Apollo 17 1.1 Launch part 7
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] S-IVB Third Stage
Overmyer: MARK. Mode IV capability, and we copy cut-off.
Cernan: Roger. Mode IV. And we do have S-IVB ignition.
Overmyer: Roger. We see it, and the thrust is looking good on it.
(Tape 03409) We see it, and the thrust is looking good on it.
(Air-to-Ground) Roger. We see it, and the thrust is looking good on it.
Evans: (Onboard) Jack, did you see that glow - -
Schmitt: (Onboard) Gee !
Evans: (Onboard) - - go - go in past us?
Cernan: We saw that one, too, Bob.
Overmyer: Roger.
Evans: (Onboard) Did you see it go past us?
Schmitt: (Onboard) Yes. We're right in the flame.
Cernan: (Onboard) Yes, that's what the Titan used to do, used to fly through the flame of that thing.-
Cernan: (Technical Debriefing) The S-I cutoff, as Jack said, is again very sharp, almost instantaneous, from almost 4g to 0. But on the S-II, although it's sharp and a very hard hit, you don't unload the entire stack like you do when you're on the S-IC. The staging was very smooth. It did not seem like an exceptionally long time before we separated and the S-IVB lit off.
Cernan: (Technical Debriefing) I could see nothing on S-II until S-II shutdown. I could see the glow of S-IVB ignition. I say the glow of S-IVB ignition, it very easily could have been the fireball of S-II which tried to overtake us but couldn't quite make it. But there was a glow right during the period of S-II shutdown to S-IVB ignition. During the S-IVB burn, you could see the glow of the aft engines throughout the burn and throughout the orbital [operation?]
Cernan: (Technical Debriefing) We got lit off on the S-IVB, and, unlike the flame we flew through on the S-II, we did not do that on the S-IVB. I don't know where the reflection came from, but I could see the reflection from somewhere out the forward window. Either it was the S-II trailing flame trying to overtake the vehicle but didn't quite make it, or it was S-IVB ignition reflecting off the S-II because there's no atmosphere up there at that point. But I did not see a flame, but a residual back light out that window just for a short period of time, either right at staging or just at S-IVB ignition. As I think back, my best guess would be that the same thing happened on the S-II, that the trailing flame, when you go from 4g to 0 instantaneously, tends to overtake the vehicle. But in the case of the S-II, it's not nearly as big a pattern and just didn't quite make it up the stack. I just saw some of the glow of it. That's my best guess. After the S-IVB ignited, we never saw anything except the APS firing throughout that burn. You could see the mixture ratio shift.
Schmitt: (Technical Debriefing) But PU shift, both vehicles, was surprisingly noticeable.
Cernan: (Technical Debriefing) The S-II was a Cadillac: quiet, less than 1g flight most of the time until we built up our g-load prior to staging. It was quiet, smooth, had very little noise, or feeling of rumbling or anything else.
Public Affairs Officer: We're up to 23 000 feet per second - we'll be shooting for something over 25,000.
Cernan: (Onboard) Let's - let's press on here. We got - -
Schmitt: (Onboard) Okay. Okay.
Cernan: (Onboard) - - a lot to do. We're Mode IV?
(Tape 03409) - - a lot to do. We're Mode IV?
(Tape 03456) LMP We're Mode IV?
Evans: (Onboard) Yes.
(Tape 03409) LMP Yes.
(Tape 03456) CMP Yes.
Cernan: (Onboard) Okay. We're at a little less than a half a g.
Evans: (Onboard) Less than 1/2 g, sir.
Coming up on - -
Cernan: (Onboard) Okay. 10 minutes, Ron, I'll be at about 40 - -
Overmyer: 17, the steering has converged, and the OMC is GO. You're looking great.
Schmitt: (Onboard) - - ... at 13 ...
Cernan: Roger. The CMC is GO; 10 minutes, and 17 is GO on board.
Evans: (Onboard) Okay; starts a little bit low, but not bad.
Overmyer: 17, Houston. You are GO for orbit. GO for orbit.
Cernan: Those are kind words, Robert. We're GO for orbit here.
Overmyer: Good show, Gene.
(Tape 03409) ... show, Gene.
(Air-to-Ground) Good show, Gene.
Public Affairs Officer: Coming up on 10 minutes 30 seconds after liftoff and the spacecraft launch vehicle now 11,000 - 1,100 miles, rather, downrange, altitude 93.4 miles.
Cernan: (Onboard) Okay; coming up on 30, Ron. Let's - -
Evans: (Onboard) Okay.
Cernan: (Onboard) - - doublecheck everything.
Evans: (Onboard) 30, 347 degrees; 93.5 - Okay, we're a little bit high.
(Tape 03409) CMP 30, 347 degrees. 23.9; Okay. We're a little bit high.
(Tape 03456) CMP 30, 347 degrees; 93.5 - Okay, we're a little bit high.
Cernan: (Onboard) Couldn't read a star if I had to.
