076:24:34 Stafford: Roger, Houston. Apollo 10. You can tell the world that we have arrived.
076:24:39 Duke: Roger, 10. It's good to hear from you.
076:24:41 Young: Boy, you wouldn't believe this thing.
That was John Young.
076:24:44 Stafford: Yes, the guidance was absolutely fantastic, and we'll give you the - the burns right now.
076:24:51 Young: This engine is just beautiful.
076:24:54 Cernan: Charlie, my hat's off to the guys in the Trench. I love them.
076:24:56 Young: Yes, kiss that man that runs MSFN.
076:25:02 Duke: I don't know whether I can do that, though, but I'll say thank you.
076:25:05 Cernan: Okay, Charlie. You ready to copy our burns?
076:25:06 Duke: Go ahead.
076:25:08 Cernan: Yes. Say thank you big. You ready to copy the postburn report?
076:25:13 Duke: Roger. Go.
076:25:18 Cernan: Okay. The burn was on time. The burn time was 5 plus 56. Our roll, pitch, and yaw, and angles guidance was all good. Our residuals were 0, minus 0.2, and 0. Delta-VC read 7.0 - That's minus 7.0. The fuel remaining is 37.7 percent, oxidizer is 39.5 percent. The unbalance - I'd like to talk about - The present unbalance is 500 increase. We're in a 169.1 by a 59.6 [313.2 by 110.4 km]. The chamber pressure increased smoothly throughout the burn from 98 to 103 with no apparent discernible jump at second ball-valve initiation. I take that back, Charlie. It bounced up to 98 and then smoothly from 98 on to 103 with all four ball valves on. The unbalance - Are you still with me?
076:26:32 Duke: Roger. Go ahead. Standing by. Over.
076:26:37 Cernan: Okay. I watched the unbalance go from where we left it at 200 decrease from the short burns. I didn't touch it until after everything settled down after we were into the burn for 30 minutes. At that time, the unbalance was 300 to 350 decrease. I put the oxidizer flow valve in a Decrease position. I brought it up to zero. I closed it and then it started on up. After it hit about 150 increase, I put it to Increase and it held it, barely held it, and it creeped up from like about 250 to the present point at 500. I actually neutralized the flow valve at about 20 seconds before the burn ended and when I put it to Normal, then the increase went from about 400 to 500.
Cernan is advising MCC-H about how busy he had been with the propellant balancing systems during the LOI-1 burn.
Note that the timings given in this conversation differ from those in the technical transcript. A suspected error in the minutes figure has been adjusted to make more sense. If unedited audio becomes available, the timings will be revisited.
076:27:39 Duke: Roger. We copied, 10. It looks like you really have arrived. That was a great burn.
076:27:42 Cernan: And the oxidizer, the oxidizer and fuel remaining agree very accurately with the onboard graph I have of the helium pressure, which is about 1750 right now.
076:27:53 Duke: Roger. We copy, 10.
076:27:58 Cernan: And the first view I had of the Moon was reflected in the overhead window of the LM. How does that grab you?
That's Gene Cernan with the post burn report.
Comm break.
During LOI, the big SPS engine on the aft end of the Service Module is facing the direction of travel which means that the CM windows are facing generally rearwards with the LM in view. As they came towards the point where the burn would occur, they were in the Moon's shadow. The LM's overhead window, on the other hand, is facing forwards and is in Gene's field of view from his right-hand seat. As they neared the Moon's sunset terminator, Gene could see the obliquely-lit landscape reflected in this window.
076:28:05 Duke: Hey, that's great.
076:28:35 Young: Hello, Houston. You'd have to see this planet to believe it.
076:28:41 Duke: Roger, 10. We've got FIDO looking at your - the radar residuals are very small. Give us a chance to track awhile, and we'll confirm. Over.
076:29:00 Young: Okay, Charlie. You mean - you don't think it's - I think it's confirmed, as far as I'm concerned.
076:29:10 Duke: Roger. We're committed, 10. It looks that good.
076:29:28 Young: We have our student geologists here overlooking the surface, and they'll report in a minute.
076:29:35 Duke: Roger. Standing by. Over.
076:29:36 Stafford: Okay. We're just passing from the highlands over into the Mare area, and you can pass on to Jack we caught a couple of real pretty little volcanoes, there's no doubt about them, and we got a couple of good high-resolution photos, and it still looks kind of brownish-gray to us here. Over.
076:29:56 Duke: Roger. We copy.
076:29:57 Young: Yes. There were some places back there where... There was one volcano, whatever it was, that - It was all white on the outside but definitely black around the top of it.
076:30:11 Duke: Roger.
076:30:14 Cernan: Charlie, it might sound corny, but the view is really out of this world.
076:30:19 Duke: Roger. (Laughter) We had a couple of comments (laughter) from the back row that I won't repeat. [Long pause.]
Those first words we have received were from Tom Stafford and John Young commented and then Gene Cernan gave the post-burn report. That was also Tom with reporting two volcanos and then John Young came back in with the description of what looked like a volcano black around the top.
076:31:18 Duke: Hello, Apollo 10. Houston. We have a map update for Rev 2 if you're ready to copy. Over.
076:31:29 Stafford: Stand by.
076:31:31 Cernan: Okay, Charlie. Go ahead.
076:31:34 Duke: Roger. For LOS, 77:47:59, 77:58:27, 78:31:19. We've got a sunrise time of 77:51:40 and a sunset of 79:13:33. Ready for your readback. Over.
076:32:14 Cernan: Okay. Rev 2 is 77:47:59, 77:58:27, and 78:31:19. Sunrise is 77:51:40, sunset is 79:13:33.
The map update times are given for each revolution and are hand written on the Flight Plan. The times given for Rev 2 are LOS, 77:47:59; sunrise, 77:51:40; crossing 150°W, 77:58:27; AOS, 78:31:19; sunset, 79:13:33.
076:32:27 Duke: Roger. [Long pause.]
076:33:05 Duke: 10, Houston. According to our maps, we have you coming up on the Sea of Waves and to your left Langrenus. [Long pause.]
This is Apollo Control at 76 hours, 34 minutes and as you've heard, Gene Cernan reported that burn was right on time. Duration was 5 minutes, 56 seconds. And the murmur of almost unbelievable ran through this Control Center when they read out those residuals. Zero, minus two-tenths and zero. The onboard reading of the orbit - lunar orbit for Apollo 10 was 169.1 nautical miles at the burn, 59.6 nautical miles [313.2 by 110.4 km] pericynthion. We were shooting for 60 by 170 [111 by 315 km].
076:33:58 Young: Man, we could see the Sea of Crises up here. That's the first real thing that I'm positive of that I've seen that I recognize and boy, it really stands out.
076:34:09 Duke: Roger. We copy. [Long pause.]
That was John Young reporting he could see the Sea of Crises - stands out very well.
076:34:26 Stafford: Houston, Apollo 10. One thing about the orbital rate up here in the track, it's considerably slower than around the Earth.
076:34:34 Duke: Roger. We copied 10. Over.
076:34:40 Stafford: And, also, looking out at the horizon, some of the mountains we can see down here - That's going to be a real kick tomorrow down at 50,000 feet [15,000 metres]. Over.
076:34:49 Duke: We copy that. [Long pause.]
That was Tom Stafford.
076:36:04 Duke: 10, we're expecting an appropriate comment tomorrow.
076:36:14 Stafford: We'll use the right words. This will be our VOX, Charlie.
076:36:18 Duke: Roger.
Comm break.
And the people in the trench that the crew showered the praise on are the Flight Dynamics Officers whose consoles are on the front row in the control center. That area is referred to as the Trench.
And FIDO wants to get some tracking before he commits himself on the orbital parameters, but he expects them to be right on nominal. Very, very close.
076:37:33 Cernan: We've got Langrenus, now, out here off the - It depends on which way you roll, but off to the one side here. Very beautiful sharp peak right in the center.
076:37:49 Duke: Copy, 10.
076:37:55 Cernan: Yes. And it appears our water boiler is working, too.
076:37:59 Duke: Roger. We confirm that. We picked it up a moment ago.
The primary evaporator (boiler) which had dried out during the launch ascent, was reserviced and operated during the LOI-1 burn and continued to be used until it again dried out during the second lunar revolution.
076:38:17 Stafford: Houston.
076:38:33 Duke: Hello, Apollo 10. Houston. We are working on a time for you to cross to Site 1, and did you attempt to call a second ago? Over.
076:38:47 Stafford: Negative. I don't think so, Charlie. Over.
076:38:50 Duke: Roger.
Comm break.
We are showing spacecraft weight now at 69,493 pounds [31,594 kg]. Apollo 10 losing a lot of weight in that long LOI burn. The weight at LOS was 93,281 pounds [42,408 kg].
076:41:00 Duke: Hello, Apollo 10. Houston. We have a time crossing latitude for - correction, longitude for Site 1: 76:49:00. Over.
076:41:10 Stafford: Go.
076:41:15 Young: Roger.
076:41:22 Stafford: Roger, Charlie. And I think we are coming over the Taruntius Twins now. Looks like we've got them real clear.
076:41:31 Duke: Roger. We copy, 10. What is your early estimate of landmark tracking ability? Did Jack do a good job for you? You got a lot of good landmarks?
076:41:45 Stafford: Starting to look just like NASA Road 1 out there now.
076:41:50 Duke: Sounds really great. Over.
076:41:55 Stafford: Roger. Just wait until this afternoon. At the speed we are traveling, that TV camera with the zoom should really give you a fantastic picture.
076:42:04 Duke: We're standing by.
Comm break.
NASA Road 1 is the road in front of the Manned Spacecraft Center.
076:43:48 Cernan: Hey, Charlie. You will be glad to know we are walking right up our LM chart, right up our track in the Apollo Ridge, right now. We've just seen the four Taruntius: Papa, Kilo, Hotel and George. We've seen big Taruntius; we're looking at Messier and Messier A; and Secchi K ought to be coming up, and then Secchi.
076:44:10 Duke: Roger. We copy, 10. We are following along with you. [Long pause.]
That was Gene Cernan calling out those landmarks along the ground track.
076:44:36 Cernan: We're B-1 right now, come to think of it.
076:44:45 Duke: Roger. We copy. [Long pause.]
076:45:14 Cernan: And, Houston. Secchi is very well defined as we come into Apollo Ridge. The rille perpendicular to the ridge and parallel to the ridge is very well defined in this area. The chicken-track area is very easy to see from this altitude.
076:45:33 Duke: We copy, 10.
Comm break.
076:47:03 Duke: 10, Houston. As you near Site 1, if you get a chance, could you comment on the volcanic cones and the highlands south of track? Over.
Comm break.
076:48:28 Stafford: Houston, Apollo 10. We're right over Censorinus at this time, at least through my hatch window. Over.
076:48:35 Duke: Roger, Tom. We copy. We're plotting you right along. Over.
076:48:46 Cernan: And I've got the terminator out my window, coming up. It sure makes the landscape look a little different.
076:48:55 Duke: Roger, 10. Could you comment on the shadows as you come up to the terminator and the - your ability to detect landmarks in that area? Over.
076:49:13 Young: I think it's going to be real good. Just like the "8" guys said, you can see down into these shadows.
076:49:18 Duke: Roger. Good show, John.
076:49:21 Young: Like, I'm looking at - down at one crater and there's a crater that's underneath the shadow, but I'm not having any trouble at all seeing it from here.
076:49:32 Duke: Roger. [Long pause.]
076:49:48 Stafford: Okay. We've reached 208 inertial, and we'll just hold their attitude around since it's the same attitude as per Flight Plan.
The Flight Plan calls for the attitude to be held at an inertial attitude of 208° pitch, 135° roll and 0° yaw.
076:49:56 Duke: Roger. We concur.
076:49:58 Stafford: And, there is no doubt about it. This maria area out here is darker than the other. It looks like it's turning nearly black, where before looking out there, it's like a light shade of grayish-brown. And I bet that TV camera will show it pretty good. Over.
076:50:12 Duke: Roger. We're standing by for the TV, and stopped the orb-rate at 208 inertial. Over.
The ORDEAL panel 13, FDAI 1 & 2 switches, have now been moved from the Orb Rate position to the Inrtl (inertial) position to enable the spacecraft attitude to be maintained at 208° pitch.
076:50:23 Cernan: Charlie, I got Theophilus right on the terminator here, and you can see well down into it. It's got a very pronounced central peak which is nearly as high as the rim, and it's got a little rim crater just on the inside which is very easily distinguishable. And then just preceding it at 30 east and about 11 south, the small crater preceding it in contrast has no central peak that's visible.
076:50:56 Duke: Roger, 10. We've located you on a map.
076:51:00 Stafford: Okay. I've got...
076:51:01 Duke: Go ahead, Tom.
076:51:04 Stafford: Yes. Well, I'm right over Maskelyne and Maskelyne B now to be leading right into Landing Site 2.
076:51:11 Duke: Roger. We've - keeping a cheek on all your systems. Everything looks great to us. You've got a great spacecraft
076:51:26 Stafford: And Sidewinder Rille and Diamondback Rille stand out just tremendous here. We're just about to cross the terminator.
076:51:35 Duke: Roger.
076:51:36 Young: Boy, that's really something there, I don't see why fish aren't dumped down that creek.
076:51:52 Cernan: And Torricelli is off to the right on my forward window, very easily distinguishable at this Sun angle. Those rilles are something else again.
076:52:20 Duke: 10, Houston. We'll have you coming up to Site 2 at 76:53. You might be in there too dark at that point, but that's the time. Over.
076:52:32 Stafford: Okay, Charlie. At 208, Houston, here, inertial attitude, we're going just about straight down. And most of the terrain right down below my window is starting to disappear and nighttime - it's getting black here, but the one thing that really stands out was those features that we picked out. And I guess a11 the homework has paid off because, like I said, it's just like NASA Road 1 leading up to it. Over.
076:52:54 Duke: Sounds really great. We've got our friendly geologist back here grinning, and looks like we're going to be Go far all the landmark tracking and everything, then.
076:53:08 Stafford: Okay. And I've just picked up Moltke down below. I can just see a little bit of a white rim and the rest is black. Landing Site 1 - pardon me, Site 2 is completely in the black, but I can see half of the rim of Moltke, and that's about it. We're now passing into darkness.
076:53:25 Duke: We copy. Over. [Pause.]
076:53:34 Cernan: Jack, although - This is - Charlie. Although we're going into this backward, it's still amazingly easy to pick up these landmarks as we're going into the landing site. Especially the ones that we've worked on a lot - a lot more heavily.
076:53:48 Duke: Roger. Understand, 10. Do you have your - are you monitoring...
076:53:50 Cernan: We should be looking down, of course, this isn't - We're looking down right now as Tom said, right over Site 2. It's in darkness, and we've got a lot of reflected Sun off the LM, but right over in the Surveyor V area, also, but it's in darkness at the present time.
