Spacelog Apollo 11

Hello, Apollo 11. Houston. We recommend you accept the NOUN 49. Continue through your sequence of sightings, and then we'll analyze the data afterwards. Over.

Houston, Apollo 11. Star 40 has just disappeared now in the sextant. Could the trunnion angle 47—something be a little high?

Stand by.

Hello, Apollo 11. Houston. We'd like you to press on to star 44. Over.

Yes. Roger. All right. How many marks have you recorded on star 40?

Stand by, Mike.

Okay.

11, Houston. We copied two good marks. Over.

Houston, Apollo 11.

Go ahead. Over.

Roger. Forty-four is just not bright enough for this. There's a reddish glow filling the black area of the sextant, and the star is lost somewhere in there, and I cannot see it.

Roger. Stand by. We'll come up with another star. Over.

Yes. I'd appreciate that.

Hello, Apollo 11. Houston. We'd like you to go on to star 45. Over.

Okay.

And, Mike, we think these large DELTA-R's, NOUN 49, you're getting is really meaningful since it's been way before TLI since we had a state vector update; and we think it's normal. Over.

Okay. Could be, Charlie. Some of the early markings, I might not have had precisely the substellar point. I think as time goes by they've been coming more accurate but old Enif here is just flat invisible.

Roger.

And, Houston, Apollo 11. Understand that the same three gimbal angles you gave me should be valid for star 45 as well. Is that affirmative?

I'm believe that's right. Stand by one. Over.

Okay.

That is negative. Stand by one.

Okay. Because there's quite a difference between the gimbal angles you have and the gimbal angles the program wants, but with inaccurate state vector, I'm inclined not to believe the program.

Stand by.

Houston, Apollo 11. LMP is back on the line.

Roger. Copy.

Read you five-by.

Roger. Same, Buzz. And, 11, the angles for you are 1978 for roll, 1285 pitch, 3400 yaw.

Okay. Just as a matter of comparison, P23 for this star would like to go to 235.66, 154.31, and 31365. Over.

Roger. We copy, 11. We understand that the program can give you almost an infinite combination of angles in P23, and it's not too unreasonable. If you'll stand by, we'll look at these that we see on the DSKY. Over.

Okay. Then in the meantime I'll just go ahead and maneuver to yours. 197.8, 128.5, and 340.0.

Houston, Apollo 11.

Go ahead. Over.

Okay, Charlie. If the attitude you gave me on star number 45—The reticle is off, I'd say, a good 30 degrees in roll, and the star is not in sight. Over.

Roger. Stand by.

I think something's wrong with those attitudes.

Hello, Apollo 11. Houston. I wondered if you have AUTO optics selected. Over.

That's affirmative.

Roger. Looks like to us we need a PROCEED, Mike, to get the sextant pointed at the star. Over.

Okay. Stand by.

11, Houston. Those shaft and trunnion angles were exactly what we were computing on the ground. Over.

Okay. I'm going to trim up the attitude here and give it another try.

Okay. I have this star loud and clear now, Charlie, so I might as well do a bunch of marks on this one to get a good horizon count.

Roger. Stand by.

It still looks like I'm far from the substellar point. However, I'm off quite a hit in roll.

Roger. We'd like you to mark right where it is now, Mike, and we'd like two sets of marks on this. Over.

Well, then we're not at the substellar point if we're not.

Houston, you copy that NOUN 49?

Roger. We see it, 11. Stand by.

Apollo 11, Houston. We would like you to accept this one and every mark thereafter. Over.

Okay.

Do you need me to wait in the NOUN 49 display for any length of time?

Negative.

Okay.

Okay, Charlie. I'll be glad to give you as many of these as you like.

Roger. We'd like six marks on star 45, Mike, and then we'll probably go back to star 2 again. Stand by. We'll have further word on that.

Okay.

They seem to be getting smaller, Charlie. Are you sure you wouldn't like some more?

Stand by, Mike.

It's no trouble.

Roger. Stand by. Out.

Apollo 11, Houston. We'd like you to do two more on star 45. Over.

Okay.

Okay, Charlie. There's your two more marks. Where do you want to go from here?

Stand by.

Hello, Apollo 11, Houston. We'd like you to go back to star number 2 with an attitude as follows: roll 1952, pitch 1239, yaw 3400. Mike, that'll give you a trunnion angle of about 31.4. Over.

Okay. I understand star number 2 and roll 195.2, itch 123.9, and yaw 340.0. Over.

That's affirmative.

Okay, Charlie. I'm there, and I've got a trunnion angle of 30.5 degrees. Again, misaligned considerably in roll and I do believe that's important to getting good marks.

Stand by.

See, if my reticle's not parallel, then I'm not marking normal to the horizon and I'm not marking at the substellar point. I'm marking off somewhere else.

Stand by one. Over.

Okay.

Apollo 11, Houston. The ground-computed values for your shaft and trunnion are just what you're getting on the DSKY there, Mike. The horizon looks cocked off to you—You look like you're off in roll because the angles that we gave you to maneuver to, to prevent LM reflection from fouling up your optics, we feel like a—You should go ahead and mark on the stars just as is. Over.

Okay.

I'll bet you a cup of coffee on it.

Copy.

VERB—NOUN 49 for you, Charlie.

Roger. Stand by.

Apollo 11, Houston. We'd like to accept this one and give us two more and that will be enough. Over.

Apollo 11, Houston. We see your termination on P23. Thank you very much. Mike, we'll have a—We're trying to work up a story here for you; we'll be with you momentarily on an explanation of what's happening. Over.

Okay, Charlie. It just appears to me that you have to have a reticle tangent to the horizon at the point at which you mark or else you're not at the substellar point; you're off laterally, and therefore you're measuring a larger trunnion angle than you should.

Seems so to me. Our procedures people are working on this, and we'll be back with you momentarily. Over.

Thank you, sir.

Hello, Apollo 11. Houston. We'd like you to go P00 in ACCEPT. We'll have a PTC REFSMMAT for you momentarily. Over.

Hello, Apollo 11. Houston. We're through with the load. You can go back to BLOCK.

Hello, Apollo 11. Houston. We'd like you to do a P52, option 1 preferred, and establish PTC as listed in the flight plan at 12 hours. We'd like you to commence that right now, Mike. And we have some stars recommended for you. For stars 26, 30, and 24, when you get to attitude 000. Over.

Okay, Charlie. He's off the wick right now. Understand you're ready for us to do a P52, option 1?

11, it's a P52, option 1 preferred. Over.

Roger. And, let's see, that is Spica, Menkent, and what else?