Apollo 12

Apollo 12
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 typeCrewed lunar landing (H)
OperatorNASA
COSPAR ID
  • CSM: 1969-099A[1]
  • LM: 1969-099C[1]
SATCAT no.
Mission duration10 days, 4 hours, 36 minutes, 24 seconds[3]
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft
Manufacturer
Launch mass110,044 pounds (49,915 kg)[4]
Landing mass11,050 pounds (5,010 kg)[5]
Crew
Crew size3
Members
Callsign
  • CSM: Yankee Clipper
  • LM: Intrepid
Start of mission
Launch dateNovember 14, 1969, 16:22:00 (1969-11-14UTC16:22Z) UTC
RocketSaturn V SA-507
Launch siteKennedy LC-39 A
End of mission
Recovered byUSS Hornet
Landing dateNovember 24, 1969, 20:58:24 (1969-11-24UTC20:58:25Z) UTC
Landing siteSouth Pacific Ocean 15°47′S 165°9′W / 15.783°S 165.150°W / -15.783; -165.150 (Apollo 12 splashdown)
Orbital parameters
Reference systemSelenocentric
Periselene altitude101.10 kilometers (54.59 nmi)[3]
Aposelene altitude122.42 kilometers (66.10 nmi)[3]
Lunar orbiter
Orbital insertionNovember 18, 1969, 03:47:23 UTC
Orbital departureNovember 21, 1969, 20:49:16 UTC
Orbits45
Lunar lander
Spacecraft componentLunar Module (LM)
Landing dateNovember 19, 1969, 06:54:35 UTC
Return launchNovember 20, 1969, 14:25:47 UTC
Landing siteOcean of Storms 3°00′45″S 23°25′18″W / 3.01239°S 23.42157°W / -3.01239; -23.42157
Sample mass34.35 kilograms (75.7 lb)
Surface EVAs2
EVA duration
  • Total: 7 hours, 45 minutes, 18 seconds
  • First: 3 hours, 56 minutes, 03 seconds
  • Second: 3 hours, 49 minutes, 15 seconds
Docking with LM
Docking dateNovember 14, 1969, 19:48:53 UTC[3]
Undocking dateNovember 19, 1969, 04:16:02 UTC[3]
Docking with LM ascent stage
Docking dateNovember 20, 1969, 17:58:20 UTC[3]
Undocking dateNovember 20, 1969, 20:21:31 UTC[3]
Apollo 12 crew
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.

  1. ^ a b Orloff & Harland 2006, p. 331.
  2. ^ a b Orloff & Harland 2006, p. 573.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Mission Report, pp. 5-1–5-5.
  4. ^ Orloff & Harland 2006, p. 584.
  5. ^ Mission Report, p. A-9.