076:54:09 Stafford: Also, you can - The feature we called "U.S. 1" stands out real well. It disappears in the darkness right by Moltke, and the area over to the right. There's no doubt there's been some volcanism in there and that's what we term the Oklahoma Hills. Over.
076:54:24 Duke: We copy, 10. We thought you had your descent strip chart out. We're breaking ours out here now.
076:54:34 Young: I knew he'd name something, "Oklahoma Hills."
CDR-Thomas Stafford was born in Weatherford, Oklahoma.
076:54:40 Duke: You notice he got that out on the first rev, too.
076:54:41 Cernan: Charlie, Theophilus is still visible out my side window. It's still visible. Theophilus is still visible out my side window and it's right on the terminator, and it's beautiful the way the shadows are falling on it. The central peak looks like it's going to last just about as long in sunlight as the far rim.
076:55:15 Duke: 10. Roger. We copy. [Long pause.]
076:55:50 Duke: 10, Houston. We'd like you to elaborate a little bit on your - the rilles that you commented on about 5 minutes ago: Diamondback and Sidewinder. Over.
076:56:04 Stafford: Okay. I'll tell you, from my experience around the Earth, you can tell Jack it looks like Canyon Diablo out there in New Mexico. They're definitely dropped down with sharp walls. It doesn't look like there is any build-up along the sides. It's just straight down like a graben at least from this angle up here - At least for 60 miles, it looks like they're straight down and it kind of looks something like Canyon Diablo. And we'll give you a better description tomorrow at 50,000. Over.
076:56:36 Duke: Roger. We copy...
076:56:37 Stafford: Oh, also, "U.S. 1" looked - "U.S. 1" looks like it's got pretty vertical edges, but again, this is from 60 miles [111 km]. We'll give you a better description tomorrow. Over.
076:56:50 Duke: Roger, 10. We copy. In the rilles, can you see - Do you think you can see the bottom of those things? Do you see any boulders or anything down there? It's probably pretty difficult from that altitude, but can you comment on that?
076:57:04 Stafford: Charlie, no. Sixty miles is too far up. It's mostly dark down there at this sun angle. Later on, when we see some around on the other side and tomorrow, we'll give you a better description.
076:57:14 Duke: Roger.
076:57:15 Young: To tell you the truth, I didn't look that close. But it's - the shadow. The shadow that goes down in there - it - all you can tell was the rille. You couldn't see the bottom of it.
076:57:27 Duke: Roger.
076:57:33 Young: Gene-o says that the ones he looked at were rounded off in the bottom.
076:57:40 Duke: Roger.
Comm break.
076:59:36 Cernan: Houston, 10. You might tell Jack that he forgot to tell us to practice studying these landmarks standing on our head.
076:59:45 Duke: Roger. We - He heard the comment, and we'll take care of that for the next flight. We got a - We'll have no update for you on your block data for the TEIs, and we confirm your abort. Your orbit is 60.6 by 170.1 [112.2 x 315.0 km] on 8 minutes of tracking. Over.
077:00:09 Cernan: Roger. 60.6 by 170.1. That agrees pretty close.
077:00:17 Young: I guess we owe you, don't we?
077:00:21 Duke: Not me; the FIDO. [Long pause.]
077:00:55 Cernan: Houston, 10. You want me to leave my high bit rate switch in High?
077:01:00 Duke: Stand by. [Pause.]
077:01:09 Duke: 10, Houston. We'd like your bit rate switch to go to Low. Over.
077:01:17 Cernan: Okay. Sorry, I didn't catch that earlier.
Cernan is referring to the PCM (Pulse Code Modulation) bit rate switch on panel 3. The function of the PCM TLM equipment is to convert telemetry data inputs from various sources into one serial digital output signal. This signal is either transmitted to Earth, or recorded on the DSE for later transmission. Switching it to the Low bit-rate mode of 1.6 kbps, allows high PCM bit-rate of 51.6 kbps to be commanded by MCC-H via MSFN on demand.
PCM Bit Rate switch - Panel 3.
077:01:21 Duke: That's okay. [Long pause.]
077:02:02 Cernan: Houston, 10.
077:02:04 Duke: Go ahead, 10. Over.
077:02:08 Cernan: Okay. I guess I'm looking for some words on - on the PUG switch as to whether or not you want me to go ahead and put this on in Increase at the start of the next burn or possibly use Secondary, considering the unbalance we've got.
Gene is still pursuing the SPS propellant balancing. He is now asking whether they should switch to the Secondary-Oxid Flow Valve, rather than the Primary valve used during LOI-1. The Secondary valve would normally only be used if the Primary has been deemed to have failed.
077:02:28 Duke: Stand by. We'll get you some words on that.
077:02:30 Cernan: The oxidizer flow valve is what I'm referring to.
077:02:33 Duke: Roger. We'll get you some words in a minute, 10, Over.
077:02:38 Cernan: Okay, Charlie. The thing I didn't understand about it was I waited - waited until it settled down. It was over 300 decrease. I brought it back up very smoothly just before zero, and I tried to lead it, and I closed it. And then she started going up, and I started it to the Increase position at 150, and then I could barely hold my own. And in fact, I was losing ground the whole time. I did see it go through the cross-over point through the 57-percent regime down to about 51 or so, and she did fluctuate all over the place, and then settled down again afterwards. And I left the oxidizer flow valve in the Increase position throughout that whole part of that burn.
077:03:26 Duke: Roger, We copy, 10. It'll take our G&C guys a while to analyze the tapes. We'll give you some word after - on our next rev. Over.
077:03:41 Cernan: Okay, Charlie. Thank you.
Gene is asking for advice on how to operate the SPS propellant balancing system for the upcoming LOI-2 burn.
077:03:45 Young: Boy, Charlie. I never saw nothing like that. We - when we came - When we came around on the back side, seems like the colors are different on the back side - more light than they are on the front side. Primarily because of the maria. I wouldn't say it's - I wouldn't say it's - It's shades of black and white and browns in there, and near as I can tell, there's some brown in that thing.
077:04:16 Duke: Roger, 10. I copy that...
077:04:18 Young: There are all kinds of shades of gray, of colors.
077:04:19 Duke: Roger. Copy, on the back side that the colors are different, that it appears to be more browns and blacks. Is that correct, in the maria? Over.
077:04:38 Young: Well, yes. I think it's different from the maria. One thing that really stands out that wasn't impressed on me before we got here is that - is a very great observable difference between - between the - far as elevation is concerned, between the mare and the surrounding terrain - the surrounding highlands. Boy this is really a rugged planet. And I saw a big basin on the back side, and we'll have to, get around there and look at it again.
077:05:21 Duke: It ought to be coming up in a minute. [Pause.]
077:05:31 Stafford: Hello, Houston. Apollo 10. We've got a beautiful view of the Earth here, and pardon, the Moon in Earthshine. Sorry, about that slip, but it's absolutely fantastic here at night with Earthshine. Our TV camera might have enough to pick that up, too.
077:05:49 Cernan: Charlie, the craters - The center of some of the lighter craters glow as if they're lit by radioactive - They just glow in this very low, dim light.
077:06:02 Duke: Roger. Stand by one. [Long pause.]
077:06:20 Duke: Hello, Apollo 10. Houston. In about 10 minutes you cross 45 west, look directly north and see if you can see the crater Aristarchus. It's near the horizon - the northern horizon. There have been some reports last night and the night before of some transient events in that crater - some glowing, and they were hoping that you might be able to give them some word on that. Over.
077:06:56 Cernan: Okay, Charlie. We've got it located, And that's in the Ocean of Storms about 40 - maybe 47 west and about 23 north?
077:07:05 Duke: That's affirmative. It's going to be pretty close to the northern horizon, but you might be able to see it. Over.
077:07:14 Cernan: Okay. Fine.
Long comm break.
077:10:55 Stafford: Hello, Houston. Apollo 10.
077:11:00 Stafford: Houston, Apollo 10. I've got Copernicus by Moon - by Earthlight. It's quite a sight, here. Over
077:11:04 Duke: Roger. We copy, 10.
Long comm break.
Apollo 10 is approaching 40 degrees west, now, getting near landing site No. 5 which will be north of the ground track and the landing area for Surveyor 1 is south of the ground track of Apollo 10. 10 should pass just a little bit north of Surveyor 1 before too long.
077:20:39 Cernan: Houston, this is 10. Over.
077:20:41 Duke: Go ahead.
077:20:46 Cernan: Roger. Okay. We're set up in this sleep configuration right now, as far as the roll, pitch, and yaw goes, and we've got it in wide deadband.
077:20:56 Duke: Roger. We copy that. Over.
077:21:00 Young: In 10-degree deadband, plus or minus 10 degrees. That's all we are allowed in this sleep configuration, isn't it?
077:21:10 Duke: That's affirmative, 10. This is what we want. You've got the proper entry in. Over.
077:21:18 Stafford: Roger. Also [garble]. [Long pause.]
077:21:58 Cernan: Hello, Houston. 10.
077:22:00 Duke: Roger. Go ahead.
077:22:05 Cernan: We were not able to see any particular activity in the area of Aristarchus. It's amazing, though, how well you can - once you find the landmark, navigate in Earthshine across the surface of the Moon. It seems to be very well lit from our altitude here.
077:22:26 Duke: Roger, 10. We are hoping that we can get some TV past the terminator. The TV experts are looking at it, and we think that we might be able to get some. We will let you know next time around. Over.
077:22:43 Young: Well, we can't. The Moon past the terminator is totally dark as long as we are in sunlight, but the minute we go out of sunlight, in the darkness ourselves, the Moon then glows right at us.
077:22:57 Duke: 10, we copy. [Long pause.]
077:23:22 Young: Houston, this is 10.
077:23:25 Duke: Go ahead, 10. Over.
077:23:27 Young: I can - The LM thrusters stick out like a sore thumb in Earthshine, too, but they don't keep us from seeing any of the stars up here at night. It is real well lit up.
077:23:42 Duke: Roger. Understand. In your P52 you can recognize everything, and no problem. That was not blocked by the LM.
077:23:54 Young: That's right, and, thus far, believe it or not, we haven't run anything where the LM blocked us from a star. There was one case, but so far we have been lucky.
077:24:05 Duke: Roger.
077:24:10 Stafford: Houston, Apollo 10. In Earthshine, you can see way down in the craters. You can see the shadows in the craters from the Earthshine, but the more you become adapted to it, it's phenomenal the amount of details you can see. Over.
077:24:27 Duke: Roger, 10.
077:24:36 Stafford: It's nearly what you call Field Grade Nighttime Flight, Charlie.
077:24:41 Duke: Roger. CAVU, huh? We got you.
The term CAVU is a military pilot acronym for Ceiling and visibility unlimited.
077:24:45 Young: Good thing this is all Field Grade.
077:24:51 Stafford: Roger.
077:24:52 Cernan: It's what John and I call Commander's Moon in the navy.
077:24:59 Duke: We've got a lot of smart guys here in the CapCom console.
077:25:12 Cernan: Hey, Charlie. The best I can figure out, we're passing now out of the Ocean of Storms into some more rugged country, here, which is very evident on the surface.
077:25:26 Duke: Roger, Gene. We are plotting you right along. That's a good call. [Long pause.]
077:26:04 Young: Boy, that engine worked like a champ, Charlie.
077:26:08 Duke: Roger.
077:26:10 Young: What did you think of those residuals?
077:26:11 Duke: Man, that's really great. We couldn't believe it when you called them down to us. I know you guys are as happy as clams up there with that performance. We are, too, down here. One other thing, we noticed your sleep attitude here yawed out about 20 degrees. We called for a yaw of zero, and were wondering what we have. Over.
077:26:39 Young: Well, you got a yaw of 20 degrees because something keeps torquing us over that way. But is that going to bother you, or do you want it back to zero?
077:26:56 Duke: Stand by. Over.
077:26:58 Young: We'll take it back there.
077:27:00 Young: Roger, Houston. Apollo 10. It looks like this water boiler keeps torquing us off, because we haven't noticed that any Apollo's holding inertial anywhere before. And particularly on this orbital path, you wouldn't expect the yaw to get to you, but it looks like the water boiler is torquing us. Over.
077:27:16 Duke: Copy, 10...
077:27:17 Young: Either that, or there is a big mascon up north or something.
077:27:23 Duke: It might be that giant escargot up there. We'd like you to take it back to zero yaw, and let's start over again. Over.
The steam vent for the glycol/water evaporator (boiler) is positioned between window 1 and the aft heatshield. Steam vented overboard had a propulsive effect on the spacecraft. Therefore the yaw motion Young is reporting could have been caused by the prolonged operation of the evaporator. His alternative theory attributes the yaw to a large mascon (mass concentration). These are areas of the lunar surface that cause positive gravitational anomalies which alter the spacecraft's orbit. Mascons are thought to be mostly due to dense mare basaltic lavas, which exhibit a greater than normal gravitational attraction on bodies passing close to them. However, they should not affect the spacecraft's attitude. What would affect its attitude is the gravity gradient effect. Being a long, thin spacecraft of asymmetric mass distribution, the CSM/LM stack is prone to being slowly turned to adopt an upright attitude with its long axis facing the Moon.
077:27:33 Young: Roger. [Long pause.]
077:27:54 Young: Boy, this Moon is lit up like a Christmas tree on the dark side. I don't see any lights, but I mean it is well illuminated from the Earth.
That's John Young.
077:28:08 Duke: That's very descriptive, John.
077:28:10 Young: I'm a little behind these other guys; they make...
077:28:26 Duke: Apollo 10, Houston. John, say again all about the Christmas tree. Over.
077:28:37 Young: I said I don't mean lit with lights, but it sure is brightly illuminated compared with Earth. I am a little behind these other two guys. They make me mind the DSKY.
077:28:55 Duke: Roger. We recommend you get your share of viewing time, also.
Apollo 10 is approaching 70 degrees west. Should be in the area of the crater Grimaldi.
077:29:36 Cernan: Houston, just to tell you something interesting, it looks like we are coming into the termination of Earthshine here, and we are starting to get long shadows on the hills as we go into the Earth terminator.
077:29:51 Duke: Our friendly geologist says that is right, coming up on Earthset here.
077:29:59 Young: Would you believe you can even see down in the craters in the Earthshine shadows? Or is that going a little too far?
077:30:39 Cernan: Okay. It appears - I can recognize, at about 30 south and about 80 west, that big, wide gorge, very rounded at the bottom, that's bordered on one side by the Rook Mountains and on the other side by the Cordillera Mountains.
077:31:01 Duke: Roger, 10. We copy.
077:31:03 Cernan: And I can see - I can see Schluter with a central peek very, very easily.
