Apollo 11 Mission Status Thread

[CalliArcale]

It flew 40 years ago today, but we can pretend it's flying today -- thanks to We Choose The Moon, which is live-streaming the radio broadcast from 1969. Like watching NASA TV, only it's APOLLO FREAKIN' ELEVEN!!!!!

"Approaching the three minutes mark in the countdown. We're on the automatic sequence."

 

[CalliArcale]

All systems are still go; propellant tanks are pressurized now.

T minus two minutes.

 

[CalliArcale]

Awwww.....I just lost my connection to the radio feed. *pouts* And *just* before liftoff, too!

The countdown thingy on the website says it's T minus one minute!

 

[MeteorWayne]

Using the timeline, the 3rd stage is in the middle if it's 2 1/2 minute burn.

 

[CalliArcale]

My whole internet connection went down for a bit. It's back now, and there's animation on the website showing the third stage burn. SWEET!

 

[CalliArcale]

I've got the radio feed again. ;-) They're in LOS right now -- they passed out of range of the Canary Island tracking station. (TDRS won't be invented for another fifteen years.) Second burn of the S-IVB upper stage will occur in a couple of minutes. This second burn will break them out of Earth orbit and inject them into the translunar orbit -- a transfer orbit that will put them on course to the Moon.

 

[MeteorWayne]

It's still a few hours until the 6 minute 3rd stage TLI (Trans Lunar Injection) burn

It was from 2h44m to 2h50m into the mission

http://history.nasa.gov/SP-4029/Apollo_11i_Timeline.htm

 

[CalliArcale]

Ah yes, I am now correctly reading the counter that says that the first column is "hours" not "minutes".

During the LOS, they're replaying a tape of ground-to-air communciations during the ascent. One of the astronauts just drawled, "Y'all just gave me a window to look out of!" The "escape tower" had fired, pulling the protective shroud away from the Apollo spacecraft.

 

[CalliArcale]

Back briefly between meetings today . . . as we pretend that the mission is happening now, they have just docked with the LM. The trans-lunar insertion burn was successful, and the SLA panels were jettisoned as planned, freeing the CSM, "Columbia". Columbia then rotated around to dock with the LEM, "Eagle". In about ten minutes or so, they'll extract it from the interstage atop the S-IVB, which they no longer need and which will be discarded.

 

[CalliArcale]

A three-second burn has been conducted to ensure that the S-IVB will not recontact the LEM/CSM stack after separation.

And now a second burn has extracted the LEM! The sixth stage of the mission is now underway -- the translunar coast. Lunar orbit insertion is expected in 71 hours, 7 minutes.

 

[CalliArcale]

Now halfway between Earth and Moon, the crew will shortly perform midcourse correction burn 2, setting them up for lunar orbit insertion in fifty hours, lowering pericynthion to 60 nautical miles.

Future Note: on Apollo 13, the accident would occur soon after this burn. The bummer about that is that prior to this burn, they are on a free return trajectory -- that is, their current trajectory will get them safely home to Earth even if the service module becomes inoperative. That posed a rather serious problem for Apollo 13, which had to improvise by using the LEM's descent motor for the purpose. ("Aquarius" wasn't just a lifeboat for Apollo 13; it was their outboard motor as well.)

 

[CalliArcale]

I guess "shortly" was a relative term; I was going off of the Twitter timestamp on when they said the burn would be in two hours. I'm listening to the radio feed, and it says they have just gotten into position for the burn now.

NASA guy is talking:
At T + 26 hours 20 minutes -- 108,594 NM from Earth, velocity 5,057 feet per second. 17 minutes away from midcourse correction burn.

 

[CalliArcale]

The long coast to the Moon is nearly over. Lunar orbit insertion burn is expected in four hours.

 

[CalliArcale]

Not sure if I got confused when checking in to the site and if it's in a different phase than when I last checked, but they're in lunar orbit now.

An hour ago, the Eagle's landing gear was deployed, and they were going through the process of getting everything ready for undocking.

 

[CalliArcale]

Eagle has undocked from Columbia.

 

[CalliArcale]

Ah, some clarification -- they are *not* in lunar orbit yet. Orbit insertion by the CSM will occur on the lunar farside, according to the NASA commentator, which will occur in a couple of hours while out of contact with Earth. About the same time, the LM will perform its deorbit burn, setting itself up to land on the nearside of the Moon.

I was surprised; I always thought they entered orbit first. But on hindsight, it makes sense -- with the LM undocked, the CSM doesn't need to work as hard to get itself into lunar orbit because there is less mass to work with.

 

[MeteorWayne]

About 40 minutes way from the landing....

 

[CalliArcale]

Currently awaiting reacquisition of signal from the CSM, followed shortly thereafter by the LM. They should be in orbit now, and the LM should be en route to the surface; they'll need to hold for clearance from mission control before beginning their powered descent. (Currently they are unpowered -- Newton is driving, so to speak.)

"We have acquisition of signal from the Command Module."
"Columbia, Houston, we're standing by." (The royal we, sorta -- there's only Collins in there now.)

 

[CalliArcale]

"Columbia, Houston. We're standing by for Eagle."
"Houston, Columbia. Yeah, she's comin' along."

Annnd....acquisition of signal from the LEM.

"Houston, Eagle, how do you read."

 

[CalliArcale]

"12 minutes to ignition for powered descent."

 

[CalliArcale]

Five minutes to ignition; Gene Krantz is now polling his team, getting go/no-gos for descent. All go so far. ;-)

 

[MeteorWayne]

5 minutes to descent ignition.

"Go for TDI"

 

[CalliArcale]

IGNITION!

The Eagle is beginning its powered descent to the surface of the Moon, bearing Commander Neil Armstrong and LM Pilot Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin. The crew saw the landing site on their first pass as they approached the Moon earlier; they reported that it looked very good. Hopefully there are no unforseen boulder fields. ;-)

 

[MeteorWayne]

That can't be avoided anyway

 

[CalliArcale]

Not unless there are men on board to pilot it. :geek: