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31

Apollo 13 Moments of Interest / 085:53:56 Big discussion in the MOCR about block data & loss of comm

« on: January 06, 2023, 10:00:43 pm »

This is Milt Windler's first shift as FLIGHT after the accident. Going through the loops, it's interesting to study his ethos on managing the flight and how it seems to differ from the current philosophy that the flight controllers are operating under.

This is a particularly notable example. After receiving the latest vector from the tracking, FIDO Jay Greene is working on a maneuver PAD based on the data. However, he and the Trench are unwilling to pass up block data to the spacecraft since, in this unusual configuration, there still is no consensus on how to perform a midcourse later on in the flight. Windler, however, presses on against the Trench, stating they should be able to at least give something to the crew in the event of a loss of comm.

This argument involves nearly all of the key LM players in the MOCR, including Greene, of course; GUIDO Gary Renick; RETRO Tom Weichel; CONTROL Larry Strimple; CAPCOM Jack Lousma; and FAO Spence Gardner.

Link: https://apolloinrealtime.org/13/?t=085:53:56&ch=50

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General Discussion / "Share" button gone

« on: December 31, 2022, 01:29:41 pm »

I saw the "Share" button was removed from the Apollo In Real Time module, I guess for all three missions. Should I take this to mean that we need to stop posting additional threads on the "Moments of Interest" message boards? Or is it just being taken down for maintenance issues?

Not intended to be a snide question - I just want to make sure I'm not cluttering the forums. I know I've been posting a large quantity of threads, and if you felt they were getting oversaturated, I can dial it back.

33

Apollo 13 Moments of Interest / 096:02:24 Lunney has argument with Burton and Heselmeyer about instrumentation

« on: December 17, 2022, 10:00:14 pm »

Link: https://apolloinrealtime.org/13/?t=096:02:24&ch=50

Out of all of the flight directors, Glynn Lunney seems to do the most critical thinking when it comes to how to operate the LM and CSM, particularly in these conditions where they are forced to conserve as much power as possible. He's also not afraid to express his opinion, as indicated in this dialogue between himself, EECOM and TELMU. Still, what we consider "arguing" is probably just shop talk in their field of work. 

Edit: Listening back and forth through the tapes, it looks like this discussion is concerning powering the CSM's instrumentation from LM batteries. Glynn's preference is to use the CSM's batteries instead, but Burton has been adamant about not using them any further than he absolutely has to, so the plan is to use a LM battery to power it up instead. As a result of the possibility, however remote, that a catastrophic single-point failure - the deadfacing of the descent batteries - could occur as a result of the unorthodox configuration, Heselmeyer and Burton are working on a procedure where an ascent battery could be used instead. However, it's a complicated procedure, and it's taking a while.

Glynn Lunney, one for prudent timeliness - as he says later on, "for God's sake, let's not be 100% pure engineers here" - is getting impatient and wonders aloud if it's even worth all the hassle.

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Apollo 13 Moments of Interest / 070:33:21 Liebergot calls Dumis to discuss scheduling

« on: December 12, 2022, 04:44:18 pm »

Been a while! The new "auto-transcript" feature has made it easier to identify key moments taking place on individual loops.

During the Gold Team's shift in the MOCR after the accident, Sy Liebergot took his shift midway through when John Aaron was supposed to work, due to John having arrived at the control center as backup during the critical powerdown phase. This sort of "I might wander in" mentality permeated the MOCR immediately after the accident, forcing management to demand that flight controllers get back into a standard configuration without doubling up at the consoles (although they end up doubling up again anyway during PC+2 and re-entry).

Sy calls Charlie Dumis to discuss some of the scheduling changes, mentioning in particular that John "was shot until he looked like a piece of Swiss cheese". They work out a plan where Charlie will arrive at 7pm to relieve Sy, and then Clint Burton to relieve Charlie, and so forth.

Apologies for the low volume on this; the POS MOCR loop is relatively quiet in this part of the taping.

Link: https://apolloinrealtime.org/13/?t=070:33:21&ch=17

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Apollo 13 Moments of Interest / 059:54:09 Loden: "Get the dadgum PGNS turned off!"

« on: January 12, 2022, 01:14:55 pm »

If it wasn't clear earlier, the controllers - particularly for the LM and guidance platform - are becoming particularly strained at this critical point in the mission where they have to decide how to manage rapidly dwindling resources.

