Apollo 12

	(L) Charles Conrad, Jr.		Commander
	(C) Richard F. Gordon		Command Module Pilot
	(R) Alan L. Bean		Lunar Module Pilot

Crew Spaceflight Histories

Apollo 12 Backup Crew:

T

A precision landing was made using automatic guidance, with only small manual corrections required in the final phases of descent. Touchdown occurred at 110.5 hr ground elapsed time (GET), at a point only 600 feet (183 meters) from the target point, the Surveyor III spacecraft. The landing was in the Ocean of Storms.

This precision landing was of great significance to the future lunar exploration program, because landing points in rough terrain of great scientific interest could now be targeted.

The first of two planned extravehicular activity (EVA) periods began at 115 hr GET. A color television camera mounted on the descent stage provided live television coverage of the descent of both astronauts to the lunar surface. Television coverage was subsequently lost because of the inadvertent pointing of the camera at the Sun.

The crew emplaced the U.S. flag and the solar-wind composition experiment. They collected lunar samples and core-tube specimens during this first EVA period which lasted approximately four hours.

Following a seven-hour rest period, the second EVA period began at 131.5 hr GET. The two astronauts started a geology traverse. The traverse covered approximately 4300 feet (1311 meters) and lasted 3 hours and 50 minutes. During the traverse, documented samples, core-tube samples, trench site samples, and gas analysis samples were collected. The Apollo 12 samples were mostly basalts, dark-colored igneous rocks, and they were hundreds of millions of years younger than the rocks collected on Apollo 11.

The crew photographed Surveyor III, which landed on the lunar surface in April 1967, and retrieved a painted tube, an unpainted tube, the Surveyor III scoop and the television camera. The television camera is now on display in the National Air and Space Museum's "Exploring The Planets" gallery.

Another rest period and a final checkout preceded the liftoff of the lunar module ascent stage at 142 hr GET. Following crew transfer, the ascent stage was remotely guided to impact on the lunar surface to provide an active seismic source for the passive seismic experiment that had been emplaced. The command module landed in the Pacific Ocean at 244.5 hr GET.

Landing Site:	Oceanus Procellarum - Ocean of Storms (3.01S, 23.42W) (site 7)
Landed on Moon:	November 19, 1969 6:54:35 UT ( 1:54:35 a.m. EST)
EVA duration:	7 hr. 45 min. [EVA 1: 3 hr. 55 min., EVA 2: 3 hr. 50 min.]
Moon Rocks Collected:	34.4 kilograms
LM Departed Moon:	November 20, 1969 14:25:47 UT (9:25:47 a.m. EST)
Time on Lunar Surface:	31 hr. 31 min.
Returned to Earth:	November 24, 1969 splashdown 20:58:24 UT ( 3:58:24 p.m. EST)
Mission Duration:	244 hr 36 min 24 sec.
Retrieval site:	Pacific Ocean 15° 47' S, 165° 9' W
Retrieval ship:	U.S.S. Hornet
Special Payload: Flags from 136 nations, the UN, 50 states and four U.S. possessions were aboard the lunar module. Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP), color TV camera, seismometer, electric generator (plutonium power source).
Highlights/Notes: Saturn rocket hit by lightning twice, 32 sec. and 52 sec. after launch temporarily cutting electrical power and telemetry. TV camera was damaged shortly after Moon landing. Extensive EVAs, second covering approx. 1300 meters. Crew examined Surveyor III spacecraft which landed on Moon 2.5 years previous and returned some of its instruments to Earth. After leaving Moon, LM crashed into lunar surface creating first recorded artificial earthquake. The crew remained in quarantine for 21 days from completion of the second EVA.