1:35:00
Without the power,
we can't give them a reading.
1:35:02
I'm not talking about power,
I'm talking about reference.
1:35:04
No, there's no references.
We have debris up there.
1:35:07
Houston, what's the story
with this burn?
1:35:10
We're trying to hash something out
down here, Aquarius.
1:35:13
Stand by.
1:35:15
Look, Houston. All we need to hold
attitude is one fixed point in space.
1:35:20
'- Is that not correct?
'- Yeah. Roger that, Jim.
1:35:26
Well, Houston, we've got one.
1:35:30
If we can keep the Earth
in the window, flying manually,
1:35:34
the co'-ax cross hairs
right on its terminator,
1:35:36
all I have to know is: how long
do we need to burn the engine?
1:35:39
'- The shorter, the better.
'- Roger that, Jim.
1:35:43
Can they fly it manually
and still shut it down...
1:35:45
on time without the computer?
1:35:49
I guess that's the best we can do.
1:35:51
We're out of time.
1:35:53
In order to enter
the atmosphere safely,
1:35:55
the crew must aim for a corridor
just two and a half degrees wide.
1:35:59
If they're too steep, they'll incinerate
in the steadily thickening air.
1:36:02
If they're too shallow,
they'll ricochet...
1:36:04
off the atmosphere like
a rock skipping off a pond.
1:36:06
The reentry corridor is,
in fact, so narrow...
1:36:09
that if this basketball
were the Earth...
1:36:11
and this softball
were the moon,
1:36:13
and the two were placed
14 feet apart,
1:36:15
the crew would have to hit a target
no thicker than this piece of paper.
1:36:19
Okay, people, on your toes.
We're doing this one blind.
1:36:21
Gene, I want you to understand
we've never tried this before:
1:36:24
burn, cold soak, burn,
cold soak, burn, manual control.
1:36:28
Look, it will ignite, will it not?
1:36:30
I just want you to know the engine's
never been tried like this.
1:36:33
That's all I'm trying to tell you.
1:36:36
I know what you're trying to do.
1:36:38
I guarantee you, I won't hold you
personally responsible.
1:36:40
If it lights, it lights.
Let Lovell do the rest.
1:36:44
Okay.
1:36:46
They're gonna burn the engines
and steer it manually,
1:36:48
attempting to keep
the Earth in the window.
1:36:57
Okay, this is gonna take
all three of us.