Apollo 16 has completed the Translunar Injection burn (TLI) of the S-IVB third stage of the Saturn V booster. The S-IVB now holds only 2.75 tonnes of the 108.45 tonnes of propellant that it was launched with, the balance having been consumed to place the stage and the attached Apollo spacecraft on the long, three day ballistic coast to the Moon. The 40-metre long, 65-tonne 'stack' of booster and spacecraft is travelling at 36,360 kilometres per hour, but is slowing down rapidly since it is still subject to approximately one quarter of Earth's surface gravity. It will continue to slow down until the Moon's gravitational pull exceeds that of the Earth, in about two days time.
Inside the Command Module, John Young, Ken Mattingly and Charlie Duke are continuing to prepare to separate the Command and Service Modules (CSM) from the conical shroud known as the SLA, in 20 minutes time. (NASA sources of the time give varying meanings for this acronym; either Service Module/Lunar Module Adapter as in the Flight Plan or, more commonly, Spacecraft/Lunar Module Adapter.) This will then allow them to turn the CSM around, dock with the Lunar Module (LM) and extract it from the SLA. This is referred to as Transposition, Docking and Extraction (TD&E)
At present, the on-board tape recorder is not selected on, so there is no transcript of the crew's discussions. The CM transcript will start at 003:03:09, two minutes before separation. For now, we can only follow the crew's communications with Mission Control, where the CapCom is Gordon Fullerton, just as it has been through launch, Earth orbit and the TLI burn.
002:49:28 Duke: Okay, Houston. I'm going to Omni Charlie.
See 001:29:49 for a description of the four omni-directional S-Band antennae the crew are using to maintain communication with Mission Control.
002:49:43 Duke: Gordy, you got Omni Charlie. Over.
002:49:47 Fullerton: Roger; Omni Charlie, Charlie.
This is Apollo Control, Houston; 2 hours, 51 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. Our countdown clock at Mission Control shows the time of separation is less than 13 minutes away now.
Apollo Control, Houston, at 2 hours, 54 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. Coming up now on that time when the booster initiates its maneuver to separation attitude. We presently show Apollo 16 at 1,974 nautical miles [3,656 km].
After the TLI burn, at 002:41:50, the S-IVB and attached Apollo spacecraft was manoeuvred to the in-plane local horizontal. This involved a -25 degree pitch (down), and minus 1 degree yaw (left). Now, at 002:54:19, the stack is being commanded to manouevre +120 degrees (up), -40 degrees (yaw) and -180 degrees in roll. This will give the crew the optimum lighting conditions for the TD&E.
002:54:35 Mattingly: Okay, and we are maneuvering to the attitude right now.
002:54:38 Fullerton: Okay. [Long pause.]
002:55:12 Fullerton: 16, we see the cabin is up to 5.7 now.
In Mission Control, the EECOM is monitoring the cabin pressure, which has now reached the target of 5.7 pounds per square inch, gauge [39.3 kPa]. The crew will now close the Direct O2 valve.
002:55:33 Fullerton: We'd like Omni Delta, please. [Long pause.]
002:56:13 Fullerton: Omni Alpha now, please.
002:56:17 Duke: Say again.
002:56:19 Fullerton: Give us Omni Alpha, Charlie.
002:56:24 Duke: Okay, you got it. [Long pause.]
002:57:20 Fullerton: Request Omni Bravo now, please.
002:57:26 Duke: You got it.
Comm break.
Seven minutes away now from time of separation. We presently show Apollo 16 at an altitude of 2,620 nautical miles [4,852 km]. We are at 2 hours, 58 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. Flight director Gene Kranz, is taking a check with his flight control team, for a Go/No-Go for transposition, docking and ejection of the Lunar Module.
002:58:28 Fullerton: Like Omni Charlie, please.
002:58:33 Mattingly: Roger; Omni Charlie. [Long pause.]
Apollo Control, Houston, at 2 hours 59 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. We presently show Apollo 16 at 2,800 nautical miles [5,185 km] and velocity at 26,931 feet per second [8,208 m/s].
002:59:23 Fullerton: 16, Houston. The booster is in attitude and stable. You have a Go for T&D.
The S-IVB has completed its manoeuvre to the TD&E attitude.
002:59:33 Young: Roger. [Pause.] We'll give you a call just before we get off.
002:59:40 Fullerton: Okay.
This is Apollo Control, Houston, at 3 hours Ground Elapsed Time. Present altitude of Apollo 16, 3,004 nautical miles [5,563 km]. Velocity now reading at 26,408 feet [8,049 metres] per second. We're four minutes away now from time of - proposed time of separation. This is Apollo Control, Houston.
Apollo Control, Houston, at 3 hours, 2 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. Apollo 16's present distance away from Earth now 3,388 nautical miles [6,274 kilometres].
003:02:54 Mattingly: Okay, Houston. We're getting ready to arm the pyros. Are you ready? [Pause.]
003:03:01 Fullerton: Roger. We're ready.
003:03:02 Mattingly: Okay; Pyro Arm A is Armed; and B is Armed.
CM Transcript starts. The crew are on AOH Page 4-322, working through the TD&E checklist.
003:03:09 Duke (onboard): Okay. GDC Align.
003:03:10 Fullerton: Roger. [Pause.] That looks good.
Comm break.
003:03:11 Mattingly (onboard): That's - done.
003:03:13 Duke (onboard): Okay. EMS Function, Delta-V.
003:03:17 Mattingly (onboard): Okay.
003:03:18 Duke (onboard): Okay, let's read it - you want me to read out the - the rest of it?
003:03:20 Young (onboard): Okay. Go ahead.
003:03:21 Mattingly (onboard): Let's see, I want to get a Verb 62 in here. Is that - that should be about where we start the time, right?
003:03:24 Young (onboard): Yeah.
003:03:25 Duke (onboard): Yeah. We're right at where we start the DET.
003:03:29 Mattingly (onboard): Okay, now, what we're gonna do - is we're gonna start the clock, and I'll call times. At 50, I'll take the CMC Mode switch to Auto; at 58, I start hitting the Plus-X. And then at zero, I push this button.
003:03:49 Young (onboard): Okay.
003:03:50 Mattingly (onboard): We ullage for three seconds, and I release it.
003:03:52 Young (onboard): Okay.
003:03:54 Mattingly (onboard): I'll take my Accel Command; pitch up - in ten seconds, I'll pitch up, making sure this needle's positive.
003:03:59 Young (onboard): Okay.
003:04:02 Mattingly (onboard): When it goes positive, you can go to ...
Apollo Control, Houston, at 3 hours, 4 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. Apollo 16's presently at a height of 3,703 nautical miles [6,858 kilometres].
003:04:03 Young (onboard): Pro ...
003:04:04 Mattingly (onboard): ... V18.
003:04:05 Young (onboard): Okay.
003:04:06 Mattingly (onboard): And - and - Yeah.
003:04:07 Young (onboard): Pro[ceed] when you pitch.
003:04:08 Mattingly (onboard): Yeah. And it's a Verb 61.
003:04:09 Young (onboard): Okay.
003:04:10 Mattingly (onboard): Okay?
003:04:12 Young (onboard): Yeah.
003:04:14 Mattingly (onboard): Shall we?
003:04:15 Young (onboard): Yeah.
003:04:16 Mattingly (onboard): Okay.
003:04:17 Duke (onboard):Okay.
003:04:18 Young (onboard): [Garble]?
003:04:19 Duke (onboard):Okay. Yeah. EMS Mode to Normal.
003:04:20 Mattingly (onboard): Okay, I'm going to catch that at the last minute because it counts.
