Topics

46

Apollo 11 Moments of Interest / 194:47:17 "True that if you don't tighten something down, you screw it up?"

« on: May 01, 2020, 04:28:20 pm »

https://apolloinrealtime.org/11/?t=194:47:17&ch=20

As re-entry approaches, a little bit of banter amongst the men of the Trench about "tightening down a vector" transitions to a slightly out-of-the-blue, slightly mean spirited (IMO) joke from the FIDO on duty, who I think is Dave Reed, about his fellow FIDO Jay Greene, who isn't present.

What did Reed think Greene had screwed up? On Apollo 11, as far as I know, he only worked the descent shift, when there was of course the small issue of targeting and the LM landing four miles long.

Wider context, which may or may not be relevant, is that Dave Reed had been furious about not getting chosen as the FIDO for the lunar descent shift. He left NASA a year and a half after Apollo 11. Both Jay Greene and Ed Pavelka, who made the assignment, think this was because he was so angry about getting passed over for Apollo 11. (Reed denies this.)

I may be completely off base but I think what we're listening to here is a slight case of sour grapes.

47

Apollo 13 Moments of Interest / 56:48:50 "Pretty gruesome at the moment"

« on: May 01, 2020, 11:21:53 am »

https://apolloinrealtime.org/13/?t=056:48:50&ch=20

John (Llewellyn, probably) phones the MOCR asking for Bobby Spencer, his fellow RETRO, and gets an update on the problem from someone on the FIDO console instead.

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Apollo 13 Moments of Interest / 56:17:26 "Did it just kinda go away? Is it just a glitch?"

« on: May 01, 2020, 07:16:58 am »

https://apolloinrealtime.org/13/?t=056:17:26&ch=20

Early in the crisis, GUIDO Gran Paules (who's presumably at home off shift) calls FIDO Bill Stoval to ask what's going on with the spacecraft. Conversation subsequently continues on the GUIDO loop as Paules is transferred to talk with Will (Fenner?).

49

General Discussion / Identifying speakers/ Mission Control teams

« on: April 27, 2020, 04:34:17 pm »

It occurs to me that an interesting crowdsourcing project could be to try to gather together a list of some of the actual participants in some of the key phases of the mission.

It would be relatively easy to pull together a list of Mission Control shift changes and hence teams and flight directors on duty at particular times, since all of that seems to be announced by the PAO. But beyond that, it's not always easy to tell who's on console, given the specialist ascent/descent/entry teams that worked some shifts (plus possible changes in manning after the manning lists were published?).

For example, in Apollo 11, if you look at the manning lists reproduced in the 20th anniversary flight operations reunion book, you get the following selection:

Shift 2: Flight Director Gene Kranz, FIDO Jerry Bostick, GUIDO Ken Russell and Charley Parker
Shift 3: Flight Director Glynn Lunney, FIDO Jay Greene and Phil Shaffer, GUIDO Bill Fenner and Steve Bales

Whereas what you actually had (per ALSJ, oral histories, etc) was the following:

Descent team: Flight Director Gene Kranz, FIDO Jay Greene (who says he only worked this shift in the whole mission), GUIDO Steve Bales
Ascent team: Flight Director Glynn Lunney, FIDO Dave Reed (I'm sorry, it was Phil Shaffer!), GUIDO Steve Bales (again)

Is anyone besides me interested in trying to figure some of this out? I can recognise some people's voices, and sometimes names are used, but it's a monumental task...

50

Apollo 11 Moments of Interest / 95:58:07 Someone in Flight Dynamics is late...

« on: April 20, 2020, 01:42:21 pm »

https://apolloinrealtime.org/11/?t=095:58:07&ch=20

It's a few hours before the first lunar landing, and someone in Flight Dynamics hasn't turned up yet.

"If he's not here, ten more minutes... you guys have his phone back there?"

"I believe so."

"OK, if he's not here in five more minutes, call him. At his home. It is his day."

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Apollo 11 Moments of Interest / 95:53:06 FIDO: "I feel groovy"

« on: April 20, 2020, 12:55:40 pm »

https://apolloinrealtime.org/11/?t=095:53:06&ch=20

Select, in the back room, has a moment of chit-chat with his FIDO a few hours before the lunar landing: "How you feeling, Jay?"

FIDO: "I feel groovy. How do you feel?"

Select: "I'm tired, ready to go. We'll eat a few sugar cubes down here in a little bit."

FIDO: "With William down there, I don't doubt it."

52

Apollo 11 Moments of Interest / 104:13:11 CAPCOM to FIDO: "Time's flying, boy"

« on: April 20, 2020, 11:14:25 am »

https://apolloinrealtime.org/11/?t=104:13:11&ch=20

A rare case of the Capcom communicating directly with a flight controller!

FIDO (Jay Greene) and Rendezvous think that the Capcom (Charlie Duke) told the crew 37 minutes to T3, rather than the correct 27 minutes.

"That was ten minutes ago!" says Duke. "Time's flying, boy."

Disagreement ensues.

Subsequently, and I believe related, the question of who Phil Shaffer was laughing at: https://apolloinrealtime.org/11/?t=104:16:06&ch=20

"I'm getting a horse laugh from Shaffer," says Greene.

"That's deserved."

"How do you know?"

"Well, I'm sure he was laughing at me."

"Nah, he wasn't. He was laughing at me."

Even more subsequently, Rendezvous concludes that they were listening to the PAO tape, which was exactly 10 minutes delayed: https://apolloinrealtime.org/11/?t=104:33:29&ch=20

"I'll extend your apologies," says Jay Greene dryly.