Messages

106

Apollo 13 Moments of Interest / 064:43:08 Fendell wants to reconfigure comm to save power

« on: March 16, 2021, 11:50:40 am »

INCO Ed Fendell puts through the idea to FLIGHT Glynn Lunney about saving power in the LM by turning off the power amplifier for the comm unit. It wasn't but a few hours ago that a test procedure also initiated by Fendell to bring up TM caused a significant loss of comm, so Lunney is quick to remind him of this. Thankfully, Fendell is undeterred.

Link: https://apolloinrealtime.org/13/?t=064:43:08&ch=50

107

Apollo 13 Moments of Interest / 054:52:55 Liebergot laughs about the ultimately unnecessary SHe procedures

« on: March 16, 2021, 10:19:13 am »

If you listen to the start of the FLIGHT loop of the Kranz shift just prior to the accident, then go all the way to the end, you'll notice there is discussion about how to manage the SHe problem on board the LM, in case the pressures are too high. It even gets to the point where Kranz has a meeting with the LM guys and some folks in SPAN on what steps need to be taken if the SHe pressures are too high, requiring the AFD to take over in the interim.

By the time Kranz returns, Haise has already entered the LM and has reported a nominal SHe pressure.

EECOM Sy Liebergot laughs about the amount of time and effort that went into creating a plan, and how it all turned out to be for nothing. The sense of relief and elation throughout the MOCR (at one point requiring Kranz to bark at the controllers to "keep the chatter down") is especially ironic given what happens an hour later.

Link: https://apolloinrealtime.org/13/?t=054:52:55&ch=16

108

Apollo 13 Moments of Interest / 051:18:06 Houston, Kranz has a problem (with ASPO)

« on: January 25, 2021, 08:53:51 am »

https://apolloinrealtime.org/13/?t=051:18:06&ch=50

Five hours prior to "the problem" on Apollo 13, an interesting conversation between White FLIGHT, PROCEDURES and NETWORK. Kranz expresses his frustration about a new ASPO policy that on-site tapes at remote locations be shipped to Houston after 24 hours. Of course, this has no actual bearing on the disaster and ends up becoming a moot point shortly after the tank explosion.

109

Apollo 13 Moments of Interest / 062:10:11 Lunney: "Somebody tell me what the point of that is."

« on: May 22, 2020, 01:57:12 pm »

https://apolloinrealtime.org/13/?t=062:09:45&ch=50

Lunney gets into it with his flight controllers. Shortly after the disaster and the mental strain of the course-correction burn, Lunney is trying to get the crew into some semblance of PTC. However, SPAN is trying to come up with a new PTC procedure, which is causing delays in the process at a time when management of power and consumables is a priority. FLIGHT becomes progressively annoyed by this.

(Unfortunately, the TELMU/CONTROL loop is drowned out by the noise of the comm, otherwise I'd post that also.)

110

Apollo 13 Moments of Interest / Re: 115:02:00 Lunney on the LM jettison plan "don't argue with me"

« on: May 22, 2020, 12:22:41 pm »

I love it when Lunney gets testy with the flight controllers too - which is just about all the time, usually. He tends to be polite with the CAPCOM though, probably because they're astronauts and ultimately his voice link between the ground and the spacecraft.

I particularly enjoyed a sequence of the flight director loop (one that wasn't in the original 8 hours posted to YouTube, but came immediately after the free-return course correction burn at ~62 hours), where he was trying to come up with a PTC procedure but SPAN was making him wait for a preferred procedure of their own.

"I'm not getting anybody to come out and agree with me, so I guess we're about to press on here with what we're gonna do... And I'm getting tired of waiting... -forced laughter-"

https://apolloinrealtime.org/13/?t=062:09:04&ch=50

111

Apollo 13 Moments of Interest / Re: 115:02:00 Lunney on the LM jettison plan "don't argue with me"

« on: May 21, 2020, 09:13:34 pm »

Best part about that is when he effectively pulls rank and says he was there "when we did it on Apollo 10".

112

Apollo 13 Moments of Interest / 060:05:41 INCO: "You guys have really done me in, buddy."

« on: May 15, 2020, 09:13:52 am »

https://apolloinrealtime.org/13/?t=060:05:41&ch=53

INCO Ed Fendell expresses his (rather understandable) frustrations with the PROCEDURES and TRACK officers after an attempt to establish tracking with the LM results in a lengthy loss of comm, which in turn results in flight director Glynn Lunney getting rather testy at INCO.

Most of the INCO channel around here (starting at 59:45:00) is worth listening to, to get an inside look at the comm disaster that took place, by way of the conversations between INCO, TRACK, and the Honeysuckle and Goldstone tracking stations. Although they do come up with a workaround, the poor INCO officer does spend the next several minutes lamenting the trouble that this new procedure got him into. 

113

Apollo 13 Moments of Interest / Re: 138:24:06 Bold joke by Kerwin to Lovell

« on: May 01, 2020, 03:08:46 pm »

Astronauts are a very tight fraternity and they do rib each other from time to time. There probably would have been an uproar if the joke came from Glynn Lunney or Gene Kranz. 

114

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

« on: May 01, 2020, 09:24:21 am »

Thanks! I was listening to the Trench loops and wondering who that voice was.

115

Apollo 13 Moments of Interest / Re: 011:22:26 Booster phones Douglas who pick up with "McDonnell Douglas..."

« on: April 13, 2020, 11:26:37 am »

That does surprise me! The book "Apollo: The Race To The Moon" implies that the MOCR has several direct lines to the major plants (McDonnell Douglas, North American, Grumman, etc.) with staffed engineers who will pick up around the clock. Perhaps those lines are closed or they're only available to the FOD personnel.

116

Apollo 13 Moments of Interest / 057:40:29 EECOM's back room says "surge tank's gotta come on!"

« on: March 18, 2020, 12:02:18 pm »

https://apolloinrealtime.org/13/?t=057:40:29&ch=16

EECOM's ECS cries out that the "surge tank's gotta come on" because the manifold pressure is dropping down to 27 Psi, putting the crew in danger, followed up by EPS gravely warning Clint Burton that a battery should be put on main A due to the O2 tank pressure dropping. This occurs amidst a heated argument between FLIGHT, GUIDO, CONTROL, and TELMU about whether or not the crew should do a P52 to align the LEM with the CSM.

117

General Discussion / Apollo 13 TELMU audio loop blank?

« on: March 15, 2020, 07:47:00 pm »

The TELMU audio loop for Apollo 13 during the time of the crisis (e.g. at the beginning of Lunney's shift in the MOCR at the roughly 57-hour mark) seems to be totally blank. I find this a bit hard to believe since at this point TELMU is extremely active in making sure Aquarius gets powered up to support the crew. Is this an error, or was the TELMU audio loop actually blank at this point in the mission?

118

General Discussion / Re: Thank you

« on: March 15, 2020, 04:44:17 pm »

I have only up to this point ever heard the 5 or 6 hours of Apollo 13 mission control audio that was available on YouTube. I am thrilled that the entire mission control audio has now been pulled up with every single channel in the MOCR. Thank you guys so much for all the work you've done.

Though I also hope there is an archive in place in case the website ever goes down. I would hate for all of this exquisite data to be lost due to a website closure.