Link: https://apolloinrealtime.org/13/?t=059:54:09&ch=21

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Apollo 13 Moments of Interest / 055:32:17 FIDO Stoval greets SELECT, Bostick drops in

« on: January 10, 2022, 12:10:15 pm »

In the grand scheme of Apollo 13, this is not an especially exciting conversation, but it's one of my favorites. FIDO Bill Stoval leisurely greets the DATA SELECT officer that just came on duty, John Layton. The two exchange pleasantries, with Stoval notably and ironically jibing "You don't have to come in early tomorrow, I guess you've heard", just minutes prior to the beginning of most likely the most difficult shift Layton has ever had to work. The conversation concludes with a surprise drop-in from the Flight Dynamics chief, Jerry Bostick.

Link: https://apolloinrealtime.org/13/?t=055:32:17&ch=20

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Apollo 13 Moments of Interest / Transcript correction for CONTROL at 058:17:52

« on: December 07, 2021, 01:18:08 pm »

"That needs to be taken care of before she goes" - From what I've read online, it sounds like CONTROL (Hal Loden) is actually saying "more skosh" rather than "before she goes"; which is military slang for "get this done quickly". He says this during other parts of the CONTROL loop when speaking to GUIDO and RETRO.

Reference: http://www.wordwizard.com/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?t=3601

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Apollo 13 Moments of Interest / 058:15:52 Greene calls FIDO console, gets briefing from Stoval after accident

« on: November 29, 2021, 11:39:57 am »

Jay Greene calls up the FIDO console shortly after the crew moves into the LM. FIDO Boone informs him that he, Stoval, and Bostick are at the FIDO console. (Earlier in the FIDO loop, Bostick can actually be heard telling Boone "that's okay, don't worry about it" about an unrelated dynamics issue, much to Boone's annoyance.)

Then the call is passed off to Stoval who briefs Jay on what abort maneuvers are being planned to get the crew home early. The call concludes with Jay deciding he'll probably go to the MOCR to help out, even though he isn't technically on duty.

Link: https://apolloinrealtime.org/13/?t=058:15:52&ch=20

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Apollo 13 Moments of Interest / 058:35:29 FIDO Boone argues with SELECT Howell about tracking problems

« on: November 18, 2021, 09:35:02 am »

A very tense moment in the flight. The crew has now moved into and is living out of the LM. RETRO Tom Weichel and FIDO Bill Boone are busy coming up with abort maneuvers to bring the crew back home early. However, all of the maneuver planning will be immaterial unless they can establish tracking with the LM - which they are unable to do because the S-IVB booster is forcing the tracking stations to use a non-standard frequency to maintain communication with the LM. As a result, DATA SELECT Henry Howell is unable to process the data due to the uplink shift.

Without any tracking, there can be no maneuver planning. Boone argues long, hard, and bitterly with Howell about trying to find a way to get valid tracking data from the LM. Eventually, Layton simply and grimly says "There is no way, Bill."

Link: https://apolloinrealtime.org/13/?t=058:35:29&ch=20

Solving this particular problem occupies the rest of INCO Ed Fendell's time for the next couple hours. He can be heard trying to negotiate with SELECT here, to no avail: https://apolloinrealtime.org/13/?t=058:40:17&ch=20

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Apollo 13 Moments of Interest / 051:30:21 EECOM Liebergot calls Dick Kohrs

« on: August 06, 2021, 05:53:31 pm »

If you're not sure who Dick Kohrs is, check out the Richard H. Kohrs Oral History on the NASA website. He was the Chief of the System Engineering Division and also went on to be an integral part of the Space Shuttle program.

In this phone call, EECOM Sy Liebergot calls Kohrs partially to vent about his inability to get a General Electric contractor to pull some information about hot attitudes - despite promising to have them hand-carried to Sy before the mission - but primarily to have the Systems Engineering division run some data for him since GE "flubbed the dub".

Although you don't hear it on this loop, during the call, FLIGHT Kranz - who apparently was listening in on Sy's loop - hands over control to the AFD and heads over to SPAN to grumble at the CSM engineer, Bill Blair. Bill relays this to Sy later on.

Link: https://apolloinrealtime.org/13/?t=051:30:21&ch=16

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Apollo 13 Moments of Interest / 057:08:54 "We're bringing 'em all in, man!"

« on: August 03, 2021, 01:18:48 pm »

Before handing over to Black FIDO Bill Boone, White FIDO Bill Stoval chats with MIDCOURSE Bob Wiley about pre-perilune aborts to get the Apollo spacecraft home. Although both are fairly sure this is not as practical as a PC+2 DPS abort, they are running maneuvers anyway for comparison purposes.

