band antenna switch
Download MP3 audio file. Audio of docking.
003:05:49 Duke: Hey, it's beautiful, Gene. We got the black and white now with a little time delay on the color.
003:05:55 Cernan: Okay. And the S-IVB ought to be coming in here in a second.
003:05:58 Duke: Roger.
003:06:01 Duke: Hey, we got the S-IVB coming into the top. The sun's really shining on it.
AS10-34-5011 - S-IVB and LM, after the CSM has pitched around and is preparing to close in for the docking - Image by NASA/Johnson Space Center.
003:06:07 Cernan: Okay. I'll try to adjust it for you
003:06:11 Duke: Hey, we got the color now.
003:06:14 Cooper: You're on the air, Babe. Oh, that's beautiful.
003:06:21 Cernan: Have you got the color?
003:06:22 Duke: Yes, sir. It's looking great!
003:06:23 Cernan: I'm sorry it's tilted a little bit. That's the best I could do with the brackets.
003:06:26 Duke: No sweat; we got it right in the center of the screen, Gene. It looks like the Sun's really bright on it.
003:06:31 Cernan: Tremendously so.
003:06:44 Duke: The Sun's got the S-IVB - the LM sort of blotted out; it's so bright.
003:07:06 Duke: Hey, your zooming in looks really good, Gene.
003:07:21 Cernan: Charlie, I've got it closed down all the way. Does that help any?
003:07:25 Duke: Roger. The - In the center of the LM now, we still got a real - couple of real bright spots, but it's looking real good in color. We can, see the probe - correction, the drogue.
003:07:53 Duke: Gene, it's really looking good. The - It's the silver panels that are reflecting back real brightly.
003:08:01 Cernan: They're awful [garble] right now, too.
003:08:03 Duke: Roger. The resolution is fantastic. You're drifting off just to the right a little bit.
003:08:44 Duke: 10, Houston. You can't believe the picture we're getting. The resolution is really fantastic.
003:08:51 Cernan: I'll tell you, this monitor makes it great.
003:09:11 Cernan: How's the color, Charlie?
003:09:12 Duke: Say again.
003:09:14 Cernan: How's the color?
003:09:16 Duke: It's really beautiful, Gene. You've got it framed just perfectly. The resolution...
003:09:22 Cernan: Hey, I think the color will be beautiful once, we can show you the Earth.
003:09:24 Duke: Roger.
003:09:44 Cooper: Old Snoopy sure looks good.
003:09:48 Cernan: Yes. He sure do.
003:09:59 Young: Old Charlie Brown is a mass of cord and wire floating around here, though.
003:10:06 Duke: I can imagine.
003:10:48 Cernan: Houston, Charlie Brown. I've settled down now on the zoom, and the closing rate you see is the closing rate we've got.
003:10:55 Duke: Roger. We copy. Gene, if it looks like to you - We have a bright spot - it may be on your vidicon, coming in on your vidicon tube on the black and white. It's right above the drogue.
003:11:09 Cernan: Yes, we've got it in real life. The camera is fully in the shade. That's just a reflection coming right off the - right off of Snoopy.
003:11:17 Duke: Rog.
003:11:26 Duke: 10, we're afraid you might be burning a hole into your vidicon tube. Move it off to the - a little bit off of Snoop. I think those panels are so bright we might be getting problems with the vidicon tube.
003:11:39 Cernan: All right.
003:11:52 Cernan: I can just cover it up for a while if you like.
003:11:56 Duke: Stand by.
003:12:33 Duke: 10, Houston. We'd like the LM - Snoopy back, if you could give it to us.
003:12:38 Cernan: I'd be glad to.
003:12:40 Duke: Hey, that's looking great now, except for a couple of fingers there or something.
003:12:46 Cernan: Good resolution; that's what they were.
003:12:48 Cooper: You got your big hands in the way.
003:12:50 Duke: Hey, I don't know what you did, but the - It's really beautiful now. Really great.
003:12:57 Cernan: We're just a little closer.
003:12:58 Duke: Yes.
003:12:59 Cooper: Boy, the color is great, Gene.
