-
-- APOLLO 17 MISSION COMMENTARY 12/7/72 05:14
CST 5:38 GET MC72/1 --
- SC Bob, this is Jack here. We've got a UCTA
dump scheduled, is possible at 6 o'clock. There's nothing sacred about that
time is there?
- CAPCOM Nothing at all. When ever you are
ready, just go ahead and dump.
- SC Okay.
- SC
Bob, one of the things that we miss in our training is a good geography
lesson and particularly on Antarctica. I got the binocular out and
apparently the dark band that Gene - Ron mentioned and interfaced between
the intercontinental water is that between the pack ice and the water and
you can - by very subtle changes in the various movements of the ground
probably make out where the actual continent begins and the pack ice ends.
There are a few exposed ranges. I guess it's mid summer down there now and
you can make out the snow free areas scattered at least in the northern
portion of the continent.
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CAPCOM Rog. Did you get any
pictures of that, Jack?
- SC
[Schmitt] Oh yes. We got some pictures earlier. I'm going to get another one here in a
minute. I'll tell you, if
there ever was a fragile appearing piece of blue in space, it's the Earth
right now.
- CAPCOM Roger.
- SC There, we got a master alarm.
- CAPCOM Okay, we copy that.
- SC And there's one in the LEB.
- CAPCOM Okay, good data point.
- SC And there are no caution lights.
- CAPCOM It came right at an accumulator cycle
along with the high 02 flow again.
- SC Yes, I just checked the time and I think
you are right on that one. But we gave you your LEB data point.
- CAPCOM Yes, sir.
- SC
The problem with looking at the Earth - particularly Antarctica, is that it
is too bright.
- CAPCOM I understand.
- SC
And so I'm using my sunglasses through the binoculars, which is not the best
viewing platform. I think I can see some of the areas of the Dry Valley but
again I'm not too sure of my geography, Bob. There are clouds over the
continent, I believe. But, of course, they are just as white as the snow and
you only see differences in texture brought out by - probably by varying
photometric return because of fairly low sun angles down there.
- CAPCOM Roger.
- SC
But you can see patterns of, what I believe is, pack ice leading off from
that sharp interface that was talked about earlier. And those patterns seem
to merge directly with the patterns of the clouds as if the - at least near
the continent - the oceananic currents are controlling the air currents up
to a point along with the movement of the pack ice.
- CAPCOM Roger.
- SC
I'm distinguishing the pack ice from clouds mainly by the angularity of the
patterns within them. There is no good clear color or albedo distinction.
So, I could be looking entirely at clouds but I suspect there are some pack
ice patterns too. I'm not keeping you awake, am I, Bob?
- CAPCOM No sir. Just keep talking. We're
listening. I'm sure not much of the world is listening but this will
all be recorded and you can read it all when you get back. And think it
through and tie it up with the pictures and I'm sure there's going to be
people interested in this. And we're interested ourselves, so just keep
talking.
- SC All I want to do is read what I say.
- CAPCOM Rog. If I had a little more geology
training I'd be asking you some better questions. Right now, I can't think
of any to ask you.
- SC Well I can't - I really wish I knew
geography. I don't Know - I wish I'd thought of bringing a good map of
Anartica. Could somebody do a little researching for me and see if they
could tell me if we're to have a little American view - say on the eastern
edge of the continent?
- CAPCOM Rog. We'll see if we can get some
Antarctica geographers around.
- SC Yes, I'd like to - and also whether or
not they think the Dry Valley area - if this will do it. Could be - there's
some people over there in Bill Petty's group I think have a little Antarctic
experience, or used to. They might be able to help you out.
- CAPCOM Okay. We'll see what we can track
down on it.
- SC Don't use up a lot of people's time on it
but -
- CAPCOM Roger. It's getting pretty empty
around here. It's 5 in the morning.
- SC
Okay. There is a good strong northern hemisphere cyclone up near India. And
I think Gene mentioned that. It, I think, was one I saw in some of the
forecast sheets as a dissipating hurricane or typhoon. I'm not sure which it
is there. I guess it is a typhoon. And I see something here that I noticed
in Earth orbit, Bob. That as you approach the terminator - now I'm looking
at the Eastern terminator. Have to keep all my directions straight here.
