A11 - MCC scenario - NASSP v8 rev.1756 - General checklist items questions up to LOI-1 burn

thermocalc

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QUESTIONS

Hi, doing Apollo 11 MCC mission from lift off after updating to orbiter beta r90 and NASSP v8 rev.1756.

I have some “general information questions” as well as “navigation problems”.
I will make two post to keep each topic self contained for others to follow if have same issues as me.

General questions

1) About Aborts modes: after a burn maneuver PAD for TLI+90min, for the next aborts at TLI+4h, +11h, +25h, +35h, +44h and +53h I got only a “P37 block data form” like the one at page 2-4 of the A11-FlightPlan not a real maneuver PAD (P30 maneuver pad) as at page 2-8 of the A11 FP. Is this normal for A11? For A8 all TLI +xxh abort pads looked like “P30 mnvr pad”….if so, does it mean that in case of abort the crew had to use program P37 entering the data provided in the data block to start the calculations?

2) At GET +5h the checklist says to “observe the SIV-B slingshot maneuver”…but where or how to see it? I even cannot see in external view looking in Earth direction (see “photo 1-slingshot”).

3) during P40 preparation for MCC-2 the checklist says to configure the DAP and in particular the type of “ullage” to use (see “photo 2-ullage”)…I didn’t find written if need to use 4 jets or 2 jets … even in the flight plan…how to know which setting to use? Anyhow I used 21002 (in R1) and 01111 (in R2) before executing the burn. Did I make something wrong here?

The crew activities from 74h to 75h are not really clear to me:

4) At around 74h15m , once in burn attitude (R,P,Y=358, 228, 346, according LOI-1 PAD, see “LOI-1 PAD” photo 3), and after the sextant star check (which was perfectly there), the checklist says “roll to acquire MSRFN” … what should I do? How do I know if I will “acquire a signal”? is there a “gauge” to look at? Later on it ask for “squelch S-band – off” … what should I do? Is there a switch? (couldn’t see it)

5) from the burn attitude R-P-Y = 358-228-346 it is said to “to pitch up to 360” to see the surface of the moon, actually I managed to see the moon in the overhead hatch window (center couch) but when that happen I was in P=360 (about), Y=345 (about) but I had to Roll the CSM to see it … is it normal? See photo 4 – moon view. Was I supposed to see the moon from the center couch? Where the commander was seated?

6) After the lunar surface observation it was written to do V64E, and in the flight plan it is written “V64 to re-acquire MSFN”; once I entered V64E I saw that the COMP ACTY light was steady ON and with always F 06 N51 … I guess the computer was expecting something from me, I hit PRO and go to P00, but in the G&N checklist I saw that more information were supposed to be entered … (see “photo 5 – V64 S band routine)….what should I do/enter? And what is this routine doing? Is it a mandatory step to perform?

7) Before TIG -30min in the checklist there is a yellow “PC – 40m” -> what is it? What am I supposed to do/check before doing TIG-30m activities?

Thanks a lot for your time in reading me, and sorry for the so many questions…
 

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indy91

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1) About Aborts modes: after a burn maneuver PAD for TLI+90min, for the next aborts at TLI+4h, +11h, +25h, +35h, +44h and +53h I got only a “P37 block data form” like the one at page 2-4 of the A11-FlightPlan not a real maneuver PAD (P30 maneuver pad) as at page 2-8 of the A11 FP. Is this normal for A11? For A8 all TLI +xxh abort pads looked like “P30 mnvr pad”….if so, does it mean that in case of abort the crew had to use program P37 entering the data provided in the data block to start the calculations?

Yep, that's something they changed between Apollo 8 and 11. Apollo 8 had to write down an endless amount of Maneuver PADs they didn't end up using. So for most of the Translunar Coast aborts on Apollo 11 they only got the short form P37 data, which you indeed would use with P37 to calculate the burn. Use the TIG from the P37 PAD, and then in N60 you enter the DV value in R2.

2) At GET +5h the checklist says to “observe the SIV-B slingshot maneuver”…but where or how to see it? I even cannot see in external view looking in Earth direction (see “photo 1-slingshot”).

