Phase 7: Return to Lunar Orbit

Ronald Evans (CAPCOM)

Columbia, Columbia, good morning from Houston.

Ronald Evans (CAPCOM)

Hey, Mike, how's it going this morning?

Ronald Evans (CAPCOM)

Hey, real fine. While you're —

Michael Collins (CMP)

I don't know yet, how's it going with you?

Ronald Evans (CAPCOM)

Real fine here. Columbia, request P00 and ACCEPT. We'll shove the state vector in for you right away.

Ronald Evans (CAPCOM)

Okay. It's coming up now, Columbia. We're going to keep you a little busy here. As soon as we get the state vector in, we'd like you to go ahead and do a P52 option 3 on this night pass, and then when you come on around the other side there, we'll give you some landmark tracking information on prime 130.

Ronald Evans (CAPCOM)

And for your information, we're also going to have Tranquility Base do a P52 when you come around the other time; and I have the P22 information if you're ready to copy.

Ronald Evans (CAPCOM)

Okay. Track landmark 130 prime using P22, and for information, this will properly position your rendezvous radar transponder. T1 is 122 plus 16 plus 05—whoops, okay. Stand by.

Ronald Evans (CAPCOM)

Columbia, Houston. The computer is yours.

Michael Collins (CMP)

Okay. And I'd like the grid square of this crater 130 prime. Over.

Ronald Evans (CAPCOM)

Columbia, Houston. Say again about 130 prime.

Michael Collins (CMP)

I'd like its grid square, please.

Ronald Evans (CAPCOM)

Roger. I have the T1 and T2 times and also the longitude of the 130 prime. We're working on the grid squares and we'll get them shortly.

Ronald Evans (CAPCOM)

Okay. T1: 122 plus 16 plus 05. Tango 2 is 122 plus 21 plus 11, and 6 miles north of track. And do you want your NOUN 89 values?

Ronald Evans (CAPCOM)

Roger. Latitudes, plus 01.243. Longitude over 2, plus 11.844. Altitude, minus 001.46. Over.

Michael Collins (CMP)

Copy T1: 122 16 05. T2: 122 21 11, 6 miles north, NOUN 89 is plus 01243, plus 11844, minus 00146.

Ronald Evans (CAPCOM)

Columbia, affirmative. And at the T1 time, put your rendezvous radar transponder switch to OPERATE.

Ronald Evans (CAPCOM)

And this 130 prime is the same one that you tracked prior to descent. Over.

Michael Collins (CMP)

Okay. You've updated your information as to the LM's position and this is your best estimate of where the LM is, is that correct?

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Ronald Evans (CAPCOM)

Columbia, that's negative. This 130 is the little bitty crater there that you tracked—John Young's crater—that you tracked prior to descent. And we want that —

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Spoken on July 21, 1969, 2:39 p.m. UTC (55 years, 5 months ago). Link to this transcript range is: Tweet

Michael Collins (CMP)

Fine. Okay. You've given up looking for that.

Ronald Evans (CAPCOM)

Affirmative. We want this for one last fix on your plane.

Michael Collins (CMP)

All right. Fine. Understand. Thank you.

Ronald Evans (CAPCOM)

And when the LM does his P22 on your transponder, well then, that'll be our last shot at the LM's position.

Michael Collins (CMP)

Roger. Understand. Do you care whether my transponder is on before T1?

Ronald Evans (CAPCOM)

Roger. It'll be on WARMUP prior to that time, and you can go to OPERATE anywhere around that time.

Michael Collins (CMP)

Yes. I gather it's on its 24 minute warmup now?

Ronald Evans (CAPCOM)

And, Houston. The computer is yours, you can go to BLOCK anytime.

Michael Collins (CMP)

Roger. BLOCK, going P52, option 3.

Ronald Evans (CAPCOM)

Roger. And we'll see you coming around the other side. About 1 minute to go, and all your systems are looking good.

Ronald Evans (CAPCOM)

Tranquility Base, Tranquility Base, Houston. Over.

Neil Armstrong (CDR)

Good morning, Houston. Tranquility Base. Over.

Ronald Evans (CAPCOM)

Roger. Loud and clear. And how is the resting standing up there. Did you get a chance to curl up on the engine can?

Buzz Aldrin (LMP)

Roger. Neil has rigged himself a really good hammock with a waste tether, and he's been lying on the ascent engine cover, and I curled up on the floor. Over.

Ronald Evans (CAPCOM)

Roger. Copy, Buzz. Got a couple of changes to your surface checklist here, and in general, what we're going to want you to do is P22, tracking the command module for one last hack on your position there. And this will be—in other words, P57, P22, and then to press on with the checklist, and the rest of them are a couple of minor changes in the checklist. The main one being that we do not want the rendezvous radar on during the ascent, and we think that this will take care of some of the overflow of program alarms which we're getting during descent.

Neil Armstrong (CDR)

Okay. We had the rendezvous radar in SLEW during descent, though.

Ronald Evans (CAPCOM)

Tranquility Base, Houston. I missed that. Say again.

Neil Armstrong (CDR)

Roger. I say again. We had the rendezvous radar switch in the SLEW position, not the LGC position.