077:31:15 Duke: Roger. Understand. You got Schluter.
077:31:23 Cernan: Okay. [Long pause.]
Schluter is a crater at 85 degrees west.
077:31:56 Duke: Hello, Apollo 10. Houston. We got 86 percent on the waste-water. We need a waste-water dump whenever you get to it, and as soon as you can get to it. Over.
077:32:11 Stafford: We can do it right now. And I'm coming into the sleep attitude at this time.
077:32:17 Cernan: What do you want to dump it to, Charlie?
077:32:19 Duke: Roger. Down to 25 per cent. Over.
077:32:24 Cernan: Okay. [Long pause.]
077:33:04 Cernan: Houston, 10. We got indications that - on the gauge here that we're dumping slowly.
077:33:10 Duke: 10, Roger. Stand by.
Long comm break.
The Flight Dynamics Officer, Phil Shaffer, says further tracking shows the orbit as 170.6 by 59.7 nautical miles [315.9 by 110.6 km]. We're still 10 minutes, 45 seconds away from Loss Of Signal on this first revolution of the Moon. Showing velocity of 5,115 feet per second [1,559 m/s].
077:38:57 Duke: Hello, 10. Houston. We're coming up on 9 minutes to LOS. We'll be standing by for your report on the High Gain Antenna on LOS and AOS pitch and yaw positions at AOS of 78:31:21. Over.
077:39:17 Cernan: Roger. [Long pause.]
077:39:37 Young: Boy, this planet is really something, Charlie.
077:39:53 Young: That's about the only way I know how to put it. It's got a lot more character than it looks like from sitting down there on the ground. When you get up close to it, it stands out. It's got its own features that are certainly clearly recognizable and much different than you see around the Earth. That's for sure.
077:40:16 Duke: Roger, John. Wish we were there to look at it with you.
077:40:20 Cernan: Charlie, there's...
077:40:21 Duke: Go ahead.
077:40:25 Cernan: Charlie, there's - There's three lighting conditions very evident. One is sunlight, Earthshine, and now we're in pitch darkness, although you can still see the lunar horizon against black sky. It's the black Moon that you can't really see anything on, but there is a definite distinguishable horizon against the black sky where the stars are coming up.
077:40:54 Cernan: And - And both terminators are very interesting. Terminator produced by sunlight and terminator produced by Earthshine are very similar, although the Earthshine terminator, being of a lower light level, has a very ghost-like, shadowy appearance whereas the sunlight terminators are very definite - definite sharp image - sharp shadow image.
077:41:19 Fullerton: Roger, 10. On this - your comment about the - In darkness you can see the Moon horizon; is that just a star dropping or can you actually see features on the horizon? Over.
077:41:39 Cernan: Charlie, if I had - if I had a pencil I could draw you a - Right across my window, I could draw you a horizon. There seems to be a - Ever since we went into total darkness on the surface out of Earthshine, there seems to be a continued glow from behind the horizon which lights it up continually, and - You can't distinguish sharp features, but the general terrain you can see.
077:42:04 Fullerton: Roger. Is that like airglow, or the airglow layer?
077:42:16 Cernan: Say again, Gordo.
077:42:18 Fullerton: Is that glow similar to the airglow layer here on Earth - in Earth orbit?
077:42:27 Cernan: No, not at all.
077:42:29 Fullerton: Oh, that's good.
077:42:44 Stafford: Hey, I've been - going off and flying the spacecraft, I've just turned around and looked out, and it - stars - You can see it's a bright horizon, but it looks like it might be the Milky Way, but the sky is definitely light, and it goes down and clips off. You cannot make some of the rough terrain features out about it. It might be that we could be right close to the Milky Way out there, but it looks like about the same intensity of the Milky Way as you see it at night around the Earth. It does get lighter over in one section, and we'll give you a comment on that later.
077:43:15 Fullerton: Okay. Very good.
077:43:31 Cernan: What's going on out there is no airglow at all; it's just a sharp definition between the Moon surface and this parabolic glow that's out there.
077:43:39 Fullerton: There's a good sharp horizon there, huh?
077:43:42 Young: Gordo knows there ain't no [garble].
077:43:47 Cernan: Yes. I think you could make a cat shot off a horizon like that.
077:43:53 Young: You can tell it has to be well lighted.
077:43:58 Fullerton: You might make a cat shot, but I'm not.
077:44:07 Young: I didn't even think you knew what that meant.
077:44:10 Fullerton: Oh, I know all the words.
077:44:17 Fullerton: You know, that LM launch might be just like a cat shot.
077:45:07 Fullerton: 10, Houston. Coming up on three. You can terminate your water dump, and you're looking good as you go over the hill.
This is a dump of waste (excess) water produced by the fuel cell power generation system.
077:45:20 Cernan: Roger, Houston.
Very long comm break.
And we've lost the signal as Apollo 10 turns the corner and goes behind the Moon. The crew giving us a rather graphic description of their first revolution around the Moon. Shortly after an Acquisition Of Signal on this first rev, you heard Tom Stafford calling out some names of features that heretofore have not been attached to the Moon. These are unofficial identifications of features that the crew has come up with. Names such as U.S. 1, the Oklahoma hills, Diamondback Rill, Sidewinder Rill. Then they have a number of others. All of these features are primarily along on either side of the ground track in the area leading down to landing sites 2 - in the approach path of landing site 2. We will acquire Apollo 10 on the second revolution at an elapsed time of 78 hours, 31 minutes, 19 seconds; some 41 minutes from now.
...31 minutes from now. This is...
077:47:40 Stafford (onboard): Did you put us in 10-degree deadband?
077:47:45 Cernan (onboard): Yes. Is it over against it?
077:47:49 Stafford (onboard): Yes. The other way in yaw.
077:47:53 Cernan (onboard): Has it fired much? Can you tell?
077:47:58 Young (onboard): No, the water boiler should have stopped. I don't think I'm going to get any sleep tonight. Jesus Christ, that's something (laughter). You know, if this rendezvous and all that stuff works just like it's supposed to, this is going to be one hell of a lot of fun. If it don't, shit.
077:48:21 Cernan (onboard): Minus 47 and 237, huh? 180, 210, 240, 237, so that would be right about there. We just lost contact, by the way.
Cernan is setting the HGA pitch and yaw angles using the rotary switches on panel 2. Pitch 47°, yaw 237°. He is counting through the angle settings on the yaw switch.
077:48:58 Cernan (onboard): Soon as we come around again, we got a P27 update?
077:49:13 Cernan (onboard): Oh, shit; they said we'd go into Reacq mode, and then you - then you maneuver.
077:49:17 Young (onboard): No, that's supposed to be a little later, because 10 minutes later. We're not - we're still in the deadband, aren't we? In the - thing, more or less?
077:49:43 Cernan (onboard): See any Girl Scouts or anything down there?
077:49:46 Young (onboard): No, but you can [garble] the horizon with no sweat.
077:49:50 Cernan (onboard): Yes. Shit, yes, babe. Hey, let me ask you a question. Where do you suppose a planet like this comes from? Do you suppose it broke away from the - away from the Earth like a lot of people say?
077:50:-- BEGIN LUNAR REV 2
077:50:07 Young (onboard): Don't ask me, babe...
077:50:08 Cernan (onboard): It sure looks different.
077:50:09 Young (onboard): ...I ain't no cosmologist. I don't care nothing about that.
077:50:12 Cernan (onboard): Sure looks different.
077:50:14 Stafford (onboard): I just know we're here and it's tremendous to be here.
077:50:18 Cernan (onboard): Yes, but think about where it all started.
077:50:22 Young (onboard): By God, just think of where we're all going, though, one of these days. This is just the beginning. We have to get rid of that crap first. There must be some real smart folks out there. God, they sure keep a bunch of stars out there for them. You realize these are the first dark we've been in since we left that damn planet. First time I ever felt warm about the dark.
077:50:51 Cernan (onboard): I don't know how the hell. It amazes me how they could target us from right back there to be 60 miles [111 km] above the Moon. That's amazing.
077:50:58 Young (onboard): When we do the landmark tracking at? I just read the Flight Plan; you got a P52 - Let's see, we had a P27 update after we acquire, [garble] also on this next pass. And we've got to maneuver to the attitude. Right?
077:51:15 Cernan (onboard): There it is, right there. There's acquisition. That's all 10 minutes late, though. See, I've got the antenna in Reacq to see when we've picked it up. It's still sleep attitude, isn't it?
077:51:24 Young (onboard): Yes.
077:51:25 Cernan (onboard): Okay, we're going to see whether the antenna will pick up in Reacq again.
Positioning the High Gain Antenna Track switch on panel 2 in the Reacq position, places the HGA in the automatic acquisition mode of operation, the antenna will perform as in the Track Auto mode, pointing towards the center of the Earth, provided it is within 60° of the antennas boresight axis. Outside these scan limits it would automatically switch to Man (manual) mode to return to within the scan limits. The antenna will remain in manual mode until it has arrived at an indicated Pitch/Yaw position and a signal was present. With the High Gain Antenna positioned at manually preset positions, and with a signal present, the mode of operation reverts automatically to Track Auto mode of operation.
077:51:28 Young (onboard): Okay.
077:51:51 Cernan (onboard): [Garble], what was that?
077:51:53 Stafford (onboard): It's the sunlight...
077:51:54 Cernan (onboard): Son of a bitch, I'll tell you, when it gets light, it gets light (laughter). That's earlier than they said (laughter) sunrise - that's earlier than they said sunrise was going to be. That's what I said before. When it got dark, it got dark just like that. When it gets light, it gets light...
077:52:09 Stafford (onboard): I thought we'd let off that beef.
077:52:26 Cernan (onboard): It's the only stuff I enjoy eating on this whole flight. They're very few and far...
077:52:31 Young (onboard): [Garble] either the earth. Can you guys see this - the Moon out there?
077:52:35 Cernan (onboard): No, no, it's just blackness. We can't see it yet.
077:52:39 Stafford (onboard): This is a sleep attitude and you don't see too much with sleep attitude.
077:52:41 Young (onboard): Well, what the hell is the sun doing here?
077:52:45 Stafford (onboard): It's where it should be.
077:52:47 Cernan (onboard): Huh? It's early according to their next sunrise. Does that disturb you?
077:52:51 Stafford (onboard): No.
077:53:05 Young (onboard): [Laughter.] I'll tell you.
077:53:07 Cernan (onboard): That's what it did before. When we went in the blackness, we went in...
077:53:10 Young (onboard): Yes, [garble] I don't remember that...
077:53:12 Cernan (onboard): I do, and when we came in...
077:53:13 Young (onboard): ...I was busy doing something else.
077:53:15 Cernan (onboard): ...when we came in the sunrise, it was the same thing.
077:53:22 Young (onboard): [Garble] see what those attitudes were [garble] time.
077:53:25 Cernan (onboard): Oh, it was 77:51. They were right on the money. Tom, turn your - your lights on, will you? You turned all your DSKY lights and everything off.
The predicted sunrise time read up to the crew was 77:51:40. Now that sunlight is streaming through the windows, the panel lights need to be brought to full brightness.
077:53:36 Cernan (onboard): Better.
077:53:39 Stafford (onboard): Okay, take a look at the Flight Plan, and...
077:53:41 Cernan (onboard): Okay, we ought to be coming over.
077:53:59 Cernan (onboard): Okay, nothing between now and when acquire. God damn, can you see the Moon? We're here.
077:54:10 Young (onboard): [Laughter.] [Garble] we're going to make it.
077:54:12 Stafford (onboard): Isn't that great?
077:54:13 Young (onboard): That's great. You guys have done good.
077:54:16 Cernan (onboard): It's down there, but I don't know where the hell it is.
077:54:19 Young (onboard): I feel happy as I'll be tomorrow when I see you come back through that hole. Down there.
077:54:26 Cernan (onboard): Yes, there ain't - you can look ahead. We got a P27, you want to check in the High Gain, then we got a P27, then you maneuver for High Gain Antenna for observation and then P30 - P52.
077:54:40 Stafford (onboard): Okay.
077:55:22 Young (onboard): We got a lot of work to do yet.
077:55:24 Stafford (onboard): Yes, it's going to be a long day. Everybody finished with this food? Put it back in the plastic bag ...
077:55:30 Young (onboard): I already [garble].
077:55:54 Young (onboard): I'll get some water.
077:56:08 Stafford (onboard): How did you like that [garble]?
077:56:13 Young (onboard): I hope - I hope we stage that good for two more burns.
077:56:18 Stafford (onboard): Yes.
077:56:20 Cernan (onboard): You know, I - I wonder what our propellant quantity was supposed to be. I thought it was supposed to be 70 - 47 percent after LOI 1.
077:56:28 Stafford (onboard): Don't think - it could be.
077:56:30 Cernan (onboard): Huh?
077:56:31 Stafford (onboard): Not with this total mass on board.
077:56:36 Young (onboard): I thought - no, I thought...
077:56:37 Cernan (onboard): That's what we were seeing in the simulator.
077:56:39 Young (onboard): Listen, we're at - we're just [garble] 40 percent and if both helium tanks crap out now, which they won't because they're not near as - [garble] what kind - You, know, we could get out of our orbit, go home, do the rescue, and every other damn thing.
077:56:55 Cernan (onboard): [Garble] on helium - now...
077:56:56 Stafford (onboard): What have we got?
077:56:57 Young (onboard): 1700, 1800...
077:56:58 Cernan (onboard): 1700. That conforms - I checked the chart - that confirms the 37 percent.
077:57:02 Stafford (onboard): What did we start with? 3000?
077:57:04 Young (onboard): We started with 3700. That could go to regulator pressures.
077:57:11 Stafford (onboard): [Garble] pressure would [garble] the burn. Okay.
The crew are discussing the remaining propellant quantities following the largest planned SPS burn, LOI-1. The quantities displayed on the onboard gauges varied depending on the pressure and temperature in the propellants tanks.
077:57:43 Stafford (onboard): At 78:30, you roll to 180. [Garble].
077:57:47 Cernan (onboard): No, make that 78:40 because we don't acquire until 31, and they want to check the High Gain Reacq mode...
Gene is applying the extra 10 minutes due to their delayed arrival in lunar orbit.
077:57:52 Stafford (onboard): Okay.
077:57:53 Cernan (onboard): ...in the sleep attitude.
077:57:54 Stafford (onboard): Yes, alright.
077:57:55 Young (onboard): So those stars were checked off ...
077:58:03 Cernan (onboard): We ought to be looking at sunrise right about now. No - no, I don't mean sunrise, I mean at 150 degrees.
Predicted time for crossing 150°W, 77:58:27.
077:58:12 Young (onboard): We should?
077:58:13 Cernan (onboard): Where is the Moon? Does anyone know? You got it right there?
