Joe Kerwin (CAPCOM)

Aquarius, Houston. AFT OMNI.

Jim Lovell (CDR)

I beat you to it, Houston.

Joe Kerwin (CAPCOM)

Yes. I thought you did, but I thought I'd say it anyway.

Joe Kerwin (CAPCOM)

Okay, Aquarius; Houston. That attitude looks pretty good. How's Jack getting along?

Jim Lovell (CDR)

He's getting along, all set to go. And I'm going to go into PGNS ATT HOLD.

Joe Kerwin (CAPCOM)

Roger. Again for fuel-consumption reasons, we'd like you to go back to the AGS mode you were in rather than PGNS ATT HOLD. Over.

Jim Lovell (CDR)

Okay. I'm in PGNS MINIMUM IMPULSE right now while we're firing. And I'll go back to the AGS mode.

Joe Kerwin (CAPCOM)

Okay, Jim. PGNS MIN IMPULSE is okay; AGS is okay too. It's your choice.

Jim Lovell (CDR)

Soon as we get rid of the service module, Joe, I think I'll be able to maneuver a lot better.

Jim Lovell (CDR)

Okay, Jack just reported that all thrusters fired on both rings.

Joe Kerwin (CAPCOM)

Roger. Understand; that's SM JETT, 138:12. It's not that time critical, Jim.

Jim Lovell (CDR)

Can we do it at any time, Joe?

Joe Kerwin (CAPCOM)

I think so, but let me check. Aquarius, Houston. That's affirmative. You can jettison the service module when you are ready; no big rush, but any time.

Joe Kerwin (CAPCOM)

Roger. We recommend that you use the AGS for the separation maneuver, because we'd like to get the proper weight in for the DAP before we use the PGNS again.

Jim Lovell (CDR)

Roger. We will. Stand by.

Jim Lovell (CDR)

Key moment "There's one whole side of the spacecraft missing": SM SEP.

Joe Kerwin (CAPCOM)

Okay, Aquarius; Houston. I recommend you terminate AVERAGE G. Over.

Jim Lovell (CDR)

Okay, I've got her, Houston.

Joe Kerwin (CAPCOM)

Beautiful, beautiful. And for you information, Jim, you'll be coming up on an RCS caution light for helium. No sweat. Over.

Jim Lovell (CDR)

And there's one whole side of that spacecraft missing.

Jim Lovell (CDR)

Right by the—Look out there, will you? Right by the high gain antenna, the whole panel is blown out, almost from the base to the engine.

Fred Haise (LMP)

Yes, it looks like it got to the SPS bell, too, Houston.

Joe Kerwin (CAPCOM)

Think it zinged the SPS engine bell, huh?

Fred Haise (LMP)

That's the way it looks; unless that's just a dark brown streak. It's really a mess.

Joe Kerwin (CAPCOM)

Okay, Jim. We'd like you to get some pictures, but we want you to conserve RCS. Don't make unnecessary maneuvers.

Joe Kerwin (CAPCOM)

And, Jim; Houston. In particular, of course, we don't want any translation maneuvers.

Jim Lovell (CDR)

Right on that. Joe, you realize that when I went up to the SM SEP attitude, I had to use TTCA to do it.

Joe Kerwin (CAPCOM)

That's affirm. We know that. That's okay.

Jim Lovell (CDR)

All right. She's drifting right down in front of our windows now, Houston.

Fred Haise (LMP)

Okay, Joe, I'm now looking down the SPS bell, and it looks—looks okay on the inside; maybe it is just a streak.

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Spoken on April 17, 1970, 1:21 p.m. UTC (54 years, 6 months ago). Link to this transcript range is: Tweet

Joe Kerwin (CAPCOM)

Okay. Copy that, Fred. Was the bell deformed on the outside or just nicked or what?

Jim Lovell (CDR)

I think the explosion, from what I could see, Joe, had—had stained it. I don't know whether it did any actual deformation or not.

Fred Haise (LMP)

Man, that's unbelievable!

Jim Lovell (CDR)

And, Joe, looks like a lot of—a lot of debris is just hanging out the side near the S-band antenna.