IN WE COME: ENTRY FROM START TO FINISH

The first operational step in preparation for re-entry occurred a few hours out, when the crew stopped the spacecraft from slowly spinning on its long axis in the so-called
barbecue mode for the final time. The time remaining in space no longer warranted the protection provided by thisywM’.vive thermal control rotation. Once he had control of the spacecraft’s attitude, the CMP had a final chance to practise his techniques of navigation, partly in case communications were lost and the spacecraft had to make its approach without assistance from Harth. but mostly to provide yet another data point for engineers about the crew’s ability to fly autonomously. Prior to his exercise, he carried out his penultimate platform realignment.

On those later advanced missions that carried a SIM bay in the service module, the crew powered it down for the last time before the final correction burn opportunity. As the film canisters had long since been extracted from the cameras, only a few instruments were still operating and. even then, they were only looking at deep space. Those mounted on the end of 7-metre-long booms were retracted except during the Apollo 15 mission when the booms were jettisoned – probably as an engineering test of that capability on their first outing.