ELAPSED TIME 053:14, STILL IN TRANSIT. “Are we there yet??” inquires Kuiper.
Thank you @chabotspace for allowing Kuiper to make a special visit to stand in your replica moon prints.
Today is day 3 of the mission, and we’re still on our way to the Moon. Today’s news highlights include that “in Corby, England, an Irishman, John Coyle has won the world’s porridge eating championship by consuming 23 bowls of instant oatmeal in a 10-minute time limit from a field of 35 other competitors. Over.”
Collins: I’d like to enter Aldrin in the oatmeal eating contest next time.
Bruce McCandless (Mission Control): Is he pretty good at that?
Collins: He’s doing his share up here.
McCandless: Let’s see. You all just finished a meal not too long ago, too, didn’t you?
Aldrin: I’m still eating.
McCandless: Ok. Does that..
Collins: He’s on his – He’s on his 19th bowl. ?????
McCandless: Roger.
Other highlights from today include updates to our flight plan ? and an afternoon TV broadcast from inside the LM! ? This wasn’t something that was originally planned, but our astronauts noticed yesterday that the camera cables would be long enough to reach. Duke at Mission Control really liked the idea, and said it would be a “good show.” He was correct; the picture quality is excellent.
A little after 7 pm Pacific, we’ll spot a UFO!! ? Well, sort of. The astronauts were pretty darn sure that the shiny metal thing was either the 3rd stage of the Saturn rocket or a panel from the LM cover. They just weren’t sure which it was at the time, so it was teeeecchhnically “unidentified.” ? Sorry to disappoint!
At 8 PM Pacific tonight, we’ll cross the “equigravisphere,” an invisible boundary where the Moon’s gravity starts to affect our spacecraft more than Earth’s gravity. Up until now, we’ve been slowing down because the Earth just can’t seem to let go. Now we’ll start speeding up towards the Moon!
For our purposes, not much will actually result from this moment beyond some college physics homework. However, from Mission Control’s perspective, the Moon is now our frame of reference rather than the Earth.
We’re getting closer. Stay tuned for lunar orbit insertion!
Original post: https://www.instagram.com/p/B0EZRNilPdg/