00313:01: Cernan: How's that for the front porch?
003:13:04 Duke: Oh, boy. That's beautiful.
003:13:12 Cernan: Hell, I got to watch it on TV, too. I've got - can't see out the window.
003:13:29 Cooper: Hey, what's that guy doing on the front porch?
003:13:36 Stafford: That's a green man, Gordo.
003:13:44 Stafford: And John estimates 50 feet closing.
003:13:46 Duke: Roger.
003:13:57 Stafford: How's the resolution?
003:13:58 Cernan: Well, all I can say is it's really happening, and what hasn't happened you haven't seen yet.
003:14:02 Duke: Roger.
003:14:10 CapCom (Cooper): Really great resolution.
That was Gordon Cooper. He and Charlie Duke are both on the CapCom console. And that orange platform is the front porch.
003:15:20 Cernan: Charlie, we can't be more than about 5, 10 feet away.
003:15:24 Duke: Roger.
003:15:41 Duke: 10, it's looking real stable to us. We show you closing slightly.
003:15:43 Stafford: Roger.
003:16:30 Cernan: Be docked in a second, I hope.
003:16:32 Duke: Roger.
003:16:57 Duke: 10, Houston. You're looking good. We can see the markings on the rendezvous window. Looks like you just docked.
003:17:03 Stafford: Roger. We've got a capture; we haven't fired yet.
003:17:06 Duke: Roger.
003:17:24 Duke: Gene, we can read the numbers on the LM docking window.
003:17:38 Stafford: Snap, snap, and we're there. Got two grays.
Stafford, from the 1969 Technical debrief: "John gave me the direction to fire the retract bottles, and I threw the switch: The one thing that amazed me, I thought it took a long period of time for the retract cycle to pull in."
Stafford (continued): "I said to myself, 'Is it retracting?' I couldn't see anything. I was waiting for the barber poles to go gray and hear the rings lock together. I just wasn't aware of this total time that is required for the retract cycle. When the docking latch is made, there was a kind of ripple type of situation, a real rapid ripple."
Docking probe retract on panel 2.
003:17:40 Duke: Roger.
003:17:42 Cernan: You saw the docking, Charlie.
003:17:50 Stafford: We didn't get any Master Alarm. Everything looks snug.
003:17:53 Duke: Roger. Didn't look like there was any hardly any after dock - post docking oscillations.
003:18:01 Stafford: Check.
003:18:25 Stafford: Okay. Pyros coming Off.
003:18:26 Duke: Roger.
003:18:54 Duke: 10, that's a great picture of the quads.
003:18:57 Cernan: I'll try and take you on a quick tour. We're - I may have to hold you up for a little bit here.
003:19:03 Stafford: Okay. John's going down to the LEB [Lower Equipment Bay] and, I'm going to the left seat now.
003:19:06 Duke: Roger, Tom. We're standing by.
003:19:23 Duke: Apollo 10, Houston. We'd like you to Safe the Logic.
See switch diagram at GET 001:51:48 when the Pyro Logic was armed.
That was one of the Reaction Control System quads you saw there at the last. We are coming back up here now with another picture. Altitude 6,869 nautical miles, velocity 21,280 feet per second.
003:20:27 Cernan: Charlie, you're going to have to look at the same picture for a while until we get this integrity check complete.
003:20:31 Duke: Roger. We understand you are busy.
003:21:43 Cernan: Okay. I'm watching.
003:23:43 Cernan: Houston, this is 10. We are in the process of attempting to pressurize the tunnel.
003:27:20 Cernan: Hello, Houston. This is 10. We're going to go ahead and suspend the TV here for about 10 minutes until we get a little bit squared away.
003:27:26 Duke: Roger. Understand.
003:27:27 Cernan: We'll be back with you shortly.
003:27:30 Duke: Roger, Gene. Give me a call when you've got time to copy an evasive PAD.
This PAD will contain the details of the short separation burn which will clear the Apollo 10 spacecraft from the now spent S-IVB third stage.
003:27:35 Cernan: Okay. I will.
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