 Commander Pete Conrad studies the Surveyor 3 spacecraft, which had landed two years previously; the Apollo Lunar Module, Intrepid, can be seen at top right. | |
| Mission type | Crewed lunar landing (H) |
|---|---|
| Operator | NASA |
| COSPAR ID | |
| SATCAT no. | |
| Mission duration | 10 days, 4 hours, 36 minutes, 24 seconds[3] |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Spacecraft |
|
| Manufacturer |
|
| Launch mass | 110,044 pounds (49,915 kg)[4] |
| Landing mass | 11,050 pounds (5,010 kg)[5] |
| Crew | |
| Crew size | 3 |
| Members | |
| Callsign |
|
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | November 14, 1969, 16:22:00 UTC |
| Rocket | Saturn V SA-507 |
| Launch site | Kennedy LC-39 A |
| End of mission | |
| Recovered by | USS Hornet |
| Landing date | November 24, 1969, 20:58:24 UTC |
| Landing site | South Pacific Ocean 15°47′S 165°9′W / 15.783°S 165.150°W |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Selenocentric |
| Periselene altitude | 101.10 kilometers (54.59 nmi)[3] |
| Aposelene altitude | 122.42 kilometers (66.10 nmi)[3] |
| Lunar orbiter | |
| Orbital insertion | November 18, 1969, 03:47:23 UTC |
| Orbital departure | November 21, 1969, 20:49:16 UTC |
| Orbits | 45 |
| Lunar lander | |
| Spacecraft component | Lunar Module (LM) |
| Landing date | November 19, 1969, 06:54:35 UTC |
| Return launch | November 20, 1969, 14:25:47 UTC |
| Landing site | Ocean of Storms 3°00′45″S 23°25′18″W / 3.01239°S 23.42157°W |
| Sample mass | 34.35 kilograms (75.7 lb) |
| Surface EVAs | 2 |
| EVA duration |
|
| Docking with LM | |
| Docking date | November 14, 1969, 19:48:53 UTC[3] |
| Undocking date | November 19, 1969, 04:16:02 UTC[3] |
| Docking with LM ascent stage | |
| Docking date | November 20, 1969, 17:58:20 UTC[3] |
| Undocking date | November 20, 1969, 20:21:31 UTC[3] |
 Left to right: Conrad, Gordon, Bean | |
Apollo 12 (November 14–24, 1969) was the sixth crewed flight in the United States Apollo program and the second to land on the Moon. It was launched on November 14, 1969, by NASA from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Commander Charles "Pete" Conrad and Lunar Module Pilot Alan L. Bean performed just over one day and seven hours of lunar surface activity while Command Module Pilot Richard F. Gordon remained in lunar orbit.
Apollo 12 would have attempted the first lunar landing had Apollo 11 failed, but after the success of Neil Armstrong's mission, Apollo 12 was postponed by two months, and other Apollo missions also put on a more relaxed schedule. More time was allotted for geologic training in preparation for Apollo 12 than for Apollo 11, Conrad and Bean making several geology field trips in preparation for their mission. Apollo 12's spacecraft and launch vehicle were almost identical to Apollo 11's. One addition was hammocks to allow Conrad and Bean to rest more comfortably on the Moon.
Shortly after being launched on a rainy day at Kennedy Space Center, Apollo 12 was twice struck by lightning, causing instrumentation problems but little damage. Switching to the auxiliary power supply resolved the data relay problem, saving the mission. The outward journey to the Moon otherwise saw few problems. On November 19, Conrad and Bean achieved a precise landing at their expected location within walking distance of the Surveyor 3 robotic probe, which had landed on April 20, 1967. In making a pinpoint landing, they showed that NASA could plan future missions in the expectation that astronauts could land close to sites of scientific interest. Conrad and Bean carried the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package, a group of nuclear-powered scientific instruments, as well as the first color television camera taken by an Apollo mission to the lunar surface, but transmission was lost after Bean accidentally pointed the camera at the Sun and its sensor was burned out. On the second of two moonwalks, they visited Surveyor 3 and removed parts for return to Earth.
Lunar Module Intrepid lifted off from the Moon on November 20 and docked with the command module, which subsequently traveled back to Earth. The Apollo 12 mission ended on November 24 with a successful splashdown.
- ^ a b Orloff & Harland 2006, p. 331.
- ^ a b Orloff & Harland 2006, p. 573.
- ^ a b c d e f g Mission Report, pp. 5-1–5-5.
- ^ Orloff & Harland 2006, p. 584.
- ^ Mission Report, p. A-9.