Yes, eastern terminator. The clouds - those associated with the cyclone over
India and one that's -- appears to be due south of there maybe 30 degrees of
latitude have a gray appearance. Instead of the brilliant white of other
clouds. As you approach the terminator those - at least the high level
clouds are gray. Now, when we were going over them in orbit the lower level
clouds were still white and I think I can see a head of that right now. That
sun gives a strong light reflection off of the --
- -- APOLLO 17 MISSION COMMENTARY 1217/72 CST
5:32 GET 5:56 73/1 --
-
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SC
The sun gives a strong light reflection off of the buildup in the low level
clouds, whereas the high level and normally layered appearance, and maybe
some of the intermediate level stratus get to look gray, because of grazing
sun I suspect.
- CAPCOM Roger. You mentioned several things
on this orbit that kind of intrigued me, you mentioned seeing the rainbow,
and we were trying to figure out how you saw a rainbow up there, and you
were in orbit already at that time. Do you remember that?
- SC Well, we were speaking of the merits of
the sunrise.
- CAPCOM Okay that's -
- SC That's having a banded color appearance
that varied as you approached the sunrise. I can't remember what we - I
think we put some of that on tape, we were probably LOS at the time, but the
banded character of the sunrise in the atmosphere was very very marked.
There was a gray-blue upper layer that merged or graded into a brilliant
blue intermediate zone that was just above the cloud level and within the
clouds, you got an orange to yellow band getting more yellow as the sun
rose, that was broken by the dark patterns of the buildup.
- CAPCOM Roger. Good show.
- SC The interesting thing was the continual
glow on the horizon, we had even at night. On the darkside pass, and that
glow was in the atmosphere because I could see stars rise over the horizon
in it and then pass on through it.
- CAPCOM Roger. You were talking, the air glow
low I guess is the phenomenon most interesting thing before us. Kind of
interesting.
- SC Yes, that's right, it's I guess standard
air glow, but it is very striking and it's a continuous thing even in the
dark pass.
- CAPCOM Roger.
- SC I think I did see the eastern tip of
South America now.
- CAPCOM Roger, you're starting to backup now,
coming the other way, so you're still over Africa according to our chart
here, but you're backing up towards South
America.
- SC Yes, I can see the part on South America
that Mercator thought that fit in with the bend in Africa some many decades
ago and started people thinking about moving continents around on the crust.
- CAPCOM Roger. Jack, how'd the PGA doffing
go? Are you all out of the PGA's now?
- SC That's been worked. We're taking it slow
and easy up here, Bob.
- CAPCOM Roger, understand.
- SC I'll just be curious to see if they all
fit in that bag.
- SC I think you'll find that Ronald Evans
will also be curious about that. He's already made comments.
- CAPCOM Roger.
- PAO This is Apollo Control at 6 hours. As
Jack Schmitt gives the description of the earth, Apollo 17 is 22 868
nautical miles from earth velocity 12 520 feet per
second.
- SC We certainly do have a very clear
intuitive impression although the evidence is hard to put together that the
frontal drifts that move off the Anarctic continent do not take on any well
defined characters until they get into the moist regions of the ocean, and
when they do they seem to pick up an -
- -- APOLLO 17 MISSION COMMENTARY 12/7172 06:00
GET 05:36 CST 74/1 --
- SC - character until they get into the voice
regions of the ocean and when they do, they seem to pick up an arculate
circulation that in the view we have seem to get fairly spaced cyclones
patterns that lie between the Cape of Good Hope and northern portion of
Antarctica and these certain circulations of cyclones follows roughly an
east/west pattern and the curve - the arcs of the fronts are more
north/south than let's say northwest swinging around to the south.
- CAPCOM Roger.
- SC All of them - all of them very nicely
defined as southern hemisphere cyclones. There are about 4 of those visible
swinging around oh I guess that's latitude I'm having to guess here but I'd
say latitude 50 to 60 South.
- CAPCOM Okay, 50 or 60 South then huh?
- SC Yeah, I'd have to look at the map here in
a minute see if that puts me between Antarctica and the Cape.
- CAPCOM Roger.
- CAPCOM Well, the tip of Africa there is
about 32 South.
- SC Well, that sounds like a pretty good
guess. It look like the intertropical convergence zone over Africa is
starting to get more and more clouds in it now. I suspect as midday
approaches, which is what we're seeing there, we can expect to see more and
more moisture indications.
- CAPCOM Rog, they're probably about noontime
right there right now, it's 11:36 at the zero meridian at Greenwich so it's
just a little bit before noon right in that area you're talking about.
- SC Yeah, some of those masses of what I
suspect are cumulus build ups, well not really, they don't look they're as
concentrated and localized. More like just masses of fairly dense clouds
that are developing in that band of green, that crosses the lower portion of
Africa.
- CAPCOM Roger.