The LOX dump the S-IVB does is very visible on the later missions. On Apollo 11 I am not sure, the evasive burn is quite large and gets the S-IVB to a large distance. If you know when and where to look you might still see it. During the actual mission they got a precise time and some IMU angles to maneuver to, maybe that should be added in our MCC even if it's not in the flight plan.

3) during P40 preparation for MCC-2 the checklist says to configure the DAP and in particular the type of “ullage” to use (see “photo 2-ullage”)…I didn’t find written if need to use 4 jets or 2 jets … even in the flight plan…how to know which setting to use? Anyhow I used 21002 (in R1) and 01111 (in R2) before executing the burn. Did I make something wrong here?

The Checklist MFD has a generic P40 checklist, so it gets used for most SPS burns. MCC-2 didn't need an ullage burn as the SPS tanks were still full. See Apollo 11 Flight Plan page 1-8 for the CSM burn schedule, it has a column for the ullage burn that has to be done.


4) At around 74h15m , once in burn attitude (R,P,Y=358, 228, 346, according LOI-1 PAD, see “LOI-1 PAD” photo 3), and after the sextant star check (which was perfectly there), the checklist says “roll to acquire MSRFN” … what should I do? How do I know if I will “acquire a signal”? is there a “gauge” to look at? Later on it ask for “squelch S-band – off” … what should I do? Is there a switch? (couldn’t see it)

That would be the S-Band signal strength meter, right side of panel 2 where it says "tune for max". I think S-band squelch is a switch not every mission had. I would have to look that up.

5) from the burn attitude R-P-Y = 358-228-346 it is said to “to pitch up to 360” to see the surface of the moon, actually I managed to see the moon in the overhead hatch window (center couch) but when that happen I was in P=360 (about), Y=345 (about) but I had to Roll the CSM to see it … is it normal? See photo 4 – moon view. Was I supposed to see the moon from the center couch? Where the commander was seated?

It doesn't say pitch up TO, it just says pitch up. What you do here is a 360° pitch maneuver until you are back in the original attitude.

6) After the lunar surface observation it was written to do V64E, and in the flight plan it is written “V64 to re-acquire MSFN”; once I entered V64E I saw that the COMP ACTY light was steady ON and with always F 06 N51 … I guess the computer was expecting something from me, I hit PRO and go to P00, but in the G&N checklist I saw that more information were supposed to be entered … (see “photo 5 – V64 S band routine)….what should I do/enter? And what is this routine doing? Is it a mandatory step to perform?

V64 shows you the pitch and yaw angle for the high gain antenna to point at the Earth. Nothing to enter. The computer shouldn't be too busy with that, if the COMP ACTY light is on for more than a minute there then something is going wrong.

7) Before TIG -30min in the checklist there is a yellow “PC – 40m” -> what is it? What am I supposed to do/check before doing TIG-30m activities?

Sounds like an error in the Checklist MFD. Maybe @rcflyinghokie13 knows.
 
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rcflyinghokie

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7) Before TIG -30min in the checklist there is a yellow “PC – 40m” -> what is it? What am I supposed to do/check before doing TIG-30m activities?
Pericynthion -40 minutes is when you get the Map Update Rev 1 LOS AND AOS (With & Without LOI1) as stated in the checklist. This is also in the flight plan at about 75h15m GET.
 

indy91

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Pericynthion -40 minutes is when you get the Map Update Rev 1 LOS AND AOS (With & Without LOI1) as stated in the checklist. This is also in the flight plan at about 75h15m GET.

Ah, it's now actually relative to LOI-1 TIG and not pericynthion anymore. Only a few minutes difference, but T-40 min is probably clearer.
 

rcflyinghokie

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Ah, it's now actually relative to LOI-1 TIG and not pericynthion anymore. Only a few minutes difference, but T-40 min is probably clearer.
Sounds good, checklist has been modified to reference TIG instead of PC for this update.
 

thermocalc

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thank you all for the tips :cheers:.... I found out that the "S-band squelch" switch was on panel 180 in the LEB for A11-A12, and from A13 onward it was moved on panel 3, and it is not there in the A11 craft, nice to know :)
 

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