003:04:22 Duke (onboard):Okay.
003:04:24 Mattingly (onboard): You know, John, if you'll just notice what it is for me...
003:04:25 Young (onboard): Okay.
003:02:26 Mattingly (onboard): ... so we have some measure. Okay? Ready to start the clock?
003:04:28 Duke (onboard):Yeah. I want to get my countdown on time.
This is Apollo Control, Houston, at 3 hours, 4 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. Apollo 16 presently at a height of 3,703 nautical miles [6,858 km].
003:04:35 Mattingly: Okay, we're coming up on 59:40.
003:04:40 Mattingly: Mark.
003:04:41 Fullerton: Roger.
003:04:39 Mattingly (onboard): Okay, I'm going to hit Normal on the EMS. Eight - Auto.
003:04:54 Mattingly (onboard): This is the right one?
003:02:57 Young (onboard): Yeah.
003:04:58 Mattingly (onboard):1, 2 - Bang!
003:05:00 Duke (onboard):There we go ...
Separation of the CSM from the SLA is a fast but complex event. A train of explosive cords sever electrical connections between the Service Module and the S-IVB; they cut the metal structure joining the SM to the SLA to allow the spacecraft to come free; they cut the upper 75% of the conical SLA into four long sections which are now only joined to the S-IVB by spring loaded partial hinges at the centre of their lower edge; they set off pyrotechnic thrusters, mounted within the intact portion of the SLA, which force pistons to push on the outside edge of each SLA panel, causing them to begin rotating away from the enclosed Lunar Module. Once the panels have rotated about 45° from the centreline of the launch vehicle, the hinges disengage, allowing the springs within the hinge assembly to push the panels away at about 2.5 m/s, leaving the LM exposed on top of the Saturn's third stage. (A15FJ)
003:07:36 Duke: Okay, Houston. You got the High Gain?
003:07:38 Young (onboard): Well, I think you're closing, but I sure can't tell it ...
003:07:39 Fullerton: Roger, Charlie.
Comm break.
003:07:41 Duke (onboard): You got the DAC started?
003:07:22 Young (onboard): ...[garble].
003:07:43 Mattingly (onboard): Oh, I forgot! Ten feet, f/8, 12.
003:07:46 Duke (onboard): Okay.
003:07:50 Mattingly (onboard): [Garble] turn the power on and I think I'm gonna hold it off for a second here [garble].
003:07:56 Duke (onboard): Yeah.
003:07:57 Mattingly (onboard): [Garble] close [garble].
Apollo Control, Houston, at 3 hours, 8 minutes now on Ground Elapsed Time. We show Apollo 16 at a height of 4,435 nautical miles [8,213 km].
003:08:05 Duke (onboard): Okay, did you get the DAP?
003:08:06 Young (onboard): The DAP is set.
003:08:12 Mattingly (onboard): Man, that looks like I'm opening, doesn't it, John?
003:08:19 Young (onboard): Yeah [garble] you [garble]. Whatever you [garble] it [garble] much to open it.
003:08:23 Mattingly (onboard): I don't want to put in too much [garble] rate.
003:08:25 Young (onboard): That's right [garble].
003:08:28 Mattingly (onboard): Hey, when that thing turned around, guys, the crosshairs in the COAS are within the docking target.
003:08:37 Duke (onboard): Well, I can't get - I - I got this half of a picture ...
003:08:39 Young (onboard): It is close - closing, isn't it?
003:08:44 Mattingly (onboard): Yeah, he is.
003:08:44 Duke: Okay, Houston, you ought to be getting some TV.
003:08:47 Mattingly (onboard): I'm trying to get a mark on that.
003:08:50 Fullerton: I haven't got it yet; we're working on it.
Comm break.
003:08:54 Mattingly (onboard): Have you - how does the monitor look?
003:08:56 Duke (onboard): It looks great; but all I got is just this little picture - the cor - the corner of the picture. I can't ...
003:08:59 Mattingly (onboard): Well, if you move the ...
003:09:01 Young (onboard): You got to move the camera.
003:09:02 Mattingly (onboard): ... camera?
003:09:03 Duke (onboard): That's what I've been trying to do, and I can't get any more [garble].
003:09:05 Mattingly (onboard): [Garble]. That thing is maneuvering in attitude a little bit. I don't think I'm closing [garble].
003:09:13 Young (onboard): [Garble].
003:09:14 Mattingly (onboard): Let it ride?
003:09:15 Young (onboard): [Garble].
003:09:19 Duke (onboard): Hmph, there we are - perfect picture.
003:09:30 Young (onboard): I don't think you're closing.
003:09:35 Mattingly (onboard): Give me [garble].
003:09:36 Young (onboard): [Garble].
003:09:37 Mattingly (onboard): Give me ....
End of CM transcript until 003:16:13
Apollo Control, Houston. 3 hours, 10 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. The black and white picture is beginning to come in now. Television is now showing...
003:10:01 Fullerton: We got a picture now, Charlie, and it looks real good.
003:10:06 Duke: Man, it just looks like a picture book from up here, Gordo. We must have a zillion particles along with us. [Pause.]
003:10:17 Fullerton: Roger. We see the particles and - great picture!
003:10:22 Duke: Hey, is the zoom in too much, Gordo? You - Let me take it out a little bit. [Long pause.]
Apollo Control, Houston, at 3 hours, 11 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. Apollo 16 now 4,851 nautical miles [8,984 kilometres] away from the Earth.
003:10:43 Fullerton: That's just right, Charlie. That's a good zoom setting right now.
003:10:47 Duke: Super! [Long pause.]
003:11:09 Duke: Gordy, looks like Orion is hanging in there pretty well. She looks great.
Apollo 16 reporting that they have captured the Lunar Module. We're at three hours, 16 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. We show an altitude of 5,706 nautical miles [10,567 kilometres].
003:16:13 Young: Yeah.
Comm break.
CM transcript restarts
003:17:18 Young (onboard): [Garble] on?
003:17:20 Mattingly (onboard): Well, I'm going back over them, and I can't see - Well, I don't know.
003:17:38 Mattingly (onboard): I tell you, it doesn't dress up very much - or even.
003:17:43 Young (onboard): [Garble] should be [garble].
003:17:49 Duke (onboard): Looks like something in the [garble] or something.
003:17:52 Young (onboard): [Garble] Charlie.
003:18:00 Mattingly (onboard): Man, this patience biz is hard to take (laughter). We're dressing up in pitch now, John, and the yaw is, too. We're gonna have lots of time here.
003:18:14 Young: Ken's taking some time in dressing this thing up, getting these attitudes right.
003:18:21 Mattingly (onboard): Seems to be...
003:18:22 Fullerton: Okay, John.
Long comm break.
003:18:24 Mattingly (onboard): ...quite a bit from the attitude that we had.
003:18:43 Duke (onboard): Look at that. Isn't that something else?
003:18:46 Young (onboard): Yeah.
003:18:57 Mattingly (onboard): [Garble] fired it again, it looked like [garble].
Apollo Control, Houston; 3 hours, 19 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. Apollo 16's present distance from Earth, 6,246 nautical miles [11,568 kilometres]. Velocity now reading 21,466 feet per second [6,543 m/s].
003:19:15 Mattingly (onboard): My docking budget didn't allow for all this. But I get no prize if I break it.
003:19:42 Young (onboard): [Garble].
003:19:44 Duke (onboard): Looks like Mylar.
003:19:45 Young (onboard): Yeah, I think it's probably Mylar. I think we got some gas [garble] trapped in those blankets maybe.
