Michael Collins (CMP)

Roger. MIDPAC entry PAD: 359 153 001 194 46 03 267, plus 1102, minus 17203 067 36194 655 11875 36275 195 03 03 0028, DL and VL NA, 4 00 02 10 00 18 03 38 08 21 44 2932 380, Scorpii Delta—Scorpii Theta, up 314, right 34, up. No midcourse correction, horizon, TI minus 30, 194 33 03, pitch 297, Deneb and Vega, 078, 233, 340. Over.

Owen Garriott (CAPCOM)

11, Houston. That's Roger. Copy. 11, it's also your computer. You can go back to BLOCK.

Neil Armstrong (CDR)

Okay, Houston. The crew status report is 8 1/2, 7, and 8.

Owen Garriott (CAPCOM)

11, Houston. Roger, Neil. 8 1/2, 7, and 8 for your crew status.

Owen Garriott (CAPCOM)

11, Houston. Your P52 looks good here on the ground, and we are now estimating that water dump will occur along about 171 plus 40; and we'd like for you to dump to 45 percent. This should let you arrive at Earth interface with just about a full load of waste water. Over.

Neil Armstrong (CDR)

Understand 171 40, approximately, 40 percent.

Owen Garriott (CAPCOM)

11, Houston. We'd like to advance the time on that water dump to about 171 plus 30 just after we reacquire on the next OMNI, and—as I mentioned, it'll be down to 45 percent—is the new quantity. Also, we're standing by for your CM RCS ejector temperature readout. Over.

Owen Garriott (CAPCOM)

Apollo 11, Houston. I'm not certain you copied my last transmission, as we were just in the process of switching OMNI's. We'd like to advance the time on that water dump until about 5 minutes from now. And we'll give you a precise mark on the time to start the dump, and we are standing by for a readout on your CM RCS ejector temperatures. Over.

Michael Collins (CMP)

Okay, Owen. We're standing by for your mark, and stand by for the readout.

Michael Collins (CMP)

Houston, Apollo 11. Are you ready to copy ejector temperatures? I'll read them in volts.

Owen Garriott (CAPCOM)

That's affirmative. Go ahead, Mike.

Michael Collins (CMP)

Okay. 2 4 is reading 4.7 volts, 2 5 is reading 4.8 volts, 1 2 is reading 4.8 volts, 1 4 is reading 4.8, 1 6 4.5, and 2 1 4.8. Over.

Owen Garriott (CAPCOM)

11, Houston. Roger. Those—I got them all.

Owen Garriott (CAPCOM)

Apollo 11, Houston. We're ready for you to start your waste water dump at this time. Over.

Owen Garriott (CAPCOM)

Apollo 11, Houston. We show you —

Michael Collins (CMP)

Houston, Apollo 11. We've dumped to 45 percent, and we're stopping now. Do you concur?

Owen Garriott (CAPCOM)

Apollo 11, Houston. I can read up your forecast weather for the recovery any time you'd like to hear about it. Over.

Owen Garriott (CAPCOM)

11, Houston. Present forecast shows acceptable conditions in your recovery area: 2000 foot scattered, high scattered, wind from 070 degrees, 13 knots, visibility 10 miles, and sea state about 4 feet. The forecast yesterday showed a tropical storm, Claudia, some 500 to 1000 miles east of Hawaii. The—the pictures from Earth satellites taken yesterday afternoon—afternoon showed Claudia dissipating, so this appears to be even less a factor than it was before. Your recovery area is now believed to be just a little ways north of the intertropical convergence zone, which you can probably see when you look out your windows there. Yesterday there was also a report of a tropical storm, Viola, further to the west. Its present location is some thousand miles east of the Phillipines and moving northwest. Tropical storm Viola has been intensifying, and should be transferred to the typhoon category within the next 12 hours or so; however, that will be far to your west. As a matter of fact, sunrise terminator has not yet reached Viola. When it does several hours from now, you can probably distinguish it from your viewpoint quite readily. As a matter of fact it should be of interest to perhaps take some pictures. Comment on it when you get a chance to see Viola in a few hours. So that's about the present weather state and situation for your recovery area. Over.

Michael Collins (CMP)

That sounds pretty good …

Owen Garriott (CAPCOM)

Apollo 11, Houston. Over.

Owen Garriott (CAPCOM)

11, Houston. We'd like to try operation with the high gain array here. If you would select reacquire and your S band antenna to HIGH GAIN, your positions are pitch plus 40 and yaw 270, and then monitor for acquisition. Over.

Owen Garriott (CAPCOM)

11, Houston. We're just now ready to switch from OMNI Delta over to your high gain antenna. Can you confirm that you have gone to REACQ? Over.

Owen Garriott (CAPCOM)

That looks real good, Mike. Looks like we picked up about 30 dB on the signal strength.

