Apollo 17 1.1 Launch part 4

Corrected transcript and commentary by Eric Hartwell licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License.

• April 6: second pass, AS17_CM tape 17-3409

[edit] Countdown

Launch Control: This is Apollo Saturn Launch Control, we are now resuming the count ... T minus 7 minutes 54 seconds and counting. At this time in the Spacecraft update is being given to the Spacecraft Commander, Eugene Cernan. The swing arm is still at the 12 degree postion, that is the park position, standing by at the Spacecraft. That will be brought to the full retract position at approximately T minus 5 minutes in the countdown. The flight director just ran through the - his team - a status report from his team at the Mission Control Center. That team all reported they are in a go condition. Now, at T minus 7 minutes 20 seconds and counting this is Kennedy Launch Control.

Launch Control: This is Apollo Saturn Launch Control T minus 5 minutes 40 seconds and counting. At this time the various elements of the launch team have been reporting in to Bill Shigby, test supervisor, indicating that we are GO to continue. Mission director Chet Lee just verified that we are GO for launch. Safety indicates that we have a GO. First stage test conductor, this is the man who has charge of those five first stage engines which will give us the lift off, has indicated a go for launch. Launch Operations Manager, Paul Donnley, also giving us a GO for launch, and finally the Launch Director, Walter Kapryan says we are GO for launch.

Launch Control: We've passed the five minute mark now and swing arm number nine, this is the access arm to the spacecraft, is coming back to the full retract possition. It moves back along side the mobile launch tower and it will remain there now through the final portion of the countdown and the launch. At the T-minus 60 second mark 20 nozzles will start flame deflector deluge of 13 000 gallons per minute of water pouring down on that flame deflector, so a great deal of what is seen at launch time, which looks like smoke, is actually steam as this water is burned off. This water's to cool the pad area and to cool the equipment along side the launch tower as the water also pours across the swing arms in the launch tower.

Launch Control: We are approaching the 4 minute mark in the count down now, T-minus 4 minutes 5 seconds and continuing to count. At the 4 minute mark we'll stand by for a final GO from Norm Carlson, Launch Vehicle Test Conductor. He has given a GO. The Launch Operations Manager now switching over to the astro COMM circuit, this is the circuit that the astronauts, the launch operations manager and the spacecraft communicator will remain on. They have this private circuit to keep extraneous talk off of their circuit. They are checking in, they are checking in now on the astro comm circuit indicating that they are GO. Spacecraft has indicated they are ready. Instrument unit ready light has come on. SIC at the first stage preparations are now complete as we approach the 3 minute mark. There is quiet in the firing room now as the engineers and technicians are monitoring their consoles. They are monitoring the various rates, pressures, temperatures, they can over ride the terminal sequencer if they sight a problem that it has not picked up.

Launch Control: We are on that terminal sequencer now, we have passed the 3 minute mark T-minus 2 minutes 47 seconds and counting as we are on the terminal sequencer. At the T-minus 50 second mark we will be looking for that critical power transfer. This is where we transfer from the external power source, which has been feeding the 3 stages of the launch vehicle to internal power to the flight batteries aboard the space vehicle. It's expected that they given proper weather conditions people will be observing this flight from as much as 500 miles away This includes a large portion of the southeastern United States, the northern tip of Cuba and the Bahama Islands.

Launch Control: Now approaching the 2 minutes, 2 minute mark, mark T-minus 2 minutes and counting and the countdown continues to move along smoothly now in the terminal countdown portion. The automatic sequencer has stopped the replenishing of the liquid oxygen and the liquid hydrogen. We're standing by now to begin pressurization of the fuel tanks, the second stage fuel tank pressurized, third stage fuel tank pressurized. The countdown continuing to move along smoothly.

Launch Control: T-minus 90 seconds, T-minus 90 seconds. Countdown continuing smoothly. S-IVB propellent pressurized, the indication now using the work around showing the S-IVB propellent has been pressurized. Now looking at the liquid hydrogen tank, as they become pressurized LH2 aboard the second stage pressurized, all propellents now aboard the second stage pressurized as we approach the 1 minute mark in the countdown.

Launch Control: Mark T minus 1 minute and counting. Now, in the final minute of the countdown - at T minus 45 seconds Gene Cernan will make the final guidance alignment - this is the -

Cernan: (Technical Debriefing) The count and lift-off, through the yaw and the roll program, were nominal once we got through T-0. Distinction of sounds in launch vehicle sequence countdown to lift-off - I think the only thing that really comes across in there is that at some point you get a good vibration. At some point in the countdown, you get a good vibration as you're sitting up there. It's not part of the CSM's operation, so you're not sure what's going on. And this happened in the CDDT and, of course, all we did was check and find out we were doing something with the booster.

Evans: (Technical Debriefing) When they ran through some gimbaling programs.

Cernan: (Technical Debriefing) The major portion of the launch count has to do with checking out the systems, so the commander stays very busy and many times on separate loops. The entire EDS system checked out very well. We only checked it out once in the initial count and during most of the recycle we stayed in EDS AUTO and then we de-armed EDS AUTO but still maintained a manual EDS capability to abort during that recycle time. We picked EDS AUTO as part of the T minus 20 recycle for final lift-off.

Launch Control: Mark T minus 45 and Gene Cernan made that final guidance alignment. That's the last action taken by the crew aboard the space vehicle. Now approaching the half minute mark. T minus 33 ...

Primary Tape: 17-03407

Launch Control: T minus 30 seconds and continuing on now -

Launch Control: continuing on at T minus 26 seconds ...

Launch Control: Mark T minus 25. We'll get a final guidance release at the T minus 17 second mark.

Launch Control: T minus 17, final guidance release. We'll expect engine ignition at 8.9 seconds

Launch Control: . . . 10 ... 9 . . . 8 . . . 7 . . . ignition sequence started- all engines are started - we have ignition 2, 1, zero -