003:19:51 Mattingly (onboard): John, is it worth dressing up the roll, do you think?
003:19:54 Young (onboard): I don't think so. It looks like that's [garble].
003:19:57 Duke (onboard): Yeah, it looks [garble] in.
003:19:58 Mattingly (onboard): Okay; we're about - I'm trying to guess what it is in degrees we're off. I guess we're still off maybe 3 or 4 degrees.
003:20:05 Young (onboard): Ain't supposed to be off that far.
003:20:08 Mattingly (onboard): I'll go on over...
003:20:09 Young (onboard): [Garble] what the book says.
003:20:10 Duke (onboard): [Garble] 9?
003:20:11 Young (onboard): Yeah.
003:20:12 Mattingly (onboard): Well, you know they don't tell you how to tell the degrees you're off. I - I guess I never worried about it except [garble].
003:20:19 Duke (onboard): [Garble] pitch and yaw [garble] degrees.
003:20:22 Young (onboard): Yeah [garble] degrees.
003:20:33 Young (onboard): Coming back.
003:20:34 Mattingly (onboard): Yeah.
003:20:35 Young (onboard): [Garble] get it back [garble].
003:20:37 Mattingly (onboard): Yeah. Okay; all we have to do in order to do it now is what?
003:20:42 Duke (onboard): Put Docking Probe, Retract , to Prim[ary] 1. That's all you got to do.
003:20:46 Mattingly (onboard): Okay.
003:20:47 Young (onboard): Say when.
003:20:49 Mattingly (onboard): Yeah, [garble] get the camera started.
003:20:51 Young (onboard): Early?
003:21:05 Mattingly (onboard): We got both rates nulling at the same time.
003:21:08 Young (onboard): Okay.
003:21:22 Mattingly (onboard): Little more help here in pitch [garble].
003:21:29 Young (onboard): Okay, you guys.
003:21:31 Mattingly (onboard): Okay, Charlie.
003:21:32 Young (onboard): [Garble] pitch?
003:21:34 Mattingly (onboard): I tell you what. We're within a width of a line.
003:21:36 Young (onboard): That's good.
003:21:37 Duke (onboard): That's good.
003:21:38 Young (onboard): Okay.
003:21:39 Mattingly (onboard): I'm ready.
003:21:40 Duke (onboard): Okay.
003:21:41 Young (onboard): Okay.
003:21:42 Duke (onboard): Prim 1. Here it comes.
003:21:55 Duke (onboard): Man, I think that was it.
003:21:57 Young (onboard): [Garble] it goes Free [garble]. Auto.
003:22:01 Young: Okay, Houston. We're hard docked.
003:22:03 Duke (onboard): Did you get a - a gray?
003:22:04 Fullerton: Roger, John. We saw it come in.
003:22:08 Duke (onboard): Did you get grays?
003:22:08 Mattingly: And there is no question when you get the latches.
003:22:11 Young: Yep.
003:22:12 Duke (onboard): SECS Pyro Arm, Two, Safe?
003:22:13 Fullerton: Roger, Ken. [Long pause.]
3 hours, 22 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. Apollo 16 at 6,845 nautical miles [12,677 km] away.
003:22:15 Mattingly (onboard): Pyro Arms 1 and 2, Safe.
003:22:16 Duke (onboard): SECS Logic, Two, Off?
003:22:18 Mattingly (onboard): Logic, Two, Off.
003:22:19 Duke (onboard): EDS Power, Off.
003:22:21 Mattingly (onboard): EDS Power, Off.
003:22:23 Duke (onboard): CB EDS, Three, Open?
003:22:25 Mattingly (onboard): EDS 1, 2, 3, Open.
003:22:28 Fullerton: John, this is Houston.
003:22:31 Young: Go ahead. Over.
003:22:32 Fullerton: We'd like - We noticed the mixing valves cycling about once every 10, 15 seconds. We'd like to give you a mark, at which time we want you to put the Glycol Evap Temp In Valve in Manual and try to catch the flow rate at a - at a appropriate setting. I'll - I'll give you kind of a countdown and a mark here.
003:22:54 Mattingly (onboard): I think we saw it before.
003:22:55 Young: Yeah, we've been noticing that ourselves. [Pause.]
003:22:56 Mattingly (onboard): Okay, Charlie. Let me - let me give you some numbers here before I get off. With it - When we were docked...
Apollo Control, Houston, at 3 hours, 27 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. That view of Earth from a distance of 7,500 nautical miles [13,890 kilometres].
003:26:40 Fullerton: Very nice picture, Charlie. We can see Southwestern United States, Lower California. Very nice.
003:26:50 Duke: Good. Ken's doing all that good work for you. It's out his window. [Long pause.]
003:27:10 Mattingly: Gordy, is that color okay for you?
003:27:13 Fullerton: Very nice, Ken. Beautiful color.
003:27:17 Mattingly: I bet it's good, but you just can't believe how beautiful it is. See the reds in the desert down there and the Southern United States and northern part of Mexico. And from here, you see the Great Lakes and the State of Florida out there. And it's just absolutely something. We're going to go back to work, but thought you'd enjoy that.
003:27:37 Fullerton: Thank you for the picture. It's the next best thing to being up there. [Pause.]
003:27:49 Mattingly: And - and we might be able to get you an S-IVB later on. That's if you got room to get that kind of stuff.
003:27:59 Fullerton: Okay, we'll be waiting.
Comm break.
The last utterance from Fullerton is not on the PAO recording but exists in the technical transcript. A change in the background noise level on the recording suggests that it was temporarily switched to another source.
003:29:08 Fullerton: 16, Houston. We'll extend the time on commercial TV lines here if - if it looks like we'll get some good shots on the S-IVB.
003:29:19 Mattingly: Okay. I really haven't worked out the angles to tell you exactly how the Sun's going to be, but I have an idea we'll see it pretty nicely from here.
003:29:27 Fullerton: Okay, we'll stand by for it. [Long pause.]
003:29:39 Young: Just went to Auto on O2 Heater 3, Houston. We're down to that part in the post-docking checklist.
003:29:45 Fullerton: Okay.
Long comm break.
This is Apollo Control, Houston; 3 hours, 31 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. Apollo 16 presently at a distance of 8,240 nautical miles [15,269 km] away from Earth. Velocity now reading 19,445 feet per second [5,930 m/s].
This is Apollo Control, Houston, at 3 hours, 36 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. We presently show Apollo 16 at a - a distance of 8,997 nautical miles [16,662 km] away from the Earth. Velocity now reading 18,818 feet per second [5,736 m/s]. Very little conversation with the crew at this time as they're in the process of removing the tunnel hatch and going through their check list prior to separation and ejection of the Lunar Module. We are at 3 hours, 37 minutes; continuing to monitor. This Apollo Control, Houston.
003:36:36 Duke: We're picking up again on the procedure, Gordy. Cabin pressure's down to 41.
003:36:40 Fullerton: Roger.
Comm break.
003:38:14 Fullerton: 16, Houston. In about 30 seconds, a couple [of] non-propulsive vents will open on the booster.
Apollo Control, Houston; 3 hours, 40 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. The Booster Systems engineer reports the S-IVB, a non-propulsive vent has begun. We're at 3 hours, 40 minutes; continuing to monitor; this is Apollo Control, Houston.
003:40:18 Duke: Okay, Houston. The hatch is out.
003:40:20 Fullerton: Roger.
Comm break.
3 hours, 40 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. This is Apollo Control, Houston. Charlie Duke reports the hatch is out. We presently show Apollo 16 at a distance of 9,739 nautical miles [18,036 km] from Earth. Velocity now reading 18,277 feet per second [5,570 m/s].
