Messages

91

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

92

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

« on: January 04, 2022, 12:29:16 pm »

Oh that's what it is! Thank you! I've heard it referenced twice on the loops now, and couldn't figure out what the heck it was called via Google searches.

93

Apollo General Discussion / Re: Identifying speakers/ Mission Control teams

« on: January 04, 2022, 09:07:40 am »

I've no problem with you doing that. I considered doing the back rooms since I know a fair number of names related with those cats, but they never call up FLIGHT so for the purpose of this exercise, I left them out. I've no objections to amending the search.

94

Apollo General Discussion / Re: Identifying speakers/ Mission Control teams

« on: January 03, 2022, 04:31:20 pm »

In an effort to aid on identifying who is who, I created a Google Drive that has audio samples of flight controllers calling FLIGHT on the flight director loop. Some samples are currently unnamed (like the NETWORK and FAO ones) since I don't hear the last names identified on the loop. If anyone has some input, please let me know:

Link: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1o6E5HwSX1XHIgw3AhDeUBFwv69_vWRlo?usp=sharing

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

« on: January 01, 2022, 11:31:01 am »

He's probably tired. His shift ended just 9 hours prior. However, I can also imagine him being businesslike since he would have undoubtedly heard the news about Apollo 13 being in danger, either from fellow engineers or on the radio. When you listen to the FIDO loops from before the accident to during and after, you can perceive a definite change in their tone from leisurely and relaxed to laconic and strained.

96

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

97

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

98

Apollo General Discussion / Re: Other Apollo Missions

« on: November 29, 2021, 10:03:08 am »

It'll take a while for all of those tapes to be restored. I would be interested to hear Apollo 7 myself to hear how mission control, and in particular Glynn Lunney, reacts to Wally Schirra's wanton insubordination. That said, they probably wouldn't say anything too critical of the astronauts on the loops...

99

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

100

Apollo General Discussion / Re: I can put together a transcript for EECOM loops

« on: August 09, 2021, 12:51:13 pm »

Yeah, I see the timestamp as being the only thing that works too. The problem is I am working from a highly compressed version (which I created) of the EECOM loop that removes the silence so as to make it a seamless listening and transcribing experience. Timestamping means I would need to go back to the original file to figure out when the dialogue actually occurs.

Not that this is unreasonable, but it will take me more time. I do plan on doing this for both the EECOM, FLIGHT and FIDO loops though.

101

Apollo General Discussion / Re: I can put together a transcript for EECOM loops

« on: August 08, 2021, 07:18:25 pm »

There's nothing I find more gratifying than a confirmation that someone reads my transcript work and wants to see more.  I will have an updated transcript soon.

102

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 Flight dynamics SSR: "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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Apollo 11 Moments of Interest / Re: 108:15:37 Network controller gets in trouble for not responding to Flight

« on: July 23, 2021, 08:53:51 am »

(Apologies for the necropost.)

Comm decorum is a BIG deal in the MOCR. During Apollo 13, I think Lunney, Griffin and Windler all grumbled at controllers for not having the air-to-ground loop punched up when the crew asked a question. I can totally believe a controller would be thrown out for making that same mistake twice.