Michael Collins (CMP)

Yes. It came in quite quickly. However, I'm showing about 240 yaw and about zero on pitch, now.

Owen Garriott (CAPCOM)

Roger. About 240 and 0.

No contact for 1:12:01
Owen Garriott (CAPCOM)

Apollo 11, Houston. Over.

Owen Garriott (CAPCOM)

Roger. Just wanted to make sure you fellows hadn't gone back to sleep again. And I also have a little bit of late news here if you'd like to find out what's happened in the last 12—14 hours. Over.

Owen Garriott (CAPCOM)

Okey doke. Hot off the press here: We find Juan Carlos was formally designated yesterday—Tuesday—to become General Franco's successor—as the Chief of State of Spain and eventual King. Juan Carlos will be sworn in today as his successor designate after taking an oath of loyalty to the law and the National Movement, Spain's only legal political organization. He will apparently be called the Prince of Spain.

Owen Garriott (CAPCOM)

House Ways and Means Committee also has agreed yesterday to tax changes affecting oil companies, also banks and utilities, which could add as much as 2 billion dollars per year to the federal revenue. The committee also voted tentatively to change the accounting procedures for telephone, electric, gas, and oil pipeline companies and to reduce tax benefits of mutual savings and loan institutions. So, it looks as if tax reform may be on the way.

Owen Garriott (CAPCOM)

Looking overseas, we find South Korea's first super highway, linking Seoul with the Port of Inchon, has been named the Apollo Highway to commemorate your trip. I think we mentioned last night that President Nixon has already started on his round the world trip, and today he is in San Francisco on his first stop which will take him to the U.S.S. Hornet, from which he'll watch the return of your spacecraft. He plans to visit seven nations including Rumania during this trip. He, as I think you also knew, had to miss the All Star baseball game yesterday, as it was rained out; but it is being played today.

Owen Garriott (CAPCOM)

The West Coast residents in Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon; Vancouver, British Columbia; and San Francisco all plan to make their areas visible to the three of you by lighting their lights between 9 pm and midnight tonight, according to the Associated Press. We do have clear weather predicted there, so you may be able to see Christmas lights, porch lights, store lights, and whatever may be turned on.

Owen Garriott (CAPCOM)

A little closer to home here, back in Memphis, Tennessee, a young lady who is presently tipping the scales at 8 pounds, 2 ounces, was named “Module” by her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Eddie Lee McGhee. “It wasn't my idea.” said Mrs. McGhee, “It was my husband's.” She said she had balked at the name Lunar Module McGhee, because it didn't sound too good, but apparently they have compromised on just Module. Over.

Unidentified crew member

(Laughter) …

Owen Garriott (CAPCOM)

Roger. Hear a few chuckles coming from that direction. And we do have a late report on the sports here also. The All Star game currently being played. The present score at the end of the fourth inning has the National League leading the American League by 9 to 3. So the hitters are having a good day, you can tell.

Owen Garriott (CAPCOM)

And rain clouds are over the MSC area at the moment. It began raining here just about 10 minutes ago, and last report, we were having a pretty heavy deluge. So, that's it from the news front for the afternoon here, Apollo 11. Over.

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Neil Armstrong (CDR)

Thank you very much, Owen. I think my yard could use some water.

Owen Garriott (CAPCOM)

That's very true. I've forgotten exactly how many days it did go, Buzz, but something like 30 days without rain; and we can appreciate the rain we're getting right now.

Buzz Aldrin (LMP)

That was Neil. This is Buzz, here. I wish we could find out when the last time my lawn was cut. Over.

Michael Collins (CMP)

That might be a little more difficult to find out. I'm not sure whether the—whether Mike is ready to admit when he last did the job, but I'll look into that for you.

Buzz Aldrin (LMP)

Well, he'll tell you. He's got a new mower.

Michael Collins (CMP)

Hey, ask my chinch bugs how they're doing?

Owen Garriott (CAPCOM)

Well, I'm not sure about your's. I can let you know about my own, and the report isn't very good.

Owen Garriott (CAPCOM)

Roger. Joan wasn't home right now, Buzz, but Janis reports the grass is getting pretty high, and I would estimate that it's going to be close to your knees by the time you get out of quarantine. Over.

Buzz Aldrin (LMP)

Okay. I'll have to schedule a little discussion after I get back.

Owen Garriott (CAPCOM)

Roger. And no reports—no report from the chinch bugs there, Mike.

Michael Collins (CMP)

Well, they're sort of taciturn little fellows. They don't say much; they just chomp away.

Michael Collins (CMP)

Which is about what we're doing up here.

Michael Collins (CMP)

Breakfast was magnificent as usual. I had sliced peaches, sausage patties, two cups of coffee, and I forget all what else.