003:43:00 Mattingly: Houston, it looks like Number 10 latch is indeed locked. Let me start by saying all the latches are locked. Number 10 is - is over the ring, but the handle isn't all the way up flush, and we're just going to leave it alone. Thought we'd just tell you about it.
This is Apollo Control, Houston; 3 hours, 46 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. Apollo 16 presently at 10,617 nautical miles [19,663 km] away from the Earth.
003:47:07 Duke: Okay, Houston. The connectors are connected, and we got LM power to CSM, and the system test is okay.
003:47:14 Fullerton: Roger.
003:47:20 Duke: And, Gordy, the old Rover's right where it's supposed to be.
003:49:12 Duke: Okay, Gordy. So when we pitched around, I'd like to tell you a little bit about something we saw on the LM. When we were coming around, out - about 30 or 40 feet [9 to 12 metres] out, we had a lot of white particles. Looked like it was coming out from around the Lunar Module. Quite a number of them. And, as we got closer, it looked like to me that the primary - most of the particles were coming bet - from between the ascent propellant tank over quad one and this omni antenna. And it looks like they was being jetted out from either some outgassing or something, and we assumed it's Mylar but are not convinced of that. [Pause.]
003:50:05 Fullerton: We copy that, Charlie. [Pause.]
003:50:10 Duke: The only reason we comment on it, it just seemed like there was a awful lot of them.
003:50:15 Fullerton: Okay.
Long comm break.
Apollo Control, Houston; 3 hours, 50 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. Making that report was Lunar Module Pilot Charles Duke. In his discussion with CapCom Gordon Fullerton here in Mission Control.
CM Transcript restarts.
003:54:42 Duke (onboard): DAC six [garble] feet per second, six frames per second.
003:54:46 Mattingly (onboard): DAC's - was six frames per second, and what did you say - six feet?
003:54:50 Duke (onboard): No, just six frames per second. Okay, lo - DAP is - load the DAP, 21101.
003:55:04 Duke (onboard): And - Okay, that's go. And load Pitch trim a plus -
003:55:09 Mattingly (onboard): Okay, just [garble].
003:55:11 Duke (onboard): Plus 123.
003:55:15 Mattingly (onboard): [Garble] 123.
003:55:19 Duke (onboard): And Yaw is minus 0.2.
003:55:26 Mattingly (onboard): Okay.
003:55:27 Duke (onboard): Okay, load Noun 22 attitude maneuver - monitor - Okay, it's a 90, 325 point - load Noun 22. Pro[ceed] on that one now.
003:55:35 Mattingly (onboard):Okay.
003:55:40 Duke (onboard): Nine - plus 90 - 09000, plus 325.5 - zero, plus 355.90. Okay; Verb 60 - Verb 63.
003:56:01 Young (onboard): [Garble] set.
003:56:04 Duke (onboard): GDC align; DET, Reset.
003:56:20 Mattingly (onboard): It's Reset.
003:56:21 Duke (onboard): CB Secs Arm, two, closed.
003:56:40 Duke (onboard): Secs Logic, Two, On, Up.
003:56:45 Mattingly: There's two Logics on. [Pause.]
003:56:47 Duke (onboard): Want me to hold the Flight Plan, Ken?
003:56:50 Fullerton: You're Go for Pyro Arm. [Pause.]
003:56:54 Mattingly (onboard): Okay. All right, now. Yeah. Before we get ready to get off...
003:56:59 Young: Roger, Houston. [Long pause.]
003:57:00 Mattingly (onboard): ...there's a couple of items we need to review, so...
003:57:02 Young (onboard): Go ahead.
003:57:04 Duke (onboard): Okay; why don't we go down to that part?
003:57:05 Mattingly (onboard): Yeah.
003:57:06 Duke (onboard): Okay. Have you armed the pyros?
003:57:08 Mattingly (onboard): No, sir. Arm them.
003:57:10 Duke (onboard): Yeah.
003:57:11 Mattingly: Here comes Pyro A.
003:57:12 Mattingly: Mark. Pyro B.
003:57:14 Mattingly: Mark. [Pause.]
003:57:16 Duke (onboard): TVC Servo Power, On - Power Number 1.
003:57:18 Young (onboard): TVC Servo Power, Number l, is AC1/Main A.
003:57:21 Duke (onboard): Trans Control Power, On, Up; verify.
003:57:23 Young (onboard): Trans Control Power's On.
003:57:24 Duke (onboard): RHC...
003:57:24 Fullerton: Okay, they look good. [Referring to the pyros]
Comm break.
003:57:27 Duke (onboard): Okay, RHC and THC armed?
003:57:30 Mattingly (onboard): They're armed.
003:57:31 Duke (onboard): Okay, then call P47. Okay, what do you want to do?
003:57:35 Mattingly (onboard): Let - let's review before we get into 47.
003:57:36 Duke (onboard): Okay.
003:57:37 Mattingly (onboard): Okay. The - the thing we got to do when we get through here is I want to be sure that there's a - we're gonna come in the last thing we started and we said at the time we hit Sep, I start my clock, and - and then at...
003:57:53 Duke (onboard): To Auto?
003:57:54 Mattingly (onboard): ...three to five seconds, I thrust for three.
003:57:55 Young (onboard): Okay.
003:57:56 Mattingly (onboard): Okay?
003:57:57 Duke (onboard): And you go to Auto - you go to - start your clock and go to Auto.
003:57:59 Mattingly (onboard): And go to Auto. At the same time, John hits the Sep.
003:58:02 Duke (onboard): Okay.
003:58:03 Mattingly (onboard): Right?
003:58:04 Young (onboard): And we'll [garble] all three of the [garble] on the line again.
003:58:06 Mattingly (onboard): Okay, and I'm going to hold my hand here. Okay; now the next thing is that I want to do this maneuver - is within 30 - at - any time after 30 seconds, I can start my maneuver.
003:58:16 Young (onboard): You got to get clear?
003:58:17 Mattingly (onboard): Yeah, 30 seconds and clear. We'll go [garble] approximately a minute. Okay. They haven't clued us to get off. I guess that's all we're waiting on. Are there any questions?
003:58:26 Duke: Houston, we got - We're ready to get off, if you guys are ready.
003:58:32 Fullerton: Roger. You're Go for ejection.
004:03:43 Mattingly: Okay, Houston. The post-LM injection - ejection checklist is complete.
004:03:51 Fullerton: Roger. And, for your information, we're unable to get lines from Goldstone to Houston for live TV; however, we're going to record any TV you give us for later playback. Over.
004:04:05 Mattingly: We'll do it for you.
Long comm break.
This is Apollo Control, Houston; 4 hours, 5 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. Our displays presently show Apollo 16 at 13,310 nautical miles [24,650 km] away from the Earth. Velocity now reading 16,083 feet per second [4,902 m/s].
004:07:44 Mattingly: Houston, Casper is out of his bag; and we got the S-IVB in the window. And the TV is transmitting pictures of it now, and if you want to do your maneuver with it, we're well clear.
004:08:03 Fullerton: Okay, we copy a Go for the S-IVB maneuver.
004:08:11 Mattingly: That's the attitude maneuver we're talking about. [Pause.]
004:08:16 Fullerton: They'll start the maneuver about 4:10 GET. [Pause.]
004:08:24 Mattingly: Okay.
Comm break.
004:09:37 Fullerton: 16, your TV down-link looks good out at the site; however, we can't see it here in Houston live.
004:09:45 Mattingly: Okay. Well we're still adjusting the - all those good things.
004:09:49 Fullerton: Okay. [Long pause.]