077:58:19 Stafford (onboard): I got an orb-rate going. It's about right - we're going to be pitching over again.
With ORDEAL panel 13 in Orb Rate mode, the spacecraft will maintain the same attitude with respect to the surface it is orbiting, in this case the Moon.
077:58:27 Young (onboard): We're not pitching over yet, are we?
077:58:29 Stafford (onboard): No, I mean - in orb-rate, we are initially holding still.
077:58:34 Cernan (onboard): Okay, I put the time on here, John; if you want to try some.
077:58:38 Stafford (onboard): The first time we'll see if that's the top hatch, Gene-o.
077:58:41 Cernan (onboard): Okay. John, 77:58:27, which is right. Now we're at 150.
77:58:27 is the predicted time for passing the 150°W meridian. At this time the spacecraft attitude is held at yaw 0°, roll 135°, pitch 208°.
077:58:46 Young (onboard): Okay, let me start my clock.
077:58:48 Cernan (onboard): I got mine started also.
077:58:52 Stafford (onboard): Hell, John could look - look down there, can't you?
077:58:54 Young (onboard): Well, I don't know. I'm not able to right this minute. That's what's bugging me.
077:58:57 Cernan (onboard): Okay, we should be right over, what is that, America? XV.
At the time of Apollo 10's mission, many features on the lunar far side were yet to be given formal names by the IAU (International Astronomical Union). On the maps being referred to by the crew many of the unnamed craters were given a numeric ID and large basins or Mare were given a Roman numeral ID. Modern names have been inserted when they have been adopted. Basin XV was named America by the crew but is now known as Korolev centred at 4°S, 158°W.
077:59:10 Stafford (onboard): We're going backwards and we're pitched up. If you put your trunnion way down so you could see all the way down, that ought to get it [garble].
Young is down in the Lower Equipment Bay trying to sight the lunar surface through the navigation optics.
077:59:21 Young (onboard): Well, I got it all the way down, babe.
077:59:23 Stafford (onboard): Okay.
077:59:24 Young (onboard): I can't get there? Will I be able to get there pretty soon?
077:59:29 Stafford (onboard): Yes, just hold it ...
077:59:36 Young (onboard): Now, let's see; what's [garble]. Oh shit. Well, what would really be good ...
077:59:42 Cernan (onboard): Hey, we're right over America right now.
077:59:44 Young (onboard): But we can't - we can't see it.
078:00:00 Young (onboard): [Garble] pitch it down or up?
078:00:02 Stafford (onboard): It'll come in from the bottom up ...
078:00:06 Young (onboard): Okay.
078:00:14 Unidentified Crew member (onboard): (Cough)
078:00:21 Cernan (onboard): Actually, this place appears at the first glance to be friendlier than I thought it was. A little lonely, maybe. But friendlier.
078:00:35 Cernan (onboard): What is that, Tom? Let me [garble].
078:00:37 Stafford (onboard): [Garble].
078:00:45 Young (onboard): Here it comes.
078:00:47 Cernan (onboard): Okay, I'll give you a hack at - Of course, you got some crazy angle on it, huh?
078:00:53 Young (onboard): Yes.
078:00:57 Cernan (onboard): In 10 minutes, you should be - well, crossing 180. 308, 309.
Apollo 10 is now crossing the 180° longitude line of the far side. Crater 308 is now known as Daedalus and is centred at 6°S, 180°E, 309 is Racah centred at 14°S, 179°W.
078:01:12 Stafford (onboard): Shit, I got - Look at this stuff out here.
078:01:15 Cernan (onboard): Here's your [garble], Tom.
078:01:16 Stafford (onboard): Huh? Yes. I don't guess [garble] Beautiful.
078:10:23 Cernan (onboard): You should probably be almost right over America, Tom, if you just passed it.
078:01:28 Stafford (onboard): America's a big basin. I got a...
078:01:30 Cernan (onboard): Yes, you might be looking right in it and not be able to see it. See?
078:01:32 Stafford (onboard): No, I'm not in a big basin. I got a huge crater out there. Take a look at it...
078:01:34 Cernan (onboard): Okay, you're - you're right in here somewhere, because I started the clock right here and you're at 10 minutes.
078:01:39 Stafford (onboard): We yawed a little bit...
078:01:40 Cernan (onboard): So you're - you're only 3 minutes; so, hell, you're right in here.
078:01:45 Stafford (onboard): Is that America?
078:01:46 Cernan (onboard): Well, it's got to be enormous, babe. You're right - you could be in it and not know it. You could be in it and not know it.
078:01:54 Stafford (onboard): Have you got the event timer on?
078:01:56 Cernan (onboard): No, but I can - you can set it. Set it on 4 minutes and I'll start it for you.
078:02:02 Young (onboard): That's right.
078:02:04 Cernan (onboard): Go ahead, you look and I'll set it for you.
078:02:13 Stafford (onboard): Now, where you first come around, it's a pure gray. When you first come around, it's a pure gray. There's a big basin over there to my left. 4 minutes. Yes, we're going backwards. Huh? We're going backwards. I should be looking out to the left.
078:02:47 Cernan (onboard): Okay, there's your clock. There's your clock.
078:03:10 Stafford (onboard): I'm going to take a look at that stuff, babe.
078:03:12 Cernan (onboard): If you'd turn your body over, Tom, you can get - orient yourself.
078:03:15 Stafford (onboard): Yes...
078:03:16 Cernan (onboard): Now look at the map. Turn your body over and orient your map. And now everything you see is on your right.
078:03:20 Young (onboard): Give me - give me the...
078:03:23 Cernan (onboard): What do you need, John?
078:03:24 Young (onboard): ...Flight Plan. [Garble] per second?
078:03:32 Cernan (onboard): I wrote in AOS [garble] by the way. See, Tom, now you're going - now you're going forward, so...
078:03:40 Stafford (onboard): What's that big one over there?
078:03:42 Cernan (onboard): You ought to be - Sea of Moscow [Mare Moscoviense] ought to be way over there. You're right in here somewhere, babe.
078:03:46 Stafford (onboard): That's what I'm looking at. Get out that other map. Yes, the other map.
078:03:50 Cernan (onboard): Right here. But it won't look far enough. You won't catch what you're seeing.
078:03:54 Stafford (onboard): What we're seeing is farther, huh?
078:03:56 Cernan (onboard): I think so. And, lord, look at those peaks. Now, you might ought to be seeing something right in here. You might ought to be seeing some of these, babe, right in here. I don't know. You're looking at 5 minutes and 23 seconds. Halfway to the 10-minute mark. It's 20 minutes; there's 10 minutes.
078:04:25 Stafford (onboard): I've got it.
078:04:26 Cernan (onboard): Where are you?
078:04:28 Stafford (onboard): Right here, I think. America is right down there. You see, we're yawed to the right. You got this double thing here, you got a hole here, a crater here, and you got those two sloopers there, and one up here, and two on the side, and two dimples. Right here we are. That's IX-A.
078:04:49 Young (onboard): Let me see, you got IX-A?
The crew which, two of which flew together on Gemini IX-A (Stafford and Cernan) have slightly amended the official nomenclature for basin IX which is now known as the crater Mendeleev, centred at 142°E, 6°N.
078:04:52 Young (onboard): Put your finger there.
078:04:53 Stafford (onboard): IX-A. I'll take a shot of it if you got the...
078:04:55 Cernan (onboard): Where's - You want that? Don't you want the other lens on there? Where's the other lens?
078:05:01 Young (onboard): What lens?
078:05:02 Stafford (onboard): I gave it to you.
078:05:03 Cernan (onboard): You didn't give it to me. What did we do with the other lens?
078:05:06 Stafford (onboard): I don't know.
078:05:07 Cernan (onboard): You took it out, and you said, "Where should I put it?"
078:05:09 Young (onboard): I ain't got it.
078:05:12 Cernan (onboard): Did you put it in your bag? Because I know I don't have it.
078:05:17 Young (onboard): That's absolutely fascinating.
078:05:20 Stafford (onboard): We got a slide that's missing out of there, too.
078:05:22 Cernan (onboard): Here's the slide right here, but - but it sure would be nice to have that other lens. Here you go, babe. Here's the slide right here.
078:05:44 Stafford (onboard): Yes, we need the other lens.
078:05:47 Cernan (onboard): Yes, I know you do. Where the hell did it go? No Velcro - I remember you were trying to stick it somewhere. You were holding it up there and you said, "There's no Velcro on it." Did you stick it in your pocket or somewhere?
078:05:58 Stafford (onboard): No, I didn't want to get it messed up.
078:06:01 Cernan (onboard): John, do you know if it's down there anywhere?
078:06:03 Young (onboard): I don't know where no Velcro is.
078:06:05 Stafford (onboard): You said maybe - Oh, I think it may be up there in one of those boxes.
078:06:10 Young (onboard): Well, that big crater. That's Americus alright. I see it back behind you right now. I'm looking at...
078:06:15 Cernan (onboard): I'm going to get a picture of it through there.
078:06:18 Young (onboard): You can't get no pictures through here. That's it. That's the Americus. It's going over the ridge, right?
078:06:24 Cernan (onboard): Well, it ain't in there.
078:06:25 Young (onboard): Is that Americus?
078:06:28 Cernan (onboard): That's the survival kit; it ain't in there. Hell, I can't even close that mother now.
078:06:37 Stafford (onboard): What, the survival...
078:06:38 Cernan (onboard): Yes. Tom, I don't know where the hell you - let me see.
078:06:43 Young (onboard): You wouldn't put it in the survival kit.
078:06:44 Stafford (onboard): No, you can't even...
078:06:45 Cernan (onboard): I can't find it.
078:06:59 Cernan (onboard): Okay, so now we still don't have the lens.
078:07:04 Young (onboard): The tape's in there.
078:07:05 Cernan (onboard): Yes, but the lens isn't.
078:07:08 Young (onboard): It floated off somewhere.
078:07:09 Cernan (onboard): I know it did.
078:07:11 Stafford (onboard): [Garble] trying to think.
078:07:14 Cernan (onboard): There just ain't any place to put anything in this god-dang spacecraft. I know I don't have it over here, Tom. This is just like, oh golly, oh boy.
078:07:34 Stafford (onboard): [Garble] a lot of this stuff is too close to shoot this...
078:07:37 Cernan (onboard): I know; you should have - that's where we should have changed the god-dang thing out. John, it's not back in the camera box, is it?
078:07:43 Young (onboard): I don't know. Let me look under here and see whether it floated around.
078:08:02 Cernan (onboard): Oh, shit.
078:08:03 Stafford (onboard): What?
078:08:04 Cernan (onboard): Oh, I got hoses all over my - The most dangerous thing in here is that chances are we'll strangle to death.
078:08:18 Stafford (onboard): See if it's back here.
078:08:20 Cernan (onboard): It will have lodged somewhere, but I don't know where.
078:08:22 Stafford (onboard): I got it.
078:08:23 Cernan (onboard): You got it?
078:08:24 Stafford (onboard): I put it back in the bag.
078:08:26 Cernan (onboard): Oh, okay. [Garble] 4 feet hanging out of those bags under there.
078:08:30 Young (onboard): If that isn't a big hill. That's old - that's old Mount Fujiyama. What's - what number is that one with the big hill, bigger than the central peak?
078:08:41 Stafford (onboard): 10, 310.
Crater 310 is now known as Icarus, centred at 6°S, 173°W. Icarus has a very pronounced central peak. It was filmed in 16-mm on magazine F.
Screen capture from 16mm magazine F of Icarus, near center of screen with central peak.
078:08:42 Young (onboard): That's it. I'm looking at it.
078:08:44 Cernan (onboard): Yes, that's the big one. 310.
078:08:49 Young (onboard): Give me - give me that thing.
078:08:52 Cernan (onboard): What do you want?
078:08:54 Young (onboard): Give me - give me - give me the map, give me [garble] map. I got to get my landmark map - tracking map out of here. You get yours?
078:09:01 Cernan (onboard): Yes, I got one here. Tom's got one.
078:09:19 Cernan (onboard): Didn't have any idea we were going to be doing all this, did we?
078:09:27 Stafford (onboard): It's 10 minutes and 30 seconds.
078:09:34 Cernan (onboard): 10 minutes and 30 seconds. 78:31 is AOS.
078:09:45 Stafford (onboard): Okay.
078:09:46 Young (onboard): But just keep looking, we don't have anything to do until AOS.
078:09:50 Cernan (onboard): Tom, do you know where we are?
078:09:53 Stafford (onboard): Yes, brother. Man, there's some big gash coming right [garble].
078:09:58 Cernan (onboard): Okay, I - we only got view out of one window. Hey, babe, I think I know which one that is. Would you believe - would you believe 308? Look at it.
Crater 308 is now known as Daedalus and is centred at 6°S, 180°E
078:10:07 Stafford (onboard): Where, where?
078:10:10 Cernan (onboard): We just went right alongside of it. Look at it - Bang, bang.
078:10:15 Stafford (onboard): 308 [garble]. We are already past that.
078:10:17 Young (onboard): ...out my window. I've got 308 out my window.
078:10:19 Stafford (onboard): 308 may be out your side.
078:10:20 Cernan (onboard): Yes, but I'm not - I'm not rolled anywhere right.
078:10:23 Stafford (onboard): We're north of track here.
078:10:24 Young (onboard): I've got 308...
078:10:25 Cernan (onboard): You're right - you're right.
078:10:28 Young (onboard): Funny-looking mounds is 308.
078:10:31 Cernan (onboard): Yes.
078:10:32 Stafford (onboard): Maybe this is 221. Sure, this is 221 and 23. [Garble] oblique there and one up there.
Crater 221 is now known as Papaleski, centred at 11°N, 164°E, 223 is Spencer Jones centred at 13°N, 166°E. Both can be seen in the 70mm photograph, AS10-34-5170.
AS10-34-5170 - Craters Papaleski and Spencer Jones - Image by NASA/Johnson Space Center.
078:10:41 Cernan (onboard): How much time have you got? You're pushing 11 minutes is all.
078:10:45 Stafford (onboard): Alright, you're up here.
078:10:46 Cernan (onboard): Okay.
078:11:00 Young (onboard): Man! That is bright.
078:11:36 Stafford (onboard): What's that huge flat one there?
078:11:40 Cernan (onboard): Boy, this lens is so bad; there ain't anything in the world to keep it from twisting, is there? What is that big - Look at those big sunken ones, Tom. What are - See you got a...
078:12:00 Stafford (onboard): Where, out there?
078:12:01 Cernan (onboard): Yes.
078:12:02 Stafford (onboard): That's what I'm looking at.
078:12:03 Cernan (onboard): I'm looking at 225 right now.
Crater 225 is now known as Coriolis, centred at 1°N, 172°E and shown in photograph AS10-28-4067.
