one minute and counting T minus 55 seconds and counting all still going well we're coming up on the power transfer mark 50 seconds and counting we're now on internal power with the three stages and instrument unit of the Saturn 5 all propellant tanks in the second stage now pressurized 35 seconds and counting the vehicle now completely pressurized the vents closed we are go 30 seconds and counting T minus 25 seconds and counting all aspects still go at this time as the computer monitors 20 seconds guidance release 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 we have ignition sequence start 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 all engines running commit liftoff we have liftoff at 11 AM Eastern Standard Time Apollo 9 you're a go all the way everything looks good Roger Hey Houston did you read our comm that our SPS helium pressure went to zero indicated the zero at liftoff The cabin is stable at 6.1 pounds per square inch We advise your SPS helium pressure went to zero at liftoff All right copy Okay Did you get any Good Jim Mcdivitt reports the SPS helium pressure onboard went to zero at liftoff however we're reporting go here on the Mission Control Center 225 miles down range now 75 miles high 11,700 feet per second Apollo 9 it's 5 minutes everybody's happy as a clam here looking good So are we Looking for us to cut off about 8 plus 55 Retro report we're right on the ground track S2 cutoff S staging is complete S4B ignition Thrust is good on the S4B Guidance does not have a cutoff time yet however he expects it shortly Onboard file though here says we're okay Yeah everything's looking good here Apollo 9 Okay We'll try to have your cutoff time shortly Hurry up on the cutoff first Roger Plus 11 minutes looking good All right Roger, shutdown Okay Hey Houston we've got 103 by 89.5 Roger Apollo 9 copy That was Dave Scott giving the onboard orbital parameters 103 by 89.5. We'll refine those later through tracking Sydo says go Apollo 9 you are go in the orbit Roger that And your CMC is go it is valid Okay And Apollo 9 the S4B has been saved All right we're safe. Do you have our O2 and pressure? Not yet Apollo 9 standby Okay All right, it's out there and we're turned around and proceeding with the station keeping and docking Oh, tremendous Apollo 9. Thank you Command and Service Module has separated from the third stage has turned around and is now station keeping Uh Roger copy that During this pass, the command and service modules did separate from the S4B the third stage of the launch vehicle The spacecraft has turned around and the crew is now inspecting the lunar module which is still inside the spacecraft LEM adapter attached to the S4B They'll continue this station keeping for another 10-12 minutes. Docking scheduled just about 3 hours over the Goldstone station Apollo 9 Houston, we've got you through the redstone standing by All right Roger Houston we're about 25 feet now on the closing closure Copy Oh should send a hard dock Roger Apollo 9 understand hard dock Good show Reported hard dock at 30208 Apollo 9, this is Houston. You are go for ejection Roger, go for ejection Houston Apollo 9 Go Apollo 9, this is Houston Okay Houston you're coming in very clearly that they advise we've had a successful ejection and were presently separating very slowly from the S4B we've got them in sight out all the windows Oh, sounds beautiful. Could you give me your ejection time, please? Okay Houston, if you can read, the ejection time was 4 hours and 5 seconds Uh, Gumdrop, Spider Go ahead, Spider, Gumdrop here Roger, you want the tape off now also? Does not say so Seems like a good idea though Yeah, tape come on off And Spider, Gumdrop Okay, we're configuring the CSM now for land. Okay, Jim. LEM data, and I want you to go to telemetry low Roger, we're telemetry low Do the VHFB transmitter to data, VHFB receiver off Roger, got it Okay, we've got the tape off here now. And was there any noticeable difference between the antennas? Oh, a little bit but I had a lot of noise from the S band when I tried it Okay, let's just stay where we are. This is good over here Oh, that's good here, too Okay, I'm going to be coming over now so I'll see you in a minute Okay now wait a minute. I got to get my uh hoses hooked up here, Jim. Roger Hello Spider, this is Houston. How do you read? This is Spider. We read you loud and clear Roger you're loud and clear here. Now we have you in Milo AOS you can start your TV pass Oh, beautiful Spider we've got a picture now And Spider, this is Houston, if you read me could you give us high bit rate? And your and your And the picture's coming through good Spider, we are copying it. Got a good view of rusty and the place And I can see you talking there Jim. Too bad I can't read your lips We're standing by to support your hot fire, Spider. We're ready Alright Houston, we're ready to go Let her rip, Spider Okay, a couple more switches Okay, we're ready to start the hot fire now We're ready to go, press Roger Copy Good job, rates almost still All right, I have some more to go Okay Hey, coming here, this is Spider Okay, all depressed, and everything's looking good Do we need anything when we open the door? Uh, I haven't opened the door yet Okay Don't move anything when you do Okay, I'll try I'll be the goal tender. Keep everything in Yeah Okay, Spider, come drop the hatch is open, no sweat, just swing it in. Oh open and swing the vacuum again. No, it stays just where I want it. That's right. Whoa, see, I'm glad we set up here. We pull down my visor. Put that all that doing, didn't it? Looks