Apollo Control, Houston; we're 4 hours, 10 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. That was Ken Mattingly responding to CapCom Gordon Fullerton. We now show Apollo 16 at a distance from Earth of 14,005 nautical miles [25,937 km] with a velocity reading 15,751 feet per second [4,746 m/s]. Booster Systems engineer reports the yaw maneuver is in progress.
004:10:23 Fullerton: The S-IVB maneuver - attitude maneuver is in progress now. [Pause.]
004:10:32 Mattingly: Rog. We can see it maneuvering. [Pause.] I tell you, they never make movies like these.
004:10:44 Fullerton: Gotcha. [Long pause.]
004:11:19 Fullerton: We'd like Auto Track on the High Gain, please. [Pause.]
004:11:27 Duke: You got it.
004:11:30 Fullerton: Thank you. [Long pause.]
004:12:18 Mattingly: Gordy, we've - we lost the - the monitor picture, and we're gonna try to power the TV set down. We're gonna check all the connections, and it's got a lot of horizontal lines. And you really can't even make out the image. It started out okay, and then while John was taking a picture, it - the monitor picture went out. So we're gonna try to take a look at it. It's got a whole bunch of horizontal lines.
004:12:40 Fullerton: Okay, we'll go to...
004:12:41 Mattingly: It looks like maybe multiple images.
004:12:44 Fullerton: We'll go to the site. Standby.
Comm break.
Apollo Control, Houston; 4 hours, 14 minutes. That was Command Module Pilot Ken Mattingly talking about the television. We now show Apollo 16 at a distance of 14,416 nautical miles [26,698 km]. Velocity now reads 15,543 feet per second [4,737 m/s].
004:14:24 Fullerton: 16, Houston. The maneuver is complete. We're standing by for your Go for the evasive burn.
004:14:30 Mattingly: Okay, stand by one. [Long pause.]
004:15:16 Mattingly: Okay, Gordy, we're all set. It looks like it's almost 90 degrees to us.
004:15:20 Fullerton: Okay. On the TV problem, we had a good picture out at the site there at the first, but then we started losing signal strength, which would - doesn't really tell us whether anything is wrong with your monitor set or not.
004:15:35 Mattingly: Okay. Well, we're gonna take pictures like it's working, and you can check it out later.
004:15:39 Fullerton: Okay.
004:15:40 Mattingly: And we are all set.
004:15:42 Fullerton: Roger.
Comm break.
Apollo Control, Houston; 4 hours, 16 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. Booster Systems engineer reports he will start with the evasive burn of the S-IVB at 4 hours, 18 minutes Ground Elapsed Time.
004:16:44 Fullerton: 16, Houston. Goldstone says they're getting a good picture, and so your trouble is worth the effort there, and we'll start the evasive burn at 4:18 even. [Pause.]
004:16:59 Mattingly: Okay, Gordy, thank you. We got another spectacular view of the Earth down here. The polar ice cap. We can see the whole sphere, and the United States is absolutely spectacular.
004:17:14 Fullerton: How about that. [Pause.]
004:17:19 Young: And out the other side, we've got a crescent Moon.
004:17:22 Mattingly: In fact, you can see Lake Mead, Gordy; very clearly.
004:17:27 Fullerton: No kidding?
Comm break.
Apollo Control, Houston; 4 hours, 17 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. Apollo 16 now 15,039 nautical miles [27,852 km] away from the Earth. Velocity now reading 15,272 feet per second [4,655 m/s].
Apollo Control, Houston; 4 hours, 18 minutes. Booster Systems engineer indicates he has initiated the evasive burn. That's 1 minute, 20 seconds in duration.
004:19:03 Young: We can see her moving away now, Gordon, and she's just slowly picking up a little speed there. Only way you can tell it's moving is against the - the particles in the background. I don't think you can see those on TV, but it's - it looks like there's a million stars out behind the S-IVB as it moves off.
004:19:22 Fullerton: Roger, John. [Long pause.]
004:19:36 Fullerton: Now the evasive burn is complete, now.
004:19:39 Young: And - Roger. And as she moves out of sight, the old Apollo 16 crew would really like to express their thanks and appreciation to the guys at the Marshall Space Flight Center that gave such a phenomenal ride. Not to mention the Boeing Company on the First Stage, North American on the Second, McDAC on the Third, IBM on the IU. It was superb all the way.
Apollo Control, Houston; 4 hours, 20 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. That was spacecraft commander John Young expressing his appreciation of the Saturn V team.
004:20:25 Young: And you might relay to old Mike Wash, thanks a lot for his help. We know he's leaving, and we're sure glad we didn't have to use any of that training he gave us.
004:20:34 Fullerton: Okay, we'll sure do that. He's just about to walk out the door. [Long pause.]
4 hours, 21 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. Mike Wash has worked with the Apollo flight crews in the - in training these crews for the powered phase of launch and also...
004:21:03 Mattingly: Gordy, up off - looks like Alaska - up maybe a little farther north - is a pretty good swirl pattern. Looks like a pretty good storm up there.
004:21:15 Fullerton: Roger. [Long pause.]
During the powered phase of flight, Mike Wash is always positioned right next to the Capsule Communicator.
004:21:56 Fullerton: Apollo 16, here is a word from the auxiliary CapCom here.
004:22:01 Wash: Good luck, you fellows. Take it easy, and hope everything works out all right.
004:22:06 Young: Kind wordks, Mike. Thank you.
004:22:11 Wash: Say again?
004:22:12 Young: Thank you for all your trouble. We sure enjoyed working with you.
004:22:15 Wash: Well, was sure my pleasure, John; thank you a lot. Good-bye and good luck.
004:22:19 Young: Thank you, now.
Comm break.
Apollo Control, Houston; 4 hours, 22 minutes. The voice you just heard was Mike Wash who is being transferred to the Ames Research Center. We're at 4 hours, 23 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. We show Apollo 16 at a distance of 15,707 nautical miles [29,089 km] away from the Earth. Velocity now reading 14,972 feet per second [4,563 m/s].
004:24:28 Young: Okay and the - the S-IVB has drifted maybe half a mile away now, so we went ahead and turned off the tube.
004:24:37 Fullerton: Okay. [Long pause.]
004:25:26 Fullerton: John, just before you turned the mon - the TV off, was the monitor still giving you trouble?
004:25:31 Young: That's affirmative.
004:25:33 Fullerton: Okay, thank you.
004:25:35 Mattingly: I guess it's about time for a little Verb 49 to the P52 attitude. How's that suit you?
004:25:42 Fullerton: Sounds good. [Long pause.]
004:26:02 Duke: Gordy, the - I can't get over the view of that Earth. None of the pictures just do it justice. Absolutely beautiful.
004:26:12 Fullerton: We're kind of getting the idea that you're impressed.
004:26:16 Young: Man, the thing about it, Gordy, is that the whole Southern United States, Mexico, and that - and - and Florida and Cuba and the Virgin Islands down that way - they're all clear of clouds. It's just fantastic!
004:26:32 Fullerton: Did you take some good pictures?
004:26:36 Young: Got some.
004:26:38 Mattingly: The way we're going, we may have to get a reload before we get to the Moon.
004:26:41 Young: As a matter of fact, you can see as far north as Lake Michigan and Lake Superior.
004:26:48 Fullerton: Sounds great.
004:26:52 Duke: And all the way down past the Yucatan and - and into the Central America.
004:32:02 Young: Houston, we've got the cabin back up some now, and our LM/CM Delta-P gauge is reading 0.6, and that's probably due to that Delta[-P] on the cabin. And the O2 Flow Hi light has gone out, so things are getting back to normal.