AS10-28-4067 - Crater Coriolis - Image by NASA/Johnson Space Center.
078:12:06 Stafford (onboard): You're on 225?
078:12:07 Cernan (onboard): Yes, as a matter of fact, I see CP-1.
CP-1 is a landmark track target that was tracked optically using either the sextant or the scanning telescope in the Command Module. This tracking was carried out on several missions on a variety if targets near the spacecraft's groundtrack. These landmark locations can be used as control points for extending selenodetic control to the lunar far side. CP-1 was situated on the far side at 0.86°N, 170.15°E. See location on chart at the beginning of the section.
Landmark tracking target CP-1, 0.86°N, 170.15°E.
078:12:11 Young (onboard): He could be at 225.
078:12:13 Stafford (onboard): Yes, okay, I was; 21...
078:12:16 Cernan (onboard): What's that big one way out there?
078:12:17 Stafford (onboard): That big one? Is that the Sea of Moscow?
078:12:21 Cernan (onboard): Well, let's see; you're at 13 minutes. No, I don't think so. I think you're probably...
078:12:27 Stafford (onboard): John can only see 225 and CP-1.
078:12:29 Cernan (onboard): How about the 224? Does that look like it's it?
Crater 224 is now known as Anderson, centred at 16°N, 171°E.
078:12:31 Stafford (onboard): It's way back there. I got 224 back there.
078:12:36 Cernan (onboard): Well, the Sea of Moscow is not that round. That's not the Sea of Moscow.
078:12:40 Stafford (onboard): No, that's over the ridge there. Look at that - definite white shape.
078:12:46 Cernan (onboard): Let me see.
078:12:48 Stafford (onboard): How do you like that - that's white on the gray.
078:12:50 Cernan (onboard): Oh, without question, babe.
078:12:52 Stafford (onboard): White on gray.
078:12:53 Cernan (onboard): Two different color.
078:12:54 Stafford (onboard): Two different colors.
078:12:55 Cernan (onboard): If you call it color, but...
078:12:57 Stafford (onboard): Now, that is a beauty.
078:12:59 Cernan (onboard): Did you take any with black and white?
078:13:01 Stafford (onboard): Yes, they want to shoot one with the color.
078:13:05 Cernan (onboard): Okay, let me give you a hand. Want the special color film, or do you want the regular?
078:13:11 Stafford (onboard): I want the special.
078:13:12 Cernan (onboard): Okay. Here you go. That's just a hole there. Doggone it, it's just - I tell you, some of those are pretty recent. Look at the edges. You know, I bet that stuff is like walking through - through big - well, hell - very loosely packed sand.
078:13:52 Stafford (onboard): That's a hell of an impact crater, there.
078:13:55 Young (onboard): Yes, that new one you were just looking at?
078:14:04 Stafford (onboard): Now, damn it, that's white in the brownish gray.
078:14:08 Cernan (onboard): I believe it is, Tom.
078:14:10 Stafford (onboard): What are we coming up to in only 15 minutes, halfway in between?
078:14:14 Cernan (onboard): 15 minutes; we're about in here. We should be picking these three up here at 223, 21, and 20.
Crater 223 is now known as Spencer Jones centred at 13°N, 166°E, 221 as Papaleski, centred at 11°N, 164°E, see photographs AS10-31-4653 and AS10-31-4654. Crater 220 is now known as Mandel'shtam A, centred at 5°N, 163°E.
AS10-31-4653 - Crater Papaleski - Image by NASA/Johnson Space Center.
AS10-31-4654 - Crater Papaleski - Image by NASA/Johnson Space Center.
078:14:21 Young (onboard): I think I'm looking at 229 right now.
078:14:24 Stafford (onboard): Yes, we're a little farther than that. Some of the big stuff we can't see - we're...
078:14:30 Cernan (onboard): Well, the map is built for 60 nautical miles, circular?
078:15:04 Cernan (onboard): Can you see the Sea of Moscow up there, Tom?
078:15:07 Stafford (onboard): I'm looking, but I still can't see it. It's over that ridge.
078:15:18 Cernan (onboard): I thought the back side was supposed to be rougher than the front side. From what I've seen so far, maybe there's not as much maria, but it sure doesn't seem as...
078:15:28 Stafford (onboard): Here's Jack's crater again we got for him.
078:15:31 Young (onboard): That big one?
078:15:45 Stafford (onboard): Yes. Where's the monocular?
078:15:46 Young (onboard): Huh?
078:15:47 Stafford (onboard): Monocular?
078:15:49 Young (onboard): Did we put that away? How about the shelf right down there. Is it on the shelf?
078:16:04 Stafford (onboard): Definite black.
078:16:20 Cernan (onboard): Let me see it a second. While you're looking, I'll look over your shoulder.
078:16:37 Cernan (onboard): What does it look like, John; through this sextant - telescope?
078:16:41 Young (onboard): Fantastic. I can pick out these craters. It's going to be easy. We're going to knock it right in the head, so to speak.
078:16:58 Stafford (onboard): What are we coming up to - 15 minutes?
078:17:01 Cernan (onboard): 15 minutes, we should be coming right up in here. We should be just about to the Sea of Moscow.
078:17:07 Stafford (onboard): Is that that...
078:17:08 Cernan (onboard): And in this thing here, you might keep pretty regular, Tom.
078:17:11 Stafford (onboard): Yes, that [garble].
078:17:24 Young (onboard): Some of those holes are pretty deep.
078:17:25 Stafford (onboard): Yes, that - that is a dark brown.
078:17:34 Cernan (onboard): Some of those holes are sure pretty deep. Boy, look at this one right here. See the one right in front of your window? Boy, looking at that one through a monocular, it's [garble].
078:17:42 Stafford (onboard): Yes.
078:17:47 Cernan (onboard): But the back side, although there's a lot more - maybe a lot more - less flat land and a lot more apparent craters. It's just pretty smooth by comparison, isn't it?
078:17:58 Stafford (onboard): Oh, shit, no. Not compared to that maria.
078:18:01 Cernan (onboard): No, not compared to a maria; I agree. But that's what I mean; overall, it's generally bumpier. But if you talk about sharp or more rugged or ragged slides and hills and peaks, I've seen more of that on the front side after just one pass.
078:18:15 Stafford (onboard): We're at 20 minutes, and that should be right. There's the 20-minute mark. José, we're going to come up to the big IX that leads into your second one. You got a crater IX, John?
Basin IX is now known as the crater Mendeleev, centred at 142°E, 6°N. It is shown in the following photographs from the mission.
AS10-29-4182 - Craters Schuster Q and P at the south rim of Mendeleev - Image by NASA/Johnson Space Center.
AS10-29-4183 - Craters Schuster Q and P at the south rim of Mendeleev - Image by NASA/Johnson Space Center.
AS10-29-4185 - Craters Schuster Q, P, Mendeleev P at the south rim of Mendeleev - Image by NASA/Johnson Space Center.
AS10-29-4186 - Crater Mendeleev P at the southwest rim of Mendeleev - Image by NASA/Johnson Space Center.
AS10-29-4189 - Crater Mendeleev P at the southwest rim of Mendeleev - Image by NASA/Johnson Space Center.
AS10-29-4190 - Crater Moissan (right) at the southwest rim of Mendeleev - Image by NASA/Johnson Space Center.
AS10-29-4194 - Crater Hartmann and the southwest rim of Mendeleev - Image by NASA/Johnson Space Center.
AS10-30-4327 - Catena Mendeleev on the western floor of Mendeleev - Image by NASA/Johnson Space Center.
AS10-30-4461 - Catena Mendeleev on the western floor of Mendeleev - Image by NASA/Johnson Space Center.
078:18:25 Young (onboard): Yes.
078:18:26 Stafford (onboard): I got it coming right up here.
078:18:28 Young (onboard): Is it your second landmark?
078:18:29 Stafford (onboard): Yes. I bet that's got to be it.
078:18:35 Young (onboard): Okay. I think it should be pretty well definable, but you got a...
078:18:47 Cernan (onboard): Yes, the back side doesn't have the maria, but it sure did look as rugged as some of those hills like the Apollo Ridge and some of that area...
078:18:54 Young (onboard): The Pyrenees. There is that other bright crater that we looked at a minute ago with the - Go get it, tiger.
078:19:32 Young (onboard): Gol-ly, I'm looking at - You remember that crater that so stood out that we said was black down inside?
078:19:37 Stafford (onboard): Yes.
078:19:39 Young (onboard): That is just unbelievable. If that isn't...
078:19:43 Stafford (onboard): Ought to put on the 250 lens. Damn, I wish we had that.
078:19:48 Young (onboard): That's brown down in there, you guys. It has to be. And black. Plenty of color in there.
078:20:01 Cernan (onboard): Give me that other lens.
078:20:02 Young (onboard): Plenty of color.
078:20:03 Stafford (onboard): I want to get this in color. These color lenses will sure bring it out.
078:20:10 Young (onboard): And I don't believe - I don't believe, for a minute that that - That doesn't look like a ray to me, it looks like somebody painted it on.
078:20:22 Cernan (onboard): Remember, I've got that lens in my pocket, Tom.
078:20:25 Stafford (onboard): Okay.
078:20:26 Young (onboard): Like a flow.
078:20:31 Stafford (onboard): Let me go ahead and take it.
078:20:37 Young (onboard): God, that's weird-looking.
078:20:58 Stafford (onboard): Oh, here's some string of crater chains from the big IX. The big crater IX, Gene-o; look it.
078:21:02 Cernan (onboard): Yes. Let me see them.
078:21:05 Stafford (onboard): See that rille? See that line there?
078:21:07 Cernan (onboard): Yes, yes, that's slanting - that's slanting. In that big crater? That big valley. Let me see where the hell that is.
078:21:17 Young (onboard): Is that where we're at, you guys?
078:21:19 Stafford/Cernan (onboard): Yes. We're right over IX.
078:21:23 Cernan (onboard): Yes, yes, we're coming up on it. The Sea of Moscow, Tom! You ought to be able to see the Sea of Moscow right through here.
078:21:29 Stafford (onboard): No, we can't see it.
078:21:30 Cernan (onboard): Huh?
078:21:31 Stafford (onboard): This is IX, just the edge of IX, halfway to the horizon.
078:21:33 Cernan (onboard): Is that right?
078:21:34 Stafford (onboard): That's right. The Sea of Moscow is over the horizon.
078:21:45 Young (onboard): Is the thing going to acquire? When is it supposed to acquire, you guys?
078:21:49 Cernan (onboard): In about another 10 or 15 minutes.
078:21:55 Young (onboard): That's a good attitude for taking pictures up north?
078:21:57 Stafford (onboard): You'd better believe it. Now, I want to get that in black and white.
078:22:07 Young (onboard): This is just marvelous, I can't believe it.
078:22:09 Cernan (onboard): Yes, we only got it out of one window; but I tell you, we got some good shots out that window.
078:22:18 Stafford (onboard): I got it.
078:22:21 Young (onboard): That whole wall should be Velcro there [garble].
078:22:27 Stafford (onboard): Unbelievable.
078:22:31 Cernan (onboard): Can you fly now? Your [garble].
078:22:56 Stafford (onboard): It's a fast noise. That maria was a hell of a big basin. That's no [garble].
078:23:04 Young (onboard): Okay. 25 minutes and we'll be going - coming up into...
078:23:09 Stafford (onboard): You just passed IX - John, see if you see...
078:23:17 Cernan (onboard): [Garble].
078:23:19 Young (onboard): CP-2?
CP-2 is another landmark tracking target, located at 0.58°N, 127.59°E. See location on chart at the beginning of the section. It is also visible on AS10-34-5109.
>AS10-34-5109 - Returning Lunar Module ascent stage over CP-1 - Image by NASA/Johnson Space Center.
078:23:23 Stafford (onboard): We just passed IX.
078:23:27 Young (onboard): Okay, that was - How many minutes is that? Okay, yes, because I'm looking right here at - Well, it's next to 286. I don't know what the name of it is, but it's got a big round crater in the edge of it.
078:23:46 Stafford (onboard): Oh, there's a beauty.
078:23:48 Cernan (onboard): Okay, John; we're coming up on 25 minutes right now.
078:23:56 Young (onboard): 25 minutes, huh?
078:24:03 Cernan (onboard): Okay, Tom, you should be up, well, right over CP-2 right now.
078:24:07 Stafford (onboard): Yes, I still can't see it.
078:24:19 Cernan (onboard): There's 211, 212, 208, 210 over on your side.
Crater 211 is now known as King, centred at 5°N, 120°E. It is shown in the following photographs from the mission.
AS10-29-4208 - Crater King - Image by NASA/Johnson Space Center.
AS10-30-4349 - Crater King - Image by NASA/Johnson Space Center.
AS10-30-4353 - Crater King - Image by NASA/Johnson Space Center.
AS10-30-4354 - Crater King - Image by NASA/Johnson Space Center.
AS10-30-4356 - Crater King - Image by NASA/Johnson Space Center.
AS10-30-4358 - Crater King - Image by NASA/Johnson Space Center.
Crater 212 is Ostwald, centred at 10°N, 122°E.
AS10-30-4348 - Crater Ostwald - Image by NASA/Johnson Space Center.
Crater 208 is Guyot, centred at 11°N, 117°E, and 210 is Kostinskiy, centred at 15°N, 119°E.
078:24:31 Stafford (onboard): Oh, here's one - here's one. Color - stand by with that color film for me, Gene-o.
078:24:37 Cernan (onboard): Okay. Let's see, that one far out there?
078:24:40 Stafford (onboard): Yes, the one that's got that black in the center [garble]. Black as hell.
078:24:47 Young (onboard): The one we're nearest, are we?
078:24:51 Cernan (onboard): There it is. There it is. That is a rugged fresh-looking mother, too. Okay. You can see it through the monocular. It's got - Where'd it go?
078:25:12 Stafford (onboard): [Garble].
078:25:14 Young (onboard): No, I got the monocular. I was wondering where the crater went.
078:25:16 Stafford (onboard): Right here. Can you get it from there?
078:25:18 Young (onboard): Yes. Let me see. I think this might be the subsolar point or something?
078:25:23 Cernan (onboard): [Garble] I might be able to see it out of here.
078:25:33 Stafford (onboard): I doubt it. Let me take a look down here and see what the coloring is.
078:25:35 Cernan (onboard): It's awfully sharp and awfully rugged, and there - it's just black. It sure looks like - I don't want to say boulders, because you can't see it that well.
078:25:43 Stafford (onboard): Definitely black as hell down there.
078:25:47 Young (onboard): By God, I am looking at CP-2.
078:25:56 Stafford (onboard): [Garble] while I've got it? Take a look at this. Wonder what [garble].