- SC Stay tuned for the next instalment on
the Earth, I'll try and get out of this suit.
- CAPCOM Okay, just take it easy Jack, and
we'll be listening.
- SC Man, I've never taken it so easy in my
life, I'll tell you Bob, I. couldn't believe this would be an experience
like it is now.
- CAPCOM Roger.
- SC Everytime you turn around there is
something else to see and wonder what's causing it. Whether it's a particle
zipping across the window or one zipping across the cabin or springs
mechanics here in zero-g; there's always something going on.
- CAPCOM Roger.
- PAO This is Apollo Control at 6 hours 7
minutes No midcourse correction number 1 will be performed. The value of the
maneuver that would be required is less than 3 feet per second and midcourse
correction number 1 will not be performed by Apollo 17. The spacecraft is now
23 682 nautical miles from Earth, velocity 12 301 feet per second.
- SC Bob, if I'm not waking you up an observer
from another planet certainly - probably could decide that we have such
things as clouds at least large thunder storms because right at the
terminator you get a brightening of the Sun lit side and a long, long shadow
out to the out to the east that is reminiscent of what we saw in the early
days looking at the Moon at the terminator.
- CAPCOM Roger.
-
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-- APOLLO 17 MISSION COMMENTARY 12/7172 CST
5:46 GET 6:10 75/1 --
- SC However, in the next pass around, I'll
bet you wouldn't see them.
- SC I've never been a big - well, I didn't
grow up with the idea of drifting continents and sea floor spreading, but I
tell you, when you look at the way the pieces of the northeastern portion of
the African continent seem to fit together separated by a narrow gulf, you
could almost make a believer of anybody.
- CAPCOM Roger, it's beginning to look like
the globe that you might buy down at the store, huh?
- SC Oh, I don't think so Bob.
- CAPCOM Okay.
- SC I don't think we'd better put this one up
for sale. Somewhere there might be somebody that would like to buy it.
- CAPCOM Say, Jack. We noticed the 02 flow has
dropped down now. We're wondering, did you all close the waste storage vent
valve.
- SC I don't think so, let me check on that.
It might have gotten closed inadvertently in the game we were playing down
in the LAB.
- SC Ron says it's still on vent.
- CAPCOM It's on vent, Roger.
- CAPCOM Okay, we're noticing that the flow is
coming back up slowly so something caused it to drop, and it's coming back
up.
- SC Okay.
- CAPCOM 17, Houston.
- SC Go ahead.
- CAPCOM Jack, just to ease those words I said
before, we looked at the schematics here a second and you've been dumping
urine out of that same line as that waste vent, and that would probably
cause the pressure to build up enough to slow the 02 flow, and we notice
that the 02 flow is climbing back up to where it belongs.
- SC Well, that's clever. Okay.
- CAPCOM Didn't mean to worry you there,
shouldn't have said it, I guess before we looked at the schematics.
- SC Oh, I really hadn't started to worry
about it yet, Bob, so no sweat.
- -- APOLLO 17 MISSION COMMENTARY, 12/7/72, CST
5:06, GET 5:30, MC-75A/1 --
- SC [Cernan] Bob, I can assume that from what you said
there will probably not be a midcourse 1.
- CAPCOM That's exactly what we're working
towards, Gene. And I'm sorry I didn't convey that feeling to you a little
earlier. There's no reason for midcourse 1 right now.
- SC [Cernan] Okay, because we prefer to press on and
get the suits off and hit the sack, rather than making them, unless we have
to.
- CAPCOM That's for sure. Roger. The earlier
data showed us midcourse 1 would have been less on 3 feet per second and we
wouldn't have done it. And the data's been fluctuating. And they're
smoothing it out and it's still holding that way, so we won't be doing it
probably.
- SC [Cernan] Okay. Very good.
- SC Bob, I'm looking over Gene's shoulder
here at the Earth and it must be an awful clear day for the so called
convergence zone across Africa. Gene I think indicated that when we crossed
it earlier, most of Africa is clear. Only some, probably broken, scattered
clouds cumulus in the east central portion that are running on the lines of
north south lines.
- CAPCOM Roger.
- SC Looks like a major circulation system off
the southern tip of Africa as Gene mentioned, plus one west of that, 20 or
30 degrees of longitude. Make that east of that.
- CAPCOM Roger.
- SC And, southwest of - make that south,
southwest of the tip of Africa at Cape Good Hope, there looks like an
insipient circulation system developing about half way between the Coast of
Antarctica and Africa. If I had to guess, it's going to swing up north toward
the Cape and then swing west. The whole pattern, looks like now a fairly
equally spaced cyclones that are sort of circling around the Antarctic
continent and we can see it now.