004:32:16 Fullerton: Okay.
Comm break.
004:33:32 Mattingly: And, Houston, we've done a LM/CM Delta-P; and at time four hours and 30 minutes, we had a plus 0.6.
004:33:41 Fullerton: Roger.
Comm break.
004:34:44 Mattingly: Houston, we're going to take the Waste Stowage valve to Vent [at] this time.
Apollo Control, Houston, at 4 hours, 37 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. Our space digitals display in Mission Control [is] presently using the Moon as a reference and we show that Apollo 16 is 174,639 nautical miles [323,431 kilometres] away from the Moon. At 4 hours, 37 minutes, continuing to monitor; this is Apollo Control, Houston.
004:39:52 Fullerton: Ah, 16, Houston. Don't know if you can see it or not, but we've started the LOX dump on the S-IVB. [Pause.]
004:40:01 Duke: We lost it a little while ago, Gordy.
004:40:03 Fullerton: Roger.
Comm break.
Apollo Control, Houston; 4 hours, 40 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. The Booster Systems engineer reports that the LOX dump has been completed with the S-IVB. We're at 4 hours, 41 minutes Ground Elapsed Time, continuing to monitor; this is Apollo Control, Houston.
004:41:07 Duke: Houston, are you ready for us to start charging Battery B? [Pause.]
004:41:17 Fullerton: Okay, we're Go for the battery charge on B, and we'd also like you to dial in the Flight Plan High Gain angles, minus 47 and 98, and go to Reacq[uire].
004:41:29 Duke: Okay, you got the angles, and you're going to Reacq[uire].
004:45:50 Duke: Okay, we got Bat B charging, and it says volts should be 37½ to 39½, and I'm looking at 33. [Pause.]
004:46:04 Fullerton: Okay. [Long pause.]
004:46:25 Fullerton: Charlie, we got - we figured about 8 amp-hours out of that battery, so it'll be a while yet before the voltage gets back up, and EECOM thinks that's okay.
004:46:37 Duke: Okay, fine. [Long pause.]
004:47:22 Young: Houston, we got 3.4 on 7A. We're gonna vent - we gonna vent the battery to zero, if that's okay.
004:47:31 Fullerton: Stand by. [Pause.]
004:47:41 Fullerton: We'd like you to hold on that a minute. [Pause.]
004:47:47 Duke: You're too late, we just vented it. [Long pause.]
004:48:00 Young: Okay, it's reading about two-tenths right now.
Apollo Control, Houston; 4 hours, 50 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. The space digitals display is still using the Moon as a reference. We presently show Apollo 16 at a distance of 172 - 173,082 nautical miles [320,548 km] away from the Moon. Continuing to monitor; this is Apollo Control, Houston.
004:50:51 Mattingly: Houston, got a couple of comments on the EMS for G&C, whenever he has a break.
004:50:59 Fullerton: They're all ears; go ahead.
004:51:03 Mattingly: That must look funny. Okay. We been running null bias tests here for - well, since we got in orbit - each time the checklist calls for it. On the first one, we found that in our hundred-second check, it gained 2.5; then, just before docking, it got 2.6; and I just ran another one, and I have 2.8. And I don't really know what you can do with that, but I just thought I'd go ahead and tell you about that's the magnitude of what we're looking at.
004:51:34 Young: Okay, and our first rough guess as to how the SCS GDC system is performing, it looks like it's well within spec in pitch, yaw, and roll, as far as its drift measurements go.
004:51:50 Fullerton: Okay, Ken and John, we got that.
004:53:15 Fullerton: 16, Houston. Whenever you're ready, we're ready to load the PTC REFSMMAT.
004:53:23 Mattingly: Okay, you have P00 and Accept.
004:53:28 Fullerton: Okay. [Long pause.]
004:54:19 Fullerton: Ken, sorry about that. We didn't get coordinated here. We don't have an uplink site, so go back to Block until after 5 hours, and we'll try it again then.
004:54:29 Mattingly: All righty. We're back in UpTel to Block. And we're going to be kind of hanging up here for a while anyhow, while we get our suits off. It - it turns out to be a pretty interesting operation with these new B-suits.
004:54:46 Fullerton: Roger.
004:54:50 Mattingly: I'll tell you, Gordy, there were some sights out there that were really something. One of the - one of the things that - most things happened like people had said they would. But there were a couple of things that I had never seen or heard anyone even mention, and maybe they'd been on - been there all along. But one of the things that was really nifty was, while we were in powered flight, both in later stages of the boost and - and during the TLI burn, there were particles that I could see out the window that were going past us in the plus-X direction, and I kept thinking that that was an optical illusion, and I kept going back and looking at it again, and sure enough! And these were after we were in steady state. It wasn't around any kind of a staging event or anything that I was aware of.
004:55:37 Fullerton: Oh, how about that. I haven't heard of that one before.
004:55:43 Mattingly: Then when we - when we scooted out here and you started your nonpropulsive vent, we could see - First, it just looked like - like it was a little mist around the outside when you looked at the Sun. And then the Sun hit it at such an angle that you started getting a - a spectral reflection, and it looked like a rainbow out over the LM. And then after - after that, you could look out my Number 1 window, and apparently the lighting was just right so that it - it had the appearance of - of light streaming off to a point source at infinity. There was a little blank spot in it at the - at what looked like the origin. And then all these streaks were coming back towards you, like you were right in the center of a cone. And these things would change colors. They go to a light - light purple, and then they'd have a little sandy color to them. That was another one that I don't remember ever hearing before, and it was - maybe it was just the lighting on it, but it sure was pretty.
004:56:46 Fullerton: Rog. Enjoying the description. [Pause.]
004:56:53 Mattingly: I'll tell you, you can't wait too many years to make this worth it.
004:56:59 Fullerton: Roger.
004:57:03 Young: Gordy, on that boost, that S-IC is a real freight train. I'll tell you, boy. I can't get over that.
004:57:11 Fullerton: Roger.
004:57:14 Mattingly: Could you folks see that thing on the TV up through staging?
004:57:20 Fullerton: I didn't watch it all the way until it went out of sight. I'll have to check here. [Pause.]
Apollo Control, Houston...
004:57:32 Fullerton: Yeah, I guess we saw even [the LES] tower jett.
004:57:38 Duke: Good show. John's in the middle of his suit doff.
004:57:43 Fullerton: Okay. [Pause.]
We're at 4 hours, 58 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. Most of that long description coming from Ken Mattingly, how...
004:57:52 Mattingly: And thanks to good old Stu Roosa's suggestion, we wrote in the Flight Plan to be sure and take a look at the fires out there in Africa as we went over, which is something we probably would have forgotten or never even thought about. And they are just as beautiful as everybody's ever said they could be. They're just all over the place. All these little - little yellowish-red dots down there. And there was some - looked like some low overcast in parts of the area, or maybe it was - from our altitude, maybe it was a high overcast. But it just gave - It looked like looking at the lights of a city through fog, and then there were others that were clear. Just something well worth remembering to look for.
004:58:32 Fullerton: Roger. We'll be sure to remind Ron to look for that one. [Pause.]
004:58:43 Mattingly: I tell you, God didn't equip us with enough eyes to see everything that there is to see in the first hour.
004:58:51 Fullerton: Rog. [Long pause.]
Apollo Control, Houston; 4 hours, 59 minutes. That last remark coming from Command Module Pilot Ken Mattingly. Our space digital display still using the Moon as a reference. We show Apollo 16 172,048 nautical miles [318,633 kilometres] away from the Moon.