078:26:25 Young (onboard): Oh, this landmark tracking - I'm tracking it like I've been doing it all my life. Okay, CP-2; we got your freaking number. What do you think about that?
078:26:36 Stafford (onboard): Where's the other black and white?
078:26:39 Cernan (onboard): Right here. Did you run out of that one?
078:26:40 Young (onboard): You know what CP-2 is?
078:26:43 Stafford (onboard): What?
078:26:44 Cernan (onboard): Is it empty, Tom?
078:26:45 Stafford (onboard): No, no, no, no, no.
078:26:46 Young (onboard): It's a little bitty impact crater of some kind. It's got a bunch of rocks sitting down in the bottom of it. And they ain't white rocks either.
078:26:57 Cernan (onboard): Oh, gee.
078:27:14 Stafford (onboard): Give me 80.
078:27:17 Cernan (onboard): 80 lens? Coming up. Here you go.
078:27:38 Cernan (onboard): Okay, you're now at almost 30 minutes.
078:28:07 Cernan (onboard): Good way to track to north, I'll tell you.
078:28:24 Stafford (onboard): Do we have a towel? We need to clean off this window.
078:28:29 Young (onboard): Here, you want a towel? I'll get a clean one.
078:28:32 Cernan (onboard): Here - here, I got a clean one up here. Do something with that, though. I want to watch this S-band and see what it's going to track for us.
078:28:49 Cernan (onboard): Here, Tom.
This is Apollo Control at 78 hours, 29 minutes. We're about 2 minutes away from acquisition of Apollo 10 on its second lunar revolution. Shortly after acquiring with spacecraft, the ground will give the crew a Go/No-go for the LOI-2 burn. This is the maneuver designed to circularize the orbit to as near to 60 nautical miles [111 km] as possible. This maneuver will take place behind the Moon as did the Lunar Orbit Insertion number 1 burn. It will come at approximately 80 hours, 22 minutes. We'll get the precise time when they pass up the update. It'll be a much shorter duration burn but again with the Service Propulsion System. We're less than a minute now from acquisition time. We'll stand by live for first transmission from Apollo 10.
078:29:30 Cernan (onboard): Here's your chart. I'm going to watch this S-band tracking and see whether I can pick it up. It's right over your head, Tom. It's touching you.
078:30:06 Cernan (onboard): Neper's coming up at 40 minutes.
078:30:10 Young (onboard): What is?
078:30:11 Cernan (onboard): Neper.
078:30:21 Cernan (onboard): I ought to be able to see something out of my window here pretty soon. There we go.
078:30:32 Young (onboard): That's my window, fellow.
078:30:35 Cernan (onboard): You wouldn't let me look out your optics; I'm not going to let you look out of mine.
078:30:39 Young (onboard): Okay, you got it. Take some good pictures.
078:30:49 Young (onboard): You want me to squeeze in here and fly the spacecraft while you guys are...
078:30:54 Stafford (onboard): No, that's okay.
078:30:55 Young (onboard): ...fooling with whatever it is you're fooling with?
078:31:03 Cernan (onboard): [Garble] shit.
078:31:05 Stafford (onboard): Okay, what's the Flight Plan say?
078:31:07 Young (onboard): Waiting for acquisition. And then what do we do?
078:31:19 Stafford (onboard): In about an hour...
078:31:20 Cernan (onboard): What's that big crater with that fresh one in - It's on the top, Tom. Did you ever decide what that was?
078:31:24 Stafford (onboard): Which one?
078:31:27 Cernan (onboard): Well, you can see it out your front window to the left.
078:31:30 Stafford (onboard): It's got a little bitty fresh one? No, the big one's the fresh one.
078:31:32 Cernan (onboard): See it?
078:31:34 Stafford (onboard): What time is it now? 32...
078:31:36 Cernan (onboard): Sounds like we're getting acquisition. By God, it worked.
078:31:42 Young (onboard): Did it?
078:31:44 Stafford (onboard): Yes.
078:31:46 Duke: Hello, Apollo 10. Houston standing by.
078:31:49 Cernan: Okay, Houston. Looks like the Reacq mode works pretty well there, and - everything - We've acquired, and read you loud and clear.
078:32:00 Duke: Roger, 10. We had you - Go through that again about the Reacq. Over.
078:32:08 Cernan: I said I went through those pitch and yaw angles in the Reacq. Narrow deadband in this attitude picks you up loud and strong, here.
078:32:18 Duke: Roger. Where did the antenna go to in pitch and yaw at LOS? Over.
078:32:29 Cernan: Hmm!
078:32:30 Stafford: [Garble] color film.
078:32:35 Cernan: Charlie, I'm not sure I can answer that one specific question.
078:32:41 Stafford: José, hold this real quick. I got a beauty coming up. There's a little bit of color on this son of a bitch.
078:32:51 Duke: 10, Houston. Do you think the antenna went to the angles that you had dialled in, or fairly close to it? Over.
078:33:06 Cernan: That's affirmative. It went to those angles at LOS. I went to Reacq and fired LOS, and it did go to those angles, and that's where it stayed and picked you up on the way back.
078:33:18 Duke: Roger. Stand by.
Comm break.
Cernan is confirming that the HGA in Reacq (reacquire) mode, was set to the pointing angles manually that had been specified and locked on to the ground signal without any further intervention by the crew at AOS.
We're waiting for high bit rate telemetry so we can command state vector and some target PADs.
078:33:22 Young (onboard): That's what you wanted, isn't it? That's where it went - didn't do anything in between.
078:33:35 Stafford (onboard): Somebody take that. [Garble].
078:33:56 Cernan (onboard): 78:40, which is 7 minutes, we maneuver.
078:34:05 Young (onboard): What do we maneuver to?
078:34:09 Cernan (onboard): Well, they're here, but you'll forget them if I tell them to you.
078:34:11 Young (onboard): Well, why don't we do it with the DAP? Okay.
078:34:16 Cernan (onboard): 180, 208, and zero.
078:34:20 Stafford (onboard): We're at 208. Now we're right there.
078:34:23 Young (onboard): Where do they want to go now?
078:34:24 Young (onboard): Roll 180, 208, and zero.
At 078:30:00 the Flight Plan dictates the spacecraft should be maneuvered to roll 180°, pitch 208°, yaw 000° to facilitate crew observations of the lunar surface.
078:34:28 Stafford (onboard): All I have to do is just roll - roll about 35 degrees. Going to CMC and Free. Okay, John?
The SC Cont (spacecraft control) switch on panel 1 would be placed in the CMC position, so that the computer is controlling the attitude and attitude rates. The CMC Mode switch, also on panel 1, in the Free position, allows external inputs (discretes) to the CMC such as from the translation and rotation hand controllers.
078:34:35 Young (onboard): Yes.
078:34:36 Stafford (onboard): We're at 208.
078:34:37 Young (onboard): Okay, just roll it.
078:34:39 Stafford (onboard): SPS - We do roll right. At what time?
078:34:47 Cernan (onboard): 7 more minutes.
078:34:48 Stafford (onboard): Oh, in 7 more minutes.
078:34:49 Young (onboard): Yes. [Garble] do it now.
078:34:51 Stafford (onboard): I'll do it now.
078:35:01 Stafford (onboard): Damn! There's black stuff like a little lake in the bottom of that one crater. It looks like...
078:35:20 Young (onboard): What did you do? Just roll it over there or pulse it or what?
078:35:22 Stafford (onboard): I did it Impulse. We'll be coming around [garble].
078:35:32 Young (onboard): Okay.
078:35:59 Duke: 10, Houston. We are having trouble getting our high bit rate command in. We'd like you to select high bit rate. Over.
[MCC-H are unable to switch the HGA to High Bit Rate remotely and are asking the crew to switch over onboard, using the PCM Bit Rate switch on panel 3. See panel diagram.
078:36:00 Cernan: They just won't use any...
078:36:24 Duke: Hello, 10. Houston. Over.
078:36:30 Cernan: Go ahead. I gave it to you, Charlie.
078:36:32 Duke: Okay. We've got it. We've got a load for you, and if you'll give us the computer and Accept, we'll send you up a maneuver PAD - correction - a target load and a state vector. Over.
078:37:01 Cernan: Okay. You're in P00 and Accept.
078:37:04 Duke: Roger. And we have a LOI-2 PAD, a TEI PAD, and a map update for you, if you're ready to copy.
078:37:14 Cernan: Stand by 1 second, Charlie.
078:37:46 Cernan: Charlie, give me the map update first, would you, please?
078:37:49 Duke: Roger. It's Rev 3, and we got LOS time of 79:56:22, 80:06:41, AOS 80:40:45. Got a sunrise of 80:00:13, and a sunset of 81:14:30. Over.
078:38:30 Cernan: Okay. Map update, Rev 3: 79:56:22, 80:06:41, 80:40:45. Sun rises at 80:00:13 and sets at 81:14:30.
Map update times for rev 3; LOS, 79:56:22; sunrise, 80:00:13; crossing 150°W, 80:06:41; AOS, 80:40:45; sunset, 81:14:30.
078:38:44 Duke: That's affirmative. [Long pause.]
078:39:00 Duke: 10, we're having trouble...
078:39:01 Cernan: Charlie, I'm ready for the... [Long pause.]
078:39:20 Duke: 10, Houston. We'd like you to go Up Telemetry, Command Reset to Command Reset and back to Normal. We're having trouble getting our commands in. Over.
078:39:37 Cernan: Okay. Command Reset back to Normal.
MCC-H are having trouble uplinking commands and are requesting the crew to move the Up Telemetry, Command Reset switch on panel 3 from Normal to Command Reset and then back to Normal. This switch is spring loaded so it automatically returns to the center-Normal position. In the Command Reset position, performs a real-time command reset function and keeps power applied to the power supply. This resets all real time command relays except those relays affecting the system A abort light and the crew alarm. so the affected equipment will resume the operational mode dictated by their control switches on the panel 3. Effectively it reboots the real time command relays so that any errors should be removed.
Up Telemetry switch - Panel 3.
078:39:43 Duke: Roger. And if you're ready to copy, I have your LOI-2 PAD. Over.
078:39:50 Cernan: Just 1 second, Charlie. [Long pause.]
078:40:23 Duke: Apollo 10, Houston. Now we'd like to Up the Telemetry Command Reset to Off and then back to Normal. Over.
078:40:34 Cernan: Okay. Off and then Normal, and I'm ready to copy.
Moving the Up Telemetry switch on panel 3 to the Off position removes power from the up data link equipment. The momentary removal of power that MCC-H is requesting is an attempt to reset the real time command relays enabling uplink data transmission and commands.
078:40:38 Duke: Roger, 10. Here comes the LOI-2 PAD. SPS/G&N: 38650; plus 1.83, minus 0.74; 080:25:07.38; Noun 81 is minus 0139.0, plus all balls, minus all balls; 000, 209, 000; and Noun 44 is 00601, plus 00601; 0139.0, 0:14, 0132.5; sextant star, 16, 220.5 23.2. Rest of the PAD is NA. Your set stars are Vega and Deneb; 241, 240, 013. Two jets at 17 seconds on the ullage. Over.
078:42:32 Cernan: Roger. LOI-2, SPS/G&N: 38650; plus 1.83, minus 0.74; 080:25:07.38; minus 0139.0, plus all balls, minus all balls; roll 000, pitch is 209, yaw is 000; 0060.1, plus 0060.1; 0139.0, 0:14, 132.5; sextant star is 16, 220.5, 23.2; Vega and Deneb, 241, 240, 013. Two-jet ullage, 17 seconds.
078:31:36 Cernan (onboard, continued): That's a lot of ullage, isn't it?
078:43:21 Duke: Roger. That Delta-VC was 0132.5. Over.
078:43:29 Cernan: Roger. May have read it back wrong. That's what I've got written down, 01325.
An interpretation of the PAD follows:
Purpose: This PAD is gives the parameters for Lunar Orbit Insertion burn 2. The LOI-1 burn brought them into lunar orbit, however it was designed to be slightly shorter than required for a circular orbit so that any errors that would risk causing the spacecraft to impact the Moon would be reduced and a slightly longer SPS over-run could be tolerated. LOI-2 is a relatively small burn that finally circularises their orbit for the remainder of the lunar stay.
Systems: The burn will be made using the large SPS (Service Propulsion System) engine, under the control of the Guidance and Navigation system.
CSM Weight (Noun 47): 38,650 pounds (17,571 kg). The spacecraft weight has dropped considerably due to the propellant used for the LOI-1 burn.
Pitch and yaw trim (Noun 48): +1.83° and -0.74°. These are the angles through which the SPS engine should be gimbaled (swivelled) to ensure that, on ignition, its thrust acts through the spacecraft's centre of gravity. During the burn, the G&N system will swivel the engine as necessary to maintain this condition.
Time of ignition, TIG (Noun 33): 74 hours, 08 minutes, 7.38 seconds. The burn will occur above the far side as the spacecraft reaches its pericynthion, the lowest point in its orbit.
Change in velocity (Noun 81), fps (m/s): x, -139.0 (-42.4); y and z components are both zero. Since the change in velocity is expressed relative to the Local Vertical/Local Horizontal frame of reference, we can see that this burn is a pure retrograde burn and therefore meant to slow the spacecraft down with respect to the Moon.
Spacecraft attitude: Roll, 0°; Pitch, 209°; Yaw, 0°. The desired spacecraft attitude is measured relative to the alignment of the guidance platform. The current alignment of the platform was meant to match the spacecraft's prograde attitude for this burn when it was calculated such that the burn attitude would be 0°, 180°, 0°. This is to make it easier to monitor the attitude during what is an especially critical burn (one which, if erroneous, could cause impact. The fact that the pitch and yaw are slightly different to the ideal shows that small dispersions are being compensated for by this burn.
HA, expected apocynthion of resulting orbit (Noun 44): 60.1 nautical miles (111.3km).
HP, expected pericynthion of resulting orbit (Noun 44): 60.1 nautical miles (111.3 km).
The apocynthion and pericynthion are essentially identical showing that a circular orbit is being aimed for.
Delta-VT: 139.0 fps (42.4 m/s). This is the total change in velocity the spacecraft would experience. (It is a vector sum of the three components given above though since two of them are zero, it equals the minus-X component in magnitude.)
Burn duration or burn time: 14 seconds.
Delta-VC: 132.5 fps (40.4 m/s). This value is entered into the Delta-V counter of the EMS (Entry Monitor System) panel. This figure will descend towards zero as the engine burns. If the Guidance and Control System fails to stop the burn, the EMS will do so but it has to be given a low Delta-V figure to take account of the engine's tail-off thrust after shutdown.
Sextant star: Star 16 (Procyon) visible in sextant when shaft and trunnion angles are 220.5° and 23.2° respectively. This is part of an attitude check.