Owen Garriott (CAPCOM)

That does sound pretty good. As a matter of fact, I'm way overdue for a meal myself, here. I could use some of that.

Michael Collins (CMP)

Why don't you get Milt to give you 5 minutes off and grab a hamburger?

Owen Garriott (CAPCOM)

I suggested that awhile ago. He was pointing out about the weight problem here. We've got to keep the calories low, so I'd better stand by without it.

Michael Collins (CMP)

Houston, Apollo 11. We've been doing a little flight planning for Apollo 12 up here.

Michael Collins (CMP)

We're trying to calculate how much spaghetti and meatballs we can get on board for Al Bean.

Owen Garriott (CAPCOM)

I'm not sure the spacecraft will take that much extra weight. Have you made any estimates?

Owen Garriott (CAPCOM)

11, Houston. The medics at the next console report that the shrew is one animal which can eat six times its own body weight every 24 hours. This may be a satisfactory base line for your spaghetti calculations on Al Bean. Over.

Michael Collins (CMP)

Okay. Thank you. That's in work.

Michael Collins (CMP)

Houston, Apollo 11. It was slightly colder in here last night than it has been on any previous night. Does EECOMM notice any change in his data or any explanation for that?

Owen Garriott (CAPCOM)

Roger. Stand by just a moment. We've got to check some temperatures.

Michael Collins (CMP)

Up until last night it was—if anything, a little on the warm side at night. Last night it was on the chilly side.

Owen Garriott (CAPCOM)

Roger there. We'll run down the temperatures for the 2 nights.

Michael Collins (CMP)

Oh, it's no big thing. Just as a matter of interest.

Michael Collins (CMP)

And how'd you like the command module RCS temperatures?

Owen Garriott (CAPCOM)

11, Houston. They all look very good. The lowest temperature was 40 degrees, and we're taking a look at your cabin temperatures now.

Michael Collins (CMP)

We agree on the CM RCS. No heaters are going 2 to be required by a country mile.

Michael Collins (CMP)

We don't like those heaters, anyway, working off the direct coils.

Michael Collins (CMP)

Peculiar thing, Owen, on the platform alignment is that when I really take my time and do a very slow, careful, precise job of marking. I'm getting about the same star angle difference as when I'm doing it in DTC and have to do a hurried rush job with relatively poor tracking. Star angle differences seem insensitive. It almost made me believe there's a very small bias there somewhere in the sextant.

Owen Garriott (CAPCOM)

Roger, 11. Perhaps the 3 degrees per second just isn't that much of a bother. Over.

Buzz Aldrin (LMP)

Well, he's really trying to explain why he can't get all zeros.

Michael Collins (CMP)

I think Buzz is probably right. As a matter of fact, one time I made a mark which I thought was a little bit in error, but I thought, “Well heck. I'll go ahead and see how it works out anyway,” and I got five zeros that time. And when I have thought everything was exactly precisely on, I have consistently been getting 0.01.

Owen Garriott (CAPCOM)

Roger. Apparently it pays to hurry.

Michael Collins (CMP)

The visibility through the telescope has been very poor. It's, I would say, even worse than the simulator is right now. It requires long periods of dark adaptation which most times are most inconvenient; so it's really a tremendous asset to keep the platform powered up at all times and to keep it tweaked within the capability of the sextant field of view.

Owen Garriott (CAPCOM)

11, Houston. Checking your temperatures, it does look like the spacecraft may have cooled down perhaps 2 or 3 degrees in the last 24 hours, and that sounds to be consistent with your report on the comfort level there. Over.

Neil Armstrong (CDR)

Is that a LM off phenomenon?

Owen Garriott (CAPCOM)

11, Houston. It looks like we'll have to think a little more about that, as to whether it's a LM off or some effect of being out of Lunar orbit. We don't know, so we'll have to puzzle before we can give a better answer.

Michael Collins (CMP)

Well, if the systems guys have anything they want chased down, we'll be happy to give you any readings or reports or what have you.

Owen Garriott (CAPCOM)

Roger. We'll think about that and see if there aren't some other tests to be usefully performed here.

Owen Garriott (CAPCOM)

11, Houston. I'll be turning things over to the Green CAP COMM at this time, and see you on the ground tomorrow.

Neil Armstrong (CDR)

Okay, Owen. I want to thank you and the whole Purple/Maroon group there for a good job helping Apollo 11.

Buzz Aldrin (LMP)

Thanks from us to all of you. It was really appreciated.

Michael Collins (CMP)

Great job, you guys.

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Spoken on July 23, 1969, 7:10 p.m. UTC (54 years, 8 months ago). Link to this transcript range is: Tweet

Bruce McCandless (CAPCOM)

Apollo 11, this is Houston. Over.

Michael Collins (CMP)

Go ahead, Houston. Apollo 11.