- CAPCOM Roger, Jack.
- SC I would guess that South Africa is going
to have good weather for several more days at least. And if the pattern is
apparent the clouds we see are correct the last disturbance I mentioned
probably is going to pass down to the Cape also.
- CAPCOM Roger. Understand.
- SC As we were going over our daylight around
the earth in our orbit, it was very clear looking at the various clouds,
Bob, what were high clouds and what were low clouds, particularly when you
have them together. High clouds carry very distinct shadow patterns on the
lower ones and very commonly had entirely different orientations, pattern
orientations. The low ones seem to be more associated with (garble) front
patterns, whereas, the high clouds were generally transverse to that roughly
north south directions. That's not completely general observation, but I
noticed it several times.
- CAPCOM Roger, understand.
- APOLLO 17 MISSION COMMENTARY, 12/7/72, CST
5:06, GET 5:30, MC-75A/2
- CAPCOM I just noticed on the blackboard
here, it looks like you've come up on 20 000 miles out right about now.
- SC It feels like about 20 000, Bob.
- CAP Okay.
- -- APOLLO 17 MISSION COMMENTARY 12/7/72 06:20
GET 05:56 CST 76/1 --
- SC How'd the S-IVB work go, Bob?
- CAPCOM It just finished the second burn and
it's targeted right where they want it. Just working perfectly.
- SC Where were they going to put that one, I
guess I lost track of that?
- CAPCOM Seven degrees south and 8 degrees
west, Jack.
- SC Say again, you cut out of the first.
- CAPCOM Okay, 7 degrees south and 8 degrees
west.
- SC Okay.
- SC That ought to be interesting.
- PAO This is Apollo Control at 6 hours 24
minutes. The S-IVB maneuver that was just being discussed was performed with
the auxiliary propulsion system; just completed Delta V of 13 feet per
second to tune up the trajectory for S-IVB impact at the desired location on
the lunar surface of 7 degrees south, 8 degrees west. That's approximately
200 kilometers of the Apollo 14 ALSEP site where the seismometer is located.
That impact is expected to be picked up by the other seismometers on the
Moon, the other Apollo lunar surface experiment seismometers. Booster
systems engineer is now maneuvering the S-IVB stage, the third stage of the
launch vehicle to a solar heat control attitude. This is to minimize the
heat into the instrument unit. They will then track the stage for a
considerable length of time and determine whether another corrective burn
will be required. At 6 hours 25 minutes into the mission, this is Mission
Control, Houston.
- PAO This is Apollo Control at 6 hours 27
minutes. Booster systems engineer has just reported to the Flight Director
that the S-IVB stage is in good shape, with 14 hours life time remaining.
The limiting factor on the S-IVB is the battery life. Fourteen hours of
battery life remaining on the S-IVB.
- SC Hello, Houston, how do you read CDR?
- CAPCOM Read you loud and clear, Gene.
- S C Okay.
- SC Bob, LMP's going off the air for a little
while.
- CAPCOM Roger, Jack.
- SC It sounded like a kind of a sigh of
relief.
- CAPCOM No sir. Been enjoying listening to
you, keep me awake down here.
- SC You had a long day.
- CAPCOM Not as long as you've had.
- SC I've been lying around, floating around.
- CAPCOM You make it sound so good.
- SC Piece of cake. I'll talk to you in a
little while.
- CAPCOM Yes sir.
- -- END OF TAPE -- next: 12/7/72, CST
6:06, GET 6:30, MC-77/1 --
PAO This is Apollo Control. It's 6 hours 49
minutes. Apollo 17 is 28 232 nautical miles from Earth; velocity 11 291 feet
per second. We're continuing to operate at present on the normal GET of the
flight plan, normal ground elapsed time. Under that schedule the crews rest
period will begin about 9 hours and 15 minutes into the mission. If,
however, the crew completes the activities that are scheduled in the flight
plan early the rest period will probably begin earlyif they so desire.
However, at the present time we are continuing to operate on the GET of the
flight plan. At 6 hours 50 minutes, this is Mission Control, Houston. |
Apollo 17: Blue Marble
- Timeline
--- APOLLO 17 MISSION COMMENTARY 12/7172 CST
4:26 GET 4:50 67/1 ---
View of S-IVB
separation, rotated so top is "up" relative to CSM and LM front.
--- APOLLO 17 MISSION COMMENTARY 12/7/72 05:00
GET 04:36 CST 68/1 ---
SC
It's in the 