004:59:26 Mattingly: Gordy, it looks like this whole operation may take us longer than - than we had guessed. Is there any thermal constraint on getting a 52 attitude and going to those other attitudes? Looks like we got some time to go here...
004:59:41 Fullerton: I'll check on that, Ken. We're about...
004:59:42 Mattingly: ...but I just wondered if that's something we ought to keep in mind.
004:59:47 Fullerton: Okay. We're about to a handover here. I'll check on that and come back to you through Hawaii.
005:00:46 Fullerton: 16, we're - through Hawaii now. And you're scheduled in this attitude through 7 hours or - at least, so no problem thermally, and you're not even due to do the P52 for another half hour, so you're plenty ahead.
005:01:03 Mattingly: Okay, that P52 - We're going to come to a decision point; here pretty soon, whether to - you want us to do that and then we'll pick up the suit doffing after that, or we - I'd just as soon go ahead and do the - get all the suits out of the way. And we can do the 52 on schedule, or we can do it after we get the suits off. Does it make any difference to you folks ?
005:01:24 Fullerton: Let me check. [Long pause.]
005:01:56 Fullerton: If that's what you'd like to do, why don't you go ahead with the - finish up the suits. No problem slipping the 52 a little bit. And we'd like P00 and Accept for that uplink.
005:02:08 Young: Okay, there's P00 and Accept. [Pause.] Is Fredo still around there?
005:02:18 Fullerton: No, he went home about a half hour ago.
This is Apollo Control, Houston, at 5 hours, 10 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. Our displays still show the Moon as our reference. We show Apollo 16 at a distance of 170,878 nautical miles [316,466 km] away from the Moon and we've had no conversation for a while with the crew of Apollo 16. We suspect that they're in the process of doffing their space suits and later preparation for their eat period which is scheduled to begin at six hours Ground Elapsed Time. Five hours, 10 minutes Ground Elapsed Time; this is Apollo Control, Houston.
This is Apollo Control, Houston, at 5 hours, 30 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. Our space digital display now using the Earth reference. We show Apollo 16 at 23,892 nautical miles [44,248 km] away from the Earth. Velocity now reading 12,295 feet per second [3,747 m/s].
This is Apollo Control, Houston, at 5 hours, 44 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. We presently show Apollo 16 at a distance of 25,488 nautical miles [46,204 km] away from the Earth. Velocity now reading 11,945 feet per second [3,504 m/s]. Very shortly in Mission Control, we will have a change of shift - or shift changeover of the Gene Kranz team of flight controllers will be replaced by Pete Frank's team of flight controllers. We're at 5 hours, 45 minutes and continuing to monitor; this is Apollo Control, Houston.
This is Apollo Control, Houston; 5 hours, 50 minutes Ground Elapsed Time. We presently show Apollo 16 at a distance of 26,143 nautical miles [48,417 km] away from the Earth. And traveling at a velocity of 11,796 feet per second [3,595 m/s]. We're continuing with our shift turnover in the Mission Control Center at the present time. Pete Frank's team of Orange flight controllers coming aboard, replacing the Gene Kranz team of White flight controllers. We estimate the start time of our change of shift news conference at 6 to 6:15 pm Central Standard Time. The news conference will involve Flight Director Gene Kranz, CapCom astronaut Gordon Fullerton and Booster Systems engineer Frank Van Rensselaer. This news conference will be held in the News Center briefing auditorium - in the News Center briefing auditorium instead of the large public affairs auditorium. We're at 5 hours, 51 minutes Ground Elapsed Time; this is Apollo Control, Houston.
006:03:54 Duke: Hello, Houston; 16. John and I are back up now.
006:04:00 Fullerton: Roger. That up-link is complete. In case you didn't hear me some time ago, the computer is yours.
006:04:10 Young: Okay, we're in Block.
006:04:12 Fullerton: Roger.
006:04:13 Young: And it took us about an hour for me and Charlie to climb out of those suits and stow them. It's really something.
006:04:23 Fullerton: Rog. [Long pause.]
Removal and stowage of the A-7LB spacesuits was discussed by John Young, Ken Mattingly and Charlie Duke during the 1972 post-mission debrief:
Young, from the 1972 Technical debrief: "Climbing out of that suit is really something."
Mattingly, from the 1972 Technical debrief: "We had a hard time getting the suits into the suit bag because we were trying to be careful of them. I don't know if taking our pockets off would have helped us or not."
Young, from the 1972 Technical debrief: "Taking the pockets off is another 10 or 15 minutes per suit. The way they put those things on they're on there to stay. The best way to get them off is to cut them off."
Mattingly, from the 1972 Technical debrief: "The only point I'm making is that I have stowed suits in the bag in stowage exercises and it's a not a big deal."
Young, from the 1972 Technical debrief: "It's entirely different in flight and I think there are couple of things that are different. One is the suits which we stowed here [on Earth] never had the pockets and all the paraphenalia straps on. The other thing is you have an old beat up suit that's a rag. You don't care if you step on it, kick it, or what you do to it but when you re on your way to the Moon, you're being ginger with those things."
Mattingly, from the 1972 Technical debrief: "The bag is just too small for the suits."
Young, from the 1972 Technical debrief: "Here's something I feel pretty strong about. We haven't had any problems so far but I think that the crews that are going to have to take these suits off and stow them in a bag should be given a demonstration on how to properly roll up and stow an A-7LB pressure suit by a suit technician close to launch so they don't forget what they've learned. Course, that's just another square to fill close to launch. If you damage that suit by stowing it in that bag, and I can see how you could do that because you wouldn't believe the kind of kicking, grunting, shoving and heaving you have to do in zero g to get that suit in there, and if you damage it, there goes your mission because you can't fix it."
Mattingly, from the 1972 Technical debrief: "I think that you should point out, we only stowed two suits in a three-suit bag."
Young, from the 1972 Technical debrief: "Yes. We only put two suits in there. We got three suits in there on the way back and then found out that we weren't supposed to have three suits in there. We were supposed to stow one of them under the couch. And, we only put two in there on the way out. We stowed Ken's suit undernearth the left couch. But, I was always concerned that maybe we had folded a suit in the wrong direction and put some undue strain on the zipper. We had zipped the zipper up, but we hadn't zipped the pressure sealing zipper up all the way. But we zipped the restraint zipper all the way up and we put the neck ring's dust cover on it."
Mattingly, from the 1972 Technical debrief: "I think it's a shame to take a chance on the suits on your way to the Moon. I think you should make that bag bigger."
Young, from the 1972 Technical debrief: "There's about this much room between the bag and the front hatch which is not used and I don't see why they don't make that big enough so that a guy is not ruining his EVA by stowing his pressure suit. Now, maybe the CSD people will come back and say you can't hurt those pressure suits. But if I know Ed Smiley, I reckon he feels that way about it, probably."
Mattingly, from the 1972 Technical debrief: "Well, the other thing is, when you fold these on the ground and you got one g helping you pull it up into a little ball. In flight, it is whatever you could get with your arms."
Young, from the 1972 Technical debrief: "The other problem is that J-mission spacecraft, with those boxes under you, only one man can get in there to do the job at any one time,You can't get two men in the space to push the suit right. Well, it was of some concern to me in that we were treating suits properly when we stowed them that first time.We set a new world record for suit donning and doffing in zero gravity and 1/6-gravity seven times, something I would just as soon not have,we were behind the first day. We didn't have enough time in the timeline to doff the suits and stow them, we didn't have any time in there with one man in the middle of suit doffing, another man is handicapped because he's helping. So, that leaves one man to mind the store."