Bruce McCandless (CAPCOM)

11, this is Houston. With reference to your subjective evaluation that it felt cooler in side the spacecraft last night, we reported earlier that we did indeed see a drop of about 3 degrees over the previous night. Looking back, it appears the crew of Apollo 10 reported similar feelings during the translunar and transearth coast phases. We're wondering if you could give us any indication of the relative amounts of free or condensed water in the cabin last night and the night before from which we could infer humidity. Over.

Neil Armstrong (CDR)

Roger. That might be a little bit difficult to do. We'll take a look at the tunnel now. It does seem as though, between the dirt, we had a little bit more moisture in the tunnel. Of course, the LM hadn't been vented when we did translunar.

Bruce McCandless (CAPCOM)

Roger. We were more curious about the relative amount of moisture between, say, last night and the night before, both of which would have the LM missing.

Michael Collins (CMP)

There's more moisture in the tunnel now than there has been at any previous time. Subjectively we have been unable to determine any change in—any buildup in humidity. There appears to be no moisture any other place in the spacecraft. For example, the windows are not fogging or—and various other cool spots around the spacecraft—all of them appear to be completely dry.

Bruce McCandless (CAPCOM)

This is Houston. Roger. Thank you.

Michael Collins (CMP)

How are all the “Greens” today, Bruce?

Bruce McCandless (CAPCOM)

Oh, the Greens are in good shape. The actual Green Team has been here for several hours. We're dogging the watch down here to position Ron for entry. Over.

Michael Collins (CMP)

Roger. Understand. Did Dave Reed get to explain the lunar … at the press conference?

Bruce McCandless (CAPCOM)

No, but your comments about Bill Shaffer and the explanations were quoted in the paper last night.

Bruce McCandless (CAPCOM)

Do you want to say anything more while you're on the line?

Michael Collins (CMP)

He's right. He's absolutely right.

Michael Collins (CMP)

How's old White, Bruce? Did he ever let you go get a cup of coffee when we were over on the back side?

Bruce McCandless (CAPCOM)

Oh, things have been going pretty smoothly down here. He's really not that hard to get along with.

Michael Collins (CMP)

Oh, he must be mellowing.

Bruce McCandless (CAPCOM)

We've only got two of them back here right now.

Michael Collins (CMP)

He always used to make me sit at the console through the back side passes, just for training.

Bruce McCandless (CAPCOM)

Well, the word we have here is—that was because whenever you came back, you had to be retrained.

Michael Collins (CMP)

Houston, Apollo 11. Out of curiosity, on those 70 mm cameras, we figure we exposed around 300 in the LM and around a thousand in the command module; and both cameras—or all the 70 mm cameras worked just fine.

Bruce McCandless (CAPCOM)

Okay. Very good. Thank you.

Bruce McCandless (CAPCOM)

Apollo 11, this is Houston. Over.

Bruce McCandless (CAPCOM)

11, this is Houston. Do you all have “Change Lima” for your entry operations checklist dated July 23? Over.

Neil Armstrong (CDR)

I'm not sure that we hung around long enough to pick that one up.

Bruce McCandless (CAPCOM)

Okay. If you've got the entry operations checklist handy, then I'll pass it up to you. Over.

Neil Armstrong (CDR)

How can you make changes after lift off?

Michael Collins (CMP)

You sure you don't mean June?

Bruce McCandless (CAPCOM)

Negative. It just came up today. Over.

Michael Collins (CMP)

So, you're the first to get to us. Go ahead.

Bruce McCandless (CAPCOM)

Okay. On page 6 1 of the entry out checklist down toward the bottom after “MAIN DEPLOY pushbutton,” we have three additional steps we'd like you to accomplish. The intent of this is to reduce the oxygen pressure in your manifold and to eliminate the oxygen bleed flow through the potable and waste water tanks during descent. Over.

Michael Collins (CMP)

Okay. We've got 6 1 out. Go ahead.

Bruce McCandless (CAPCOM)

Okay. Down at the bottom, you've got “10,000 feet MAIN PARACHUTE DEPLOY, MAIN DEPLOY pushbutton, PUSH within 1 second.” And after that step, we'd like you insert “SURGE TANK O2 valve, OFF; REPRESS PACKAGE valve, OFF; and DIRECT O2 valve, OPEN.” Do you copy?

Michael Collins (CMP)

Okay. Down at the bottom, after “MAIN DEPLOY pushbutton, PUSH; SURGE TANK O2, OFF; and REPRESS PACKAGE VALVE, OFF, DIRECT O2, ON” Over.

Bruce McCandless (CAPCOM)

Roger. And then down at the very bottom of page 6 2 where you see “DIRECT O2, OFF VERIFY,” delete that step completely. Over.

Bruce McCandless (CAPCOM)

And for record purposes, this will be “Change Lima.” Over.