like it. the flicker We see them clear. Put your camera on there, stand by Okay, I'm waiting. Okay Proceeding on that. Okay. Give the golden numbers Oh there. Oh there, that looks comfortable. Oh, pull out, what a view. That's spectacular. Oh there it is. There's the moon right over there. Okay, good. Thank you, uh, way over the camera or something. Oh there the camera, oh there's Baja California Oh, very pretty But things are still falling out up there. What are you doing, throwing everything overboard? Looks, there goes a nut Okay. What are you talking about, me again? Okay, blow in. Got it. Let me get that camera out Okay. Anything left of that one? Oh this is really good Okay, Davey. You want to start getting your hatch closed? Say again? Better start getting your hatch closed if you're not already doing it. It's closed. Just not locked. It's closed. locked It's locked He is fully covered Three, two, one, liftoff Hey, you're free A free Roger A nice looking machine It was yours Spider, Gumdrop, I can see your jets firing just to clear the bill Roger, I was watching your light down there It lights up the whole sky Hey Dave, we're at 49 miles and we can still see you Hey that's pretty good Come drop Spider So Roger our staging works better than your docking Haha, you're one up on me Roger, you better wait to get back before you start that Yeah and haven't heard me say anything Okay, we're at 88.5 miles and 10 feet per second That's pretty good Hey, you just see me, huh? Spider comes on Go ahead, jump. I got 67 miles at 112 feet per second Okay, we have 60 7 miles and 107 feet per second. How about that? Three seconds at your 5 ft per second on. You got to have to shape that up. No, let me take some more marks and I'll get it squared away. All righty. Okay, we're at 5 ft per second and about 610 ft. That's right down again. Hey, I'm just thinking one of us is right side up. Boy, you got your traction hanging out all over. Okay, I have this about 370 ft. Okay, looks closer than that. It doesn't look so? How does that sports car handle, Jim? Pretty nice. I don't even see in there, David. Oh, I'm here. We're waiting for you to bring that good water back. Okay, I'm lined up, uh, translating, but I can't tell what my attitude is, Dave. It's on that. If I don't see it, well there it is, there. Now you're coming in. That's good. There you go. Now I think you got a handle on it now. Well, it keeps disappearing. Now you're looking pretty good. Got capture. All right, Dewey. Okay. Let's get lined up. Okay, why don't you do it? I can't tell where it is. We're free now. Good show, Spider. Hey, that was a very nice docking. That that wasn't a docking, that was a high test. Hey Houston, we're locked up. Well, it sounds like you passed it 2010. Uh Jim, that sounded real beautiful. Good show. Hey, since we didn't get the the launch on the right day, was Chris there? That's from there. Okay, we've got a message for him. Okay, he's uh he's on the loop. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Christopher. Happy birthday to you. That that was magnificent. Uh the only thing oh I got a chance. The the uh you may even overshadow the rendezvous with performances like that. The ground circuit is uh strangely quiet as the crew uh getting into orbit attitude, deorbit attitude. Some 3 minutes 12 seconds away from deorbit burn. We'll leave the circuit open for any conversation. Mark. 2 minutes. You're looking good. Roger. 60 seconds, Mark. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Retro fire. Ignition confirmed, and we've had cutoff confirmed. And tracking out of Hawaii now shows a height at 163 nautical miles, velocity 25,198 ft/s and dropping. Energy predicted at -4.2 miles. Beginning of blackout as some 2 minutes away from drogue deployment, drogue shoot deployment. 19 nautical miles altitude. Reported that the Guadalcanal crew did hear a sonic boom as the Apollo 9 spacecraft came into the atmosphere. Main shoot should be going out at this time. Recovery 3 helicopter has visual contact. And it's visually inside from the carrier. A big cheer went up here in the mission operations control room as they saw it on the tube. Estimated now 3 miles from the ship. This is Apollo control. Splashdown time 50 53 seconds past the hour, which is some 10 seconds later than the predicted splash time of 43 seconds past the hour. Well, it's been a long time since we uh left land. And obviously I don't have my sea legs or my land legs either. But it's sure good to be back. As a matter of fact, I think you guys kept us here in the canal, kept us going the last few days. We heard you had a big cake here and every night while while we were eating our evening meal, we discussed how much of the cake we were going to eat. And matter of fact, I don't think we ate very much the last couple days just getting ready for it. We've had a real good time and I hope we uh accomplished something worthwhile. Uh the whole state program is made up of the thousands of people. We're just a very small part of it. And you guys are really the number one for us. Thanks everybody who helped. Okay, coming to Mark. I'd like to reiterate what Jim said and say it's great to be back and it's great to be here in the canal. It's been a long time and we had a great flight and a great recovery. Thank you all very much. I don't have much. All I can say is that the rookie, it's my first one. Uh, I think it's been the most successful flight that we've had that we sure accomplished a lot and the thing was pretty to save recovery. We sure appreciate you all being right here.