(Tape 03409) LMP I couldn't see a star if I had to right now.
(Tape 03456) CDR Couldn't read a star if I had to.
Schmitt: (Onboard) I couldn't either.
(Tape 03409) CMP I couldn't either.
(Tape 03456) LMP I couldn't either.
Evans: (Onboard) Velocity is a little high.
Cernan: Okay; 10:30, and we're GO.
Evans: (Onboard) H-dot's a little high. Little bit low.
Overmyer: Roger, 17. You're looking great.
Public Affairs Officer: And we're about 1 minute from shutdown, about 1 minute from orbit insertion.
Cernan: (Onboard) Okay, the cut-off is VI plus 100... copy ... - -
(Tape 03409) Okay, the cut-off is VI plus 100 .... copy ... - -
(Tape 03456) Okay, to cut off the DI [?] equipment under ... control.
Evans: (Onboard) VI plus 100. Okay, I'll catch that.
(Tape 03409) VI plus 100. Okay, I'll cut you out.
(Tape 03456) Okay, I'll catch that.
Cernan: (Onboard) I Just want to hit the ... that's all there is to it. [Tape 17-03456: LMP I sure don't want to hit this handle.]
(Tape 03409) CDR I Just want to hit the ... that's all there is to it.
(Tape 03456) LMP I sure don't want to hit this handle.
Primary Tape: 17-03456
Evans: No ... 25 - -
Schmitt: Apogee.
Cernan: Mode IV right now; coming up on 11 minutes.
Evans: Okay, 11 minutes and I'm 344 degrees. That's right on the money. How's the cabin, Jack?
Schmitt: Cabin's great.
Evans: Okay, velocity's a little bit high; H-dot's a little bit negative.
Cernan: Eleven minutes and we are GO.
Overmyer: Roger, Gene. And cut-off will be at 11 plus 47, 11 plus 47.
Evans: H-dot's a little high. But that's all right.
Cernan: 11 plus 47. Roger.
Evans: ... okay, 500 feet to go.
Evans: ... 500.
Schmitt: .... Apogee they're checking it whether ...
Evans: (Laughter) Oh, yes?
Schmitt: ... I'd like a ...
Cernan: Okay; 11:30 and we're GO here. And - standing by.
Overmyer: Roger, Gene. Cut-off time is still holding good, 11 plus 47.
(Tape 03456) Roger, Gene. *** time is still holding good, 11 plus 47.
(Air-to-Ground) Roger, Gene. Cut-off time is still holding good, 11 plus 47.
Schmitt: Okay, ... you on a ...
Cernan: Why?
Evans: ... There she goes!
Cernan: Okay, cut-off at 42.
Evans: Don't worry. Well, that's the ... - -
Overmyer: Understand. Cut-off at 42. Roger. We copy.
(Tape 03456) *** Cut-off at 42. *** copy.
(Air-to-Ground) Understand. Cut-off at 42. Roger. We copy.
Public Affairs Officer: And that looked like a near nominal shutdown. At shutdown we show 25,600 feet per second. That also looks very close.
Cernan: (Technical Debriefing) Communications throughout the booster phase were excellent. I never had any problem hearing either Stony or CAPCOM. Controls and displays performed super. Crew comfort through powered flight - I felt very comfortable throughout the entire flight in orbit.
Cernan: (Technical Debriefing) As far as I'm concerned, there was no pogo on the burn.
Evans: (Technical Debriefing) No, none.
Cernan: (Technical Debriefing) Summing up the birds. If you want to put them in more layman terms, I think the S-IC acted and performed like some big, old, rugged, shaky, big monster. It has to be noisy, has lots of vibration, and smoothed out somewhat after max-q, but still was a rumbling bird. The S-II was a Cadillac: quiet, less than 1g flight most of the time until we built up our g-load prior to staging. It was quiet, smooth, had very little noise, or feeling of rumbling or anything else. The S-IVB: a light little chugger is probably the best way I can describe it, which is not different than I remember it in the past. It just sort of rumbled on, not anywhere near the extent of the S-IC, but just sort of continued to rumble on through the burn. After a while, especially during TLI, it got to be a very pleasant, warm feeling that she was burning like she should burn.
Evans: (Technical Debriefing) Chugging, I think, has two different connotations. I felt the S-IVB was more of a very light rumble in the background, something that is kind of rumbling as opposed to chugging. A chug to me is a bang-bang type thing, and to me it was more of a rumble.
Schmitt: (Technical Debriefing) I agree, it may be a sense of rumbling but the ride was smooth. I could sense some activity behind it, but I wouldn't have said that it was chugging.
Cernan: (Technical Debriefing) I'll modify chugging to say it was a hummocky chug, just a rolling type. Nothing different, and, as I say, the best recollection, similar to the S-IVB I had the opportunity to ride on before, but probably even more steady and continuous flow of light rumbling.
References:
This is NOT the official Apollo 17 Flight Journal (yet)
Please use the Discussion link at the bottom of each page to add your comments or corrections.