Mattingly, from the 1972 Technical debrief: "We actually had time in the Flight Plan for doffing the suits. We just didn't have adequate time. We had an hour or less and we used almost one hour on the first suit."
006:05:19 Fullerton: 16, Houston.
006:05:23 Young: Go ahead, Gordon.
006:05:25 Fullerton: I'm going to hand over to Pete here. He's coming on with a good boost there. He's got a bunch of - P37 PAD and a bunch of Flight Plan updates for you when you get somebody free to do some stenographic work there. Enjoyed the first six hours. Hope the rest of it goes as well.
006:05:50 Young: Gordon, that was beautiful. Tell Flight and the guys down in the trenches, "Man, that was super!"
006:05:55 Fullerton: Okay.
At this point there is a shift change in Mission Control, with the Orange Team under Pete Frank taking over control. The new CapCom is Donald Peterson. "Pete" Peterson joined the astronaut corps in 1969, but did not fly until the sixth Shuttle mission in 1983.
006:13:01 Duke: Okay, Houston; 16 here. We're ready to copy the Flight Plan updates. [Pause.]
006:13:14 Peterson: Roger, 16. At 11 hours in the Flight Plan.
006:13:20 Duke: Stand by. [Long pause.]
006:13:32 Duke: Okay; go ahead.
006:13:33 Peterson: Roger. At 11 hours, we want to delete "Waste Stowage Vent valve, Close;" and, at 12:15, we will add "Waste Stowage Vent valve, Close." [Pause.]
006:13:53 Peterson: Roger. And delete it at 11. [Long pause.]
006:14:24 Duke: Okay; go ahead.
006:14:26 Peterson: Roger. Then we've got the change to the CSM Experiments/EVA Checklist having to do with the ultraviolet filter. [Pause.] UV filter apparently did not meet the specs, and we're going to have to make some changes to the exposures at - on several different pages in the checklist. [Pause.]
006:14:56 Duke: We'll wait on that; we don't have that checklist out yet, Pete.
006:15:00 Peterson: Okay; and I've got P37 block data. [Pause.]
006:15:12 Duke: Stand by.
Comm break.
006:16:14 Duke: Okay, Pete, go ahead with the P37 block data.
006:16:16 Peterson: Okay. Lift-off plus 15. It's 015:00; 5493; minus 165; 046:40. [Pause.]
006:16:40 Duke: Roger; copy. 015:00; 5493; minus 165; 046:40. Over.
Judging by the voice from the spacecraft, Peterson is almost certainly talking with Charlie.
006:16:55 Duke: Is that all?
006:16:57 Peterson: Yeah [garble] that's all.
006:16:59 Duke: Okay. How's the midcourse [correction] looking? [Pause.]
006:17:05 Peterson: Stand by one. We're still looking at it; it looks pretty good right now.
Very long comm break.
This is Apollo Control. We've now completed our shift handover in Mission Control. Flight Director Pete Frank and the Orange Team of Flight Controllers. The CapCom on this shift is astronaut Donald Peterson. We have a change of shift press briefing scheduled to begin momentarily in the MSC News Center briefing room as is our normal practice during change of shift briefings, we will have the air to ground line down and we'll be recording any conservations with the crew for playback following the press conference. The coming eight hours or so should be a relatively quiet time for the crew. The booster engineer has pretty well taken care of all activities with the Saturn V third stage, the S-IVB. That vehicle is now gradually separating from the spacecraft [and] tumbling slowly. This is to maintain the proper thermal equilibrium and also to kind of neutralize out any changes in velocity added or subtracted by small ventings from any of the tanks, a normal procedure with the S-IVB.
The crew is scheduled to begin a eat period and as we passed up to Charlie Duke we do not expect to have Midcourse Correction 1 based on the current tracking data. At 6 hours, 19 minutes; Apollo 16 is traveling at a velocity of 11,159 feet per second [3,401 m/s]. Now 29,187 nautical miles [54,054 km] from Earth. This is Apollo Control, Houston.
006:39:58 Peterson: Roger. Just wanted to remind you that, before you start the UV photography, we've got to change all the exposures.
006:40:05 Duke: Okay.
This is Apollo Control at 6 hours, 41 minutes. During the change of shift briefing, we accumulated a small amount of tape conversations which we'll play back for you at this time. And then continue to stand by live following that tape playback.
006:43:01 Duke: Pete, 16 here. Go ahead with the update. Give me a page number for the UV, and we'll update the filter settings.
006:43:09 Peterson: Okay; we've got a whole bunch of pages. We'll start on 2-16. [Pause.]
006:43:17 Mattingly: Okay; go ahead.
006:43:18 Peterson: Under item 4, we want to change from "20 seconds - 2 frames" to "2 seconds - 2 frames." [Pause.]
006:43:31 Duke: Okay; keep going.
006:43:32 Peterson: Okay; on page 2-17. Item 4, "20 seconds - 2 frames," change to "1/15 second - 2 frames." [Pause.]
006:43:50 Peterson: Page 2...
006:43:51 Duke: Okay; 2-16 - 2-16, line 4, "20 seconds" to "2 seconds," and 2-17, same line is "1/15" versus "20 seconds."
006:43:59 Peterson: That's affirmative. And on page 2-19, we want to change shutter - under item 5 - we want to change "Shutter 1/15 - 2 frames" to "Shutter 1 - 2 frames." [Pause.]
006:44:17 Duke: Okay; "Shutter 1/15" went to "Shutter 1 - 2 frames."
006:44:21 Peterson: Roger. On page 2-21, we have change from "Shutter 1/15 - 2 frames," to "Shutter 1 - 2 frames."
006:44:43 Duke: Okay; that was "Shutter 1" vice "1/15."
006:44:47 Peterson: Affirmative. And on page 2-22, item 2, change "Shutter 1/15 - 2 frames" to "Shutter 1/2 - 2 frames." [Pause.]
006:45:02 Duke: Copy; 1/2.
006:45:04 Peterson: On page 2-23, item 4, "20 seconds - 2 frames" to "2 seconds - 2 frames." [Pause.]
006:45:16 Duke: Okay, copy.
006:45:17 Peterson: And on page 2-24, under "At T start plus 7 minutes", change "20 seconds - 2 frames" to "1/15 seconds - 2 frames."
006:45:32 Duke: Can you say where that is again?
006:45:35 Peterson: Okay, it's on page 2-24, and it's under the heading that says "At T start plus 7 minutes."
006:45:41 Duke: Okay. What was it? I'm sorry; I got all of that, but didn't get what it was.
006:45:46 Peterson: Okay. It's change "20 seconds - 2 frames" to "1/15 second - 2 frames."
006:45:55 Duke: Okay, copy.
006:45:58 Peterson: Okay, on page 2-36 [pause.] about 1/3 of the way down the page where it says "Configure lens f/8,1/30, 4" - We want to change that to "Configure lens 1/2 stop between f/5.6 and f/8, 1/15, and 4." [Long pause.]
006:46:35 Duke: Okay, that's ½ stop between f/5.6 and f/8, and the shutter to 1/15?
006:46:49 Peterson: And on that same page, about 2/3 of the way down, under the step that says "Electrophoresis Power, On," we want to add a note to hold for instructions from MSFN. [Long pause.]
006:47:13 Duke: Okay, understand hold for instructions from MSFN. Is that before the Power, On?
006:47:19 Peterson: Negative. That's immediately after Power, On, and I won't read you that instruction now; we'll wait until we get to that in the Flight Plan.
006:50:30 Peterson: Right, John. This Verb 49 that's at seven hours in the Flight Plan, we want you to hold up on that so we can have a look at the attitude.