Other parameters on the PAD sheet are not applicable to this manoeuvre. This includes a second star check that would be made using the COAS. However, as this device has to be used through the windows and these are facing towards the Moon, it is irrelevant for this burn.
GDC Align stars: Stars to be used for GDC Align purposes are Vega and Deneb.
GDC Align angles: The align angles are roll, 241°; pitch, 240°; yaw, 13°.
The final note is that the ullage burn to settle the propellants in their tanks of 17 seconds duration using two rearward facing SM RCS jets.
078:43:36 Duke: Roger, 10. And stand by for the TEI PAD. Over.
078:43:42 Cernan: Okay. (onboard) That was Neper, huh?
078:43:52 Duke: Hello, 10. Houston. We have your primary Evap dried out. We'd like you to close the backpressure valve. Over.
078:44:02 Cernan: Okay. Closing it. [Long pause.]
The glycol/water evaporator has dried out as occurred during launch. MCC-H has requested that the Steam Press Auto/Man switch be placed in Man, which allows manual control of the steam pressure control valve, and the Steam Press Incr/Decr switch be placed in Incr, which applies AC power to the steam control valve, which moves the valve in the closed direction and allows the steam pressure in the evaporator to increase.
Steam pressure control valve switches - Panel 2.
078:44:34 Duke: 10, Houston. It appears we are having a little problem with our ground uplinking capability. We'll keep you posted. I have a TEI-5 PAD, if you're ready to copy. Over.
078:44:49 Cernan: Okay, Charlie. Wait a minute. My finger is still on a button here; I'll be right with you.
078:45:13 Cernan: Go ahead, Charlie, with the TEI PAD. (onboard) [Garble] increase to 58 seconds, right? It's been more than 58 seconds, but...
The Steam Press Incr switch on panel 2 takes 58 seconds from open to completely closed, so Cernan is having to hold the switch in the Incr position for at least this length of time.
078:45:18 Duke: 10, Houston. Stand by for about a minute. We are going to bring down our uplink, and you won't hear us for about a minute. We're going to try to reconfigure ground site. We've got problems with our uplink. Over.
078:45:40 Stafford (onboard): Okay. I'm wondering about the burn time and the burn attitude. We got...
This is Apollo Control. The time for the lunar orbit insertion No. 2 burn; 80 hours, 25 minutes, 7 seconds. Delta-V, 139 feet per second [42.4 m/s]. Duration of the burn will be 14 seconds. For the first time, we will be using ullage prior to this burn using two of the RCS thrusters, burning those for 17 seconds prior to the service propulsion system ignition to settle the propellants in the tank. This is necessary after that long LOI No. 1 burn, we have a large ullage volume in the tank. Not near as many, as much propellants as before and we will use ullage to settle those propellants before igniting the SPS.
078:47:37 Duke: Hello, Apollo 10. Houston with the TEI-5 PAD, if you're ready to copy. Over.
078:47:46 Cernan: Okay, Charlie. Go ahead.
078:47:48 Duke: Roger. TEI-5, SPS/G&N: minus 061, plus 0 - correction - the Noun 47 is NA. Starting off with Noun 48: minus 0.61, plus 0.47; 086:19:10.00; plus 3643.0, minus 0149.3, plus 0054.6; pitch angle is 025. Rest of the PAD is NA.
078:48:45 Cernan: Okay. TEI-5, SPS/G&N: starting with Noun 48 is minus 0.61, plus 0.47; 086:19:10.00; plus 3643.0, minus 0149.3, plus 0054.6; and pitch angle is 025.
The PAD is interpreted as follows:
Purpose: The PAD is a revised version for an emergency burn to return to Earth at the end of Rev 5.
Systems: The burn would be made using the SPS engine, under the control of the Guidance and Navigation system.
Normally the spacecraft weight is given at this point but it is being omitted in this simplified abort PAD.
Pitch and yaw trim (Noun 48): -0.61° and +0.47°.
Time of ignition (Noun 33): 86 hours, 19 minutes, 10.00 seconds.
Change in velocity (Noun 81), fps (m/s): X, +3,643.0 (+1,110.6); Y, +149.3 (+45.5); Z, -54.6 (-16.6). 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, NA; Pitch, 25°.
All the subsequent items on the form are not applicable to this manoeuvre.
078:49:05 Duke: That's affirmative. And we've had a problem with our uplink at Goldstone. They are configuring now, and we'll be with you in a load momentarily. Over.
If this next burn goes as planned, we will have circularized the orbit at 60.1 nautical miles [111.3 km].
078:49:16 Cernan: Okay. Fine.
Comm break.
078:49:29 Cernan (onboard): But we'd better not maneuver until we get it.
078:49:31 Stafford (onboard): Yes.
078:49:37 Cernan (onboard): One after the load, Tom.
078:49:41 Stafford (onboard): Yes, we're just slowly holding our own here, really.
078:49:48 Young (onboard): Now you're looking out where - to the...
078:49:51 Stafford (onboard): Right there. We're coming up on the Apollo - There's the Sea of Crises and Picard out there.
078:49:54 Cernan (onboard): You're looking out to the north, huh?
078:49:56 Stafford (onboard): Well, the north is that way. Right there is Messier G.
078:50:01 Young (onboard): Where?
078:50:02 Stafford (onboard): Down below; we're coming all along the Apollo Belt, babe.
078:50:05 Cernan (onboard): See - see - see that little rille down there, Tom. It looks rounded - you can see, you can damn near see into the bottom. Give me that monocular.
078:50:11 Stafford (onboard): Gene, you want to shoot a picture? I know what I want to shoot a picture of.
078:50:40 Young (onboard): God damn.
078:50:42 Stafford (onboard): We're coming right up to Apollo area. Let me get a picture of this rille ...
078:50:47 Cernan (onboard): Excuse me, John; you want to look at this? No, you got your own optics, don't you?
078:50:51 Young (onboard): Well, yes, but they ain't any good for looking at the surface [garble].
078:50:57 Duke: 10, while we got a moment here, before we get our load into you, we've got a couple of comments. For LOI-2, we recommend you just place the oxidizer flow increase valve to Normal, and go Primary. Over.
078:51:19 Cernan: You want me to stay Normal in Primary through that whole burn. Is that correct?
MCC-H is instructing the crew to commence the LOI-2 SPS burn with the Prim (primary) propellant utilization valve selected and the Oxid Flow Valve switch in the Norm position. When the Oxid Flow Valve switch is in Norm and the Oxid Flow Valve select switch is in Prim, the sliding gate valves are in a nominal flow position. The upper and lower Oxid Flow Valve position indicators are gray. Cernan now has clarification on how to proceed with managing the propellant balancing during LOI-2.
078:51:24 Duke: That's affirmative. We feel that it's so short that that's the best position, and then for TEI we'll have a story for you on how we want you to operate the PUGS. Also for TV, if we try the dark side TV, recommend a ALC to INSIDE and an f-stop of 2.2. Over.
078:51:48 Cernan: Okay. We got that, Charlie, and I want you to understand now that I did go back to Normal about 20 seconds before the LOI-1 burn ended, so that's where I am, and after I did that I went - my increase unbalance moved up probably about 100 pounds [45 kg].
078:52:06 Duke: Roger. [Long pause.]
078:52:58 Cernan: Charlie, just for reference as to exactly where we are, we're looking right down on the top of Messier and Messier A, and we'll be - We've got Taruntius to one side, and we're just right in the middle of the Sea of Fertility coming right up the track into the landing site.
078:53:15 Duke: Roger. Thank you. [Long pause.]
078:53:50 Stafford: You can really see some boulders in the bottom of Messier A, now. Yes. You can see some tremendous boulders down there.
078:54:02 Duke: We copy, 10. We finally got Goldstone configured. We're coming up with the load now. Over.
078:54:10 Stafford: Okay. We're in the CMC and Accept and P00. We can see the load coming.
078:54:14 Duke: Roger. [Pause.]
078:54:21 Duke: You guys been taking some good pictures for us?
078:54:27 Stafford: Right. And, for correlation, I've been on the same sites. I've been shooting one black and white of the special part of it. Shooting one black and white and one of the special color on the same reference.
078:54:40 Duke: Roger. That's very good, 10. Out.
078:54:46 Stafford: Roger. We think we've got a few colors here for you. At least you're certain of the ones that are real black, going into whites, and then some browns.
078:54:51 Duke: Roger. We heard your tape on the back side during the LOI-1, and seemed like there was a disagreement between brownish and bluish, there.
078:55:09 Stafford: The blue was just a little remark. [Long pause.]
078:56:08 Duke: 10, Houston. If you've got a moment to comment, on your tape playback from LOI-1 after the burn was completed, we heard a comment about "Hey, look at that bubble." Could you elaborate on that? Over.
078:56:25 Cernan: Charlie, I guess it was a bubble of water or something, right - hanging right with us after the burn. Right. I tried to take a picture of it. I don't know if we got it or not, but it was a bluish, crystalline-type bubble about - well, about 5 feet out where the LM thrusters are. It probably came either from water or from the resultant residual of the SPS burn.
078:56:48 Duke: Roger, 10. How large was it? Could you estimate that?
078:56:54 Cernan: Oh, maybe a half an inch in diameter.
078:56:59 Duke: Roger. We copy. [Long pause.]
078:57:46 Young: Okay, Houston. This time we are looking down, right down on B-1 out of the hatch window.
078:57:52 Duke: We copy, 10.
078:58:00 Duke: How's the terrain look around there?
078:58:01 Young: Looks just like the map.
078:58:02 Duke: Roger. How does the terrain look around that area?
078:58:09 Young: With the naked eye, I'd say it's full of holes.
078:58:15 Duke: Roger. It looks pretty smooth on our map. Of course, we got one of the world here, but it's real smooth.
078:58:24 Cernan: Charlie, through the monocular, you can see little shiny fresh craters that you can't see with the naked eye. They're pretty well scattered, but there's quite a few of them down there that you can't seem to pick out with the naked eye.
078:58:37 Duke: Roger. We copy. [Pause.]
078:58:46 Duke: 10, Houston. We got the loads in. You can go back to Block. Over.
078:58:55 Stafford: Okay. We're black in - back in Block. We're passing right over Maskelyne, now, and John is shooting back at Site 1.
078:59:03 Duke: Roger.
078:59:04 Stafford: At this rate, we're going to run out of all our film in a couple of revs.
078:59:11 Duke: A slight shudder emanated from the geologist back there. [Long pause.]
078:59:26 Cernan: Charlie, I'm personally amazed how accurate the maps are at picking out these landmarks and craters. [Long pause.]
079:00:18 Duke: 10, Houston. You can put your PCM switch back to Low Bit Rate. Over.
079:00:27 Cernan: Okay.
Long comm break.
MCC-H had been having problems with uplinking telemetry and commands, so had to ask the crew to select High Bit Rate manually at 078:38:59. They are now asking for Low Bit Rate to be manually selected.
079:03:42 Stafford: Houston, Apollo 10. We can now see quite a bit more of Moltke as the Moon revolves, and Landing Site 2 is rough. It's just barely starting to come in. It's still too early to tell much about it. Over.
079:03:56 Duke: Roger. We copy, 10. [Pause.]
079:04:07 Duke: 10, can you - can you see the - on the CSM lunar orbit map - the spot marked 112 near Site 2? It looks like a bright, whitish crater. Over. Oh, that's Moltke. Excuse me. Sorry about that, 10.
079:04:29 Cernan: Moltke is very, very easy to see. We've seen it both times around. Not only are the rilles, but the low ridges are very distinguishable approaching the landing sites.
079:04:40 Duke: Roger.
079:04:44 Cernan: The Sun angle is such that we cannot see into the bottom of the - of Diamondback and Sidewinder rilles.
079:04:55 Duke: Very good.
Long comm break.
This is Apollo Control. The Flight Surgeon is taking a look at the heart rate data now from the playback during the LOI-1 burn. The ignition time of that burn was 75:55:53. At 75:55:50 Tom Stafford's heart rate was 120. At 75:56:10 was 123, at 75:56:30, it was back to 120. At 75:56:30, 40, it was down to 95. For the Command Module Pilot, John Young at those same times it was 94, 98, 83 and 86. And for Lunar Module Pilot Gene Cernan it was 91, 85, 74 and 70.
Apollo 10 now near the landing site 3 area. This is also the area where Surveyor 6 landed.
079:14:03 Stafford: Houston, Apollo 10. We see the solar corona, and it's really beautiful.
079:14:17 Duke: Roger, 10. We copy.
079:14:22 Stafford: At what - Okay. What time and how long we can, see it now. We can still see it. The Sun went down exactly at about 45, and we can still see edges of it. It's mostly a long shaft of light - and we can still see it. It's still there.
079:14:40 Duke: Roger, 10. [Long pause.]
079:15:04 Stafford: Houston, Apollo 10. It's - The corona is still out there. You can see it quite bigger.
079:15:13 Duke: Very good, 10.
079:15:14 Stafford: And you can see stars within about - I can see some at - about 20 degrees of the corona. It's still there, Charlie. It's amazing.
079:15:25 Duke: Roger. On the TV pass, do you think we could pick that up?
079:15:32 Stafford: Shouldn't be any problem in this attitude, if we're in this attitude upside down going away. And we'll go from interior to the out, there. You should see it; it's a long streak, and right now it's finally started to fade out, Charlie. It was in a period of nearly 2 minutes that we could see it.
079:15:52 Duke: 10, how long does the shafting look as it comes across? Does it get shorter as you go away, or just sort of fade out? Over.
079:16:03 Stafford: It just fades out, and the shafting's getting shorter and shorter. There's just a little bit left there, and it'll be gone in a few seconds.
079:16:10 Duke: Roger.
079:16:15 Cernan: Charlie, and it spread over an area - a very small area of the horizon - just right in the vicinity where sun sets. It doesn't go any further either left or right.
079:16:26 Duke: Roger.
079:16:27 Stafford: Still - still see traces of it. It's greatly diminished, now, but you can still see a few traces of it. Okay, we'll get on with our P52.
079:16:37 Duke: Be good, 10.
Very long comm break.
Most of that description was by Tom Stafford with Gene Cernan coming in right there at the- along toward the last.
We have about 36 minutes left before Loss Of Signal on this revolution number 2.
This is Apollo Control. Apollo 10 is now realigning their inertial measurement unit and shortly should be maneuvering into the attitude for the Lunar Orbit Insertion number 2 burn.
This is Apollo Control. Apollo 10 is - has just passed the 45-degree west longitude line.
079:29:25 Duke: Hello, Apollo 10. Houston. We'd like to leave your backpressure valve closed for another rev or so, look at it. We'll probably go to sleep tonight with it closed. Over.
Long comm break.
With the water/glycol evaporator having dried out for the second time in the mission, MCC-H is asking the crew to leave the Steam Press switches in Man and Decr whilst they continue to troubleshoot the issue.