At the end of the transmission, Bob relays that reinforcements are returning to the SSR to provide support for the trench.

Despite going off shift, Stoval does remain in the MOCR along with Bostick to help Boone and RETRO Weichel with the maneuver planning.

https://apolloinrealtime.org/13/?t=057:10:04&ch=20

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Apollo 13 Moments of Interest / 051:40:50 MIDCOURSE asks FIDO Stoval if they're just doing busywork

« on: August 03, 2021, 12:43:08 pm »

During a rather quiet translunar coast, FIDO Bill Stoval is trying to figure out a way to burp (for the possible contingency of needing to relieve SHe pressure in the LM) the DPS engine in such a manner as to not significantly alter the current (immaculate) trajectory that the Apollo 13 spacecraft is currently on. In doing so, he's feeding DYNAMICS a lot of maneuvers that at this point seem to be bordering on trial-and-error.

MIDCOURSE Quenton Holmes picks up on what's going on and asks Stoval in a rather roundabout manner if they're just "soldiering on the job". Stoval firmly denies this.

https://apolloinrealtime.org/13/?t=051:40:50&ch=20

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General Discussion / Some fun Apollo 13 audio projects

« on: July 20, 2021, 10:16:07 am »

In my spare time I've been working on some audio projects using the Apollo 13 MOCR tapes (thanks to Archive.org and Ben Feist for making this possible). In the process, I've made a neat little audio -- I guess you could call it a clip but it's a little over 12 hours long. 

This is MOCR audio from the 047:44:12 to 064:30:27 GET. In this, I've isolated the EECOM audio into the left channel and the FIDO audio into the right channel, so you've got systems in one ear and dynamics in the other. Appropriately, I've named this file "Organized Chaos". You'll see why once you get to the time of the explosion.

In order to make this file listenable, I've run a noise and silence removal algorithm through GoldWave so that it removes most of the silence (except for the loud comm static when they bring the LM online) and provides for a seamless listening experience. This reduces the length of the audio file from 16 hours to 12 hours. There is a slight reverb effect whenever you have overlap in both channels (usually on the Flight Director loop) and the beginning of the audio file during Griffin's shift is a bit de-synchronized. But once you get into Kranz's shift, everything starts to sync up and it sounds a heck of a lot better.

Hope you enjoy this audio file as much as I enjoyed creating it: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1t22SSWM5i3QdjOa-tTOAgtg0-7iat0Ts/view?usp=sharing

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Apollo 13 Moments of Interest / 054:21:56 RETRO asks FIDO and GUIDO for a slide rule

« on: July 05, 2021, 11:14:04 am »

This is a neat little on-the-loop conversation in the midst of all of the mid-course vector and dynamics planning that is taking place on the FIDO loop. RETRO Bobby Spencer asks FIDO Bill Stoval, then GUIDO Will Fenner, if they have a slide rule handy. Surprisingly it seems neither of them have one spare - then again, it is a quiet shift.

Never leave your slide rule at home!

Edit: I think near the end of the conversation, Will Fenner is referring to an "alidade in the back room" though he gets cut off so it's hard to tell.

Link: https://apolloinrealtime.org/13/?t=054:21:56&ch=20

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Apollo 13 Moments of Interest / 081:02:35 John Young grumbles at Kranz over LM PTC procedure

« on: July 01, 2021, 09:19:54 am »

At least I think it's John Young. He identifies himself as CAPCOM on the loop. Although the CAPCOM on shift is Vance Brand, there would frequently be multiple astronauts congregated around the CAPCOM console during particularly pivotal moments in the flight. Someone who is more familiar with voices on the loops can correct me.

In "Apollo: Race To The Moon" Kranz would identify this as one of the most contentious moments during the flight, where he was pulled in three different directions by Slayton, Kraft and Faget, as far as how to configure the spacecraft and crew immediately after the PC+2 burn. Because Kranz took Faget's route and opted to use a LM PTC procedure which had never been tested, he started taking a lot of heat from the other Apollo senior management and astronauts when the procedure started taking too long for the exhausted crew to implement.

Link: https://apolloinrealtime.org/13/?t=081:02:35&ch=8

Edit: In retrospect, it's possible that the voice could be Dave Scott since Kranz mentions earlier on the flight loop that he's present in the MOCR and providing input.