This is Apollo Control. We've lost lock on the High Gain Antenna that was the cause of all that noise. It happened when the spacecraft started maneuvering to the burn attitude. We're apparently on the Omnis now.
Apollo 10 is 22 minutes away from Loss Of Signal on the second revolution coming up on the 60 degree west longitude line in the Ocean of Storms area.
079:35:21 Duke: Hello, Apollo 10. Houston. If you read, we'd like you to select Omni Charlie. Over. [No answer.]
079:35:52 Duke: Hello, Apollo 10. Houston. Over. [No answer.]
079:36:19 Duke: Hello, Apollo 10. Houston. If you aren't already on Omni Charlie, we'd like you to select Omni Charlie. Over.
079:36:35 Cernan: Hello, Houston. Houston this is 10. Do you read?
079:36:38 Duke: Roger, Gene. Reading you about three-by. Over.
Comm break.
079:37:53 Cernan: Hello, Houston. Houston, this is 10. How do you read.
079:37:56 Duke: 10, we're reading you about three-by, how me? Over. [No answer.]
079:38:54 Young: Roger, Houston. Now I'm reading you loud and clear. We lost you on High Gain. I've been waiting to pick you up on Omni. We're maneuvering out of the burn attitude.
079:39:02 Duke: Roger. We're getting low bit rate, 10. I don't know whether you copied my last transmission before we broke lock. We're going to leave the backpressure valve closed and watch it for another rev; and probably for the sleep configuration, we'll have it off. Over.
079:39:43 Cernan: Houston, this is 10. Can you recommend an Omni for the burn?
079:39:49 Duke: Stand by. [Pause.]
079:39:56 Cernan: For the burn attitude before LOS.
079:39:58 Duke: Roger, 10. We copy. Your best Omni is Charlie. Over.
079:40:06 Cernan: Okay. That's where I am now, so I'll stay there.
079:40:11 Duke: Roger.
Comm break.
079:41:28 Young: Houston, this is 10. On the last pass on the back side, we're pretty sure we identified through the optics going backwards, CP-1 and CP-2.
079:41:39 Duke: Roger, 10. It really sounds great. Over. 10, did you call it up or did you just manually track? Over.
079:41:54 Young: Just manually tracked; if we'd have called it up, that would have shot our wide deadband out of the sky.
If the crew had requested the CMC to assist in pointing the CM optics at landmark targets CP-1 & CP-2, the maneuver would have contravened the deadband they are currently set in.
079:42:01 Duke: Roger. [Long pause.]
That was John Young reporting they could see the selected land marks on the back side of the Moon. Flight Director Gerry Griffin is taking a status check here.
079:42:40 Young: Hey, Houston, maybe it wouldn't hurt the wide deadband. Would you check on that for us?
079:42:47 Duke: Roger. Stand by, 10. [Long pause.]
079:43:47 Duke: 10, Houston. If you call up any program, it'll collapse the deadband back down. Over.
079:43:58 Young: That's what I was afraid of. [Long pause.]
079:44:15 Stafford: Hello, Houston. Apollo 10.
079:44:17 Duke: Go ahead, 10. Over.
079:44:21 Stafford: Okay. I'm looking ahead in the Flight Plan to 81 hours when we really start getting busy, there. One thing we're going to want to do is we want to delay the canister change and also that fuel cell O2 purge until afterwards. The CO2 content's real low and delaying it an hour or two isn't going to hurt a thing. And we want to get through that busy time without any interruptions so we're recommending delaying there at 81:20 the canister change and the fuel cell O2 at 81:40 until after we get through most of this activity. Over.
079:44:57 Duke: We concur with all that, 10. [Pause.]
079:45:04 Stafford: Roger.
Comm break.
The crew workload at approximately 80:00 GET includes a P52 IMU realignment, pressurisation of the LM and entry of the LM for inspection and initial configuration. Stafford is using his commander prerogative to delay some minor Flight Plan items such as the changing the lithium hydroxide CO2 filters and fuel cell purges.
We have 10 minutes of acquisition time left in this pass and we're 39 minutes away from the LOI 2 burn. This will be another retrograde burn with the spacecraft pitched up 10 degrees.
079:47:50 Stafford: Houston, Apollo 10. We've already completed the Program 30. Do you want us to go into 40 before we lose you at LOS? Over.
079:48:01 Duke: Roger. We'd like to see a P40, 10. Over.
079:48:08 Stafford: Coming up.
Comm break.
The prime function of Program 40 is to have the computer control the SPS engine throughout a burn. It will start and stop the engine and display the effect of the burn on the DSKY.
P40 is the Service Propulsion System testing program in the Command Module Computer.
Comm break.
079:49:57 Cernan: Are you all getting high bit rate now?
079:50:01 Duke: That's negative. We got you low bit rate. We're seeing the Program 40.
079:50:12 Cernan: Roger. In other words, you can read all that stuff; you just need high bit rate to uplink it, huh?
079:50:20 Duke: 10, we can command the low bit rate even, but it takes a little hit longer. We got some parameters set on our low bit rate, but all your DSKY stuff we can see low bit rate. Over. [Long pause.]
079:51:24 Duke: Apollo 10, Houston. Coming up on 5 minutes to LOS. You're looking good going on over the hill. We'll see you AOS, 80:40:47. Over.
079:51:44 Young: Roger. 80:40:47.
079:52:04 Duke: And 10, one more update for you: after your maneuver - after LOI-2 as we come around the horn, the High Gain Antenna for the comm will be a pitch of a minus 55. Over.
079:52:23 Cernan: [Garble] pitch of 55. What about the yaw?
MCC-H is refining the HGA pointing angle in pitch to 55°, at AOS. The 148° yaw angle specified in the Flight Plan remains correct.
079:52:26 Duke: It's still good.
079:52:30 Cernan: Okay.
Very long comm break.
This is Apollo Control at 79 hours, 55 minutes. We're still showing 40 seconds to Loss Of Signal, but the noise has stopped. It appeared we have broken a lock there. We've got about 30 seconds left till the Loss Of Signal.
And we do have Loss Of Signal now. We're 28 minutes, 30 seconds away from Lunar Orbit Insertion number 2 burn. The maneuver by which we will circularize Apollo 10's orbit. We've targeted for a circular orbit of 60.1 nautical miles [111.3 km]. We're presently showing Apollo 10 in a lunar orbit of 170.7 by 60.1 nautical miles [316.1 by 111.3 km]. A review briefly, this upcoming burn, it will be Service Propulsion System, retrograde with the spacecraft pitched up 10 degrees. Ignition time is 80 hours, 25 minutes, 7 seconds while Apollo 10 is behind the Moon and out of contact with the Earth, we will have to await Acquisition Of Signal and a post-burn report from the crew to find out how it went. A Delta-V of 139 feet per second, duration of the burn 14 seconds. We will next acquire Apollo 10 at 80 hours, 40 minutes, 47 seconds; 42 minutes and 37 seconds from now. This is Mission Control, Houston.
079:56:34 Young (onboard): Do we turn off both banks with this one?
079:56:38 Cernan (onboard): Yes, one at a time.
079:56:39 Stafford (onboard): One at a time. Might as well use A and then B?
079:56:42 Cernan (onboard): Okay.
079:56:46 Stafford (onboard): When are they...
079:56:47 Cernan (onboard): [Garble] a pretty tight little burn here.
079:57:17 Cernan (onboard): Here, we do have DSE motion, so we've got the tape running right now.
079:57:20 Stafford (onboard): Okay.
079:57:21 Young (onboard): Oh, look at there! That [garble] out there.
079:57:37 Stafford (onboard): The what?
079:57:38 Cernan (onboard): The big screamer; that green jobber. They really screamed about putting those on; they're radioactive; they had to get special clearance from the Atomic Energy Commission; it's going to cost a million dollars apiece for NASA just to put in. You know, it's like, no sweat.
079:57:54 Stafford (onboard): The bill have to be paid or something?
079:57:58 Cernan (onboard): Yes.
079:57:59 Young (onboard): You don't need that damn COAS; we're going to do all our docking in the daytime anyway. All you need right here, to go along with this thing, is a line across here, down the middle. And then all you have to do is match up the three lines. You couldn't miss. No, we got - we got a thing with a variac in it.
079:58:12 Stafford (onboard): (Laughter)
079:58:23 Young (onboard): I wish I had a nickel for every cent that's been foolishly spent on crew-systems devices. God, would I be rich! I never...
079:58:33 Stafford (onboard): You want to turn the light down a little bit or just leave it up?
079:58:37 Cernan (onboard): No, I'd just ..., babe; I'd just as soon leave it up, if I knew it wouldn't hurt your eyes.
079:58:42 Stafford (onboard): No, I'll just leave it up. No.
079:58:44 Young (onboard): Sunrise is in 1 minute and 15 seconds. Say, we'd better turn it up, huh?
079:58:47 Stafford (onboard): I guess you'd better turn it up.
079:59:02 Cernan (onboard): Okay, you're going to be set for two-jet ullage for 17 seconds, huh?
079:59:08 Young (onboard): Yes, and when does that burn start?
080:00:24 Cernan (onboard): There's sunrise; they're pretty close, they said 80:00:13 or something like that. There it is.
080:00:33 Young (onboard): When the sun comes up around here, it's like the thunder on the road to Mandalay, isn't it?
080:00:40 Cernan (onboard): Man, it's here, and it ain't. Ain't, and then it's here.
080:01:00 Stafford (onboard): Well, I really hope that TV camera shows what's up here.
080:01:03 Cernan (onboard): I do, too. Be very, very interesting.
080:01:05 Young (onboard): I bet it will.
080:01:06 Stafford (onboard): I bet it will.
080:01:07 Young (onboard): It will be the most spectacular thing they've ever seen.
080:01:30 Stafford (onboard): Yes.
080:01:51 Young (onboard): Okay, engines; run like a prince again. Don't disappoint us. Because we could certainly be very disappointed if you did.
080:02:04 Cernan (onboard): That's right.
080:02:15 Young (onboard): Why don't we just stay in the 60 by 170 [111 x 315 km] when we get there? [Laughter.]
080:02:20 Stafford (onboard): Yes, but what about the - what the CDH is going to be like?
CDH-Constant Differential (Delta) Height manoeuvre will place the LM on a coelliptic orbit 15 nm below that of the CSM during the rendezvous manoeuvres in lunar orbit.
080:02:22 Young (onboard): Yes. That'd be rather big.
080:02:24 Stafford (onboard): That'd be a really big maneuver.
080:02:25 Young (onboard): Well, now, hell; I kind of got you guys out of a 200 by 7 [370 x 13 km]; that was a pretty good-sized CDH there, too.
080:02:28 Stafford (onboard): Yes.
080:02:29 Young (onboard): Only 1 foot per second. The CDH was bigger than the CSI.
CSI - Concentric Sequence Initiation manoeuvre places the LM in a orbit of similar shape to that of the CSM, but lower, during the rendezvous manoeuvres in lunar orbit.
080:02:33 Stafford (onboard): [Laughter.] Yes.
080:02:53 Young (onboard): Okay, machine. That's the most kicks I've had since we shot that Agena.
080:03:01 Stafford (onboard): [Laughter.] Yes.
080:03:02 Young (onboard): You know? Just for sheer suspense and thrill.
080:03:03 Cernan (onboard): How was this, compared to lighting off the Agena?
080:03:06 Young (onboard): Oh, this was a lot easier; hell. I mean, but - As far as lighting it off and everything. Controlling? Oh, you...
080:03:13 Cernan (onboard): Not controlling; not controlling. Just to light off, and roughness of the g-forces and everything.
080:03:18 Young (onboard): No, the Agena - the Agena - the Agena hits you a lot harder and puts you at more g in the straps.
080:03:25 Stafford (onboard): Yes. A lot more - the mass you had.
080:03:26 Young (onboard): Accelerating at like, 40 foot, 50 foot per second per second [12-15 m/s2]. This one was softer. Bet it won't be so soft when we get rid of the big [garble].
080:03:38 Stafford (onboard): (Laughter) Yes. TEI will come on pretty strong.
080:03:41 Cernan (onboard): Let's see, the Agena was about a 16,000-pound-thrust [7,274 kg] engine.
080:03:47 Young (onboard): Yes. It was driving about probably 13,000 pounds [5,900 kg] - total: 7,000 pounds [3,200 kg] worth of Agena and 8,000 pounds [3,650 kg] worth of...
080:03:58 Stafford (onboard): [Garble].
080:03:59 Young (onboard): ...of Gemini. 15,000 pounds [6,800 kg]. Probably had good thrust-to-weight ratio. That's why it was giving us 30 to 40 foot per second per second.
080:04:13 Young (onboard): The only thing we could do with that when it really got bad was shut it down, you know that?
080:04:22 Cernan (onboard): You couldn't do much with it, babe; you know? That was it.
080:04:24 Young (onboard): That's right. And not only could you not do much with it, but you didn't know you was doing anything to it. That's what used to...
080:04:29 Cernan (onboard): That's right [garble].
080:04:30 Young (onboard): ...just gripe the piss out of me.
080:04:32 Stafford (onboard): It's 9 o'clock Houston standard time. Time to go hit the beach.
080:04:35 Young (onboard): Time to go to bed.
080:04:36 Cernan (onboard): God, we haven't even gotten halfway through the day yet.
080:04:39 Young (onboard): No.
080:04:40 Stafford (onboard): [Yawn.] Well, we're halfway through. All I have to do is - we have to do some landmark tracking [laughter] [garble] half the day.
080:04:44 Young (onboard): Yes, [laughter] all we got to do is dig out the latitude and landmark tracking. I don't even know if I can get the probe out of the tunnel [laughter].
080:04:52 Cernan (onboard): Gees, this is going to be a late night tonight and an early morning tomorrow.
080:04:55 Stafford (onboard): You know it.
080:04:59 Cernan (onboard): Oh, by the time we get everything - we want to get all that stuff in the LM tonight, too, that we can, now. I want to get all those cards up in there and all that housekeeping stuff ...
When the crew make their first foray into the LM 'Snoopy', later on day 4, they will perform some housekeeping chores and transfer some equipment from the CSM. Amongst the equipment to be transferred are:
Radiator survey meter.
16 mm film (6 magazines in 1 bag).
70 mm film (3 magazines in 1 bag).
Monocular.
Flight data file items.
The housekeeping chores to be performed, include:
Unsnap helmet stowage bags & stow on cabin floor.
Unstow mirror, checklist, disposal assembly and configure for use.
Stow ISA over PLSS recharge station.
Unstow 70mm & 16mm cameras and configure for use.
Stow crew log.
The crew are aware that all this work is likely to ensure a late finish to the day's proceedings.
