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 type	Crewed lunar landing (H)
Operator	NASA
COSPAR ID	CSM: 1969-099A[1] LM: 1969-099C[1]
SATCAT no.	CSM: 4225[2] LM: 4226[2]
Mission duration	10 days, 4 hours, 36 minutes, 24 seconds[3]
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft	Command and service module CSM-108 Lunar Module LM-6
Manufacturer	CSM: North American Rockwell LM: Grumman
Launch mass	110,044 pounds (49,915 kg)[4]
Landing mass	11,050 pounds (5,010 kg)[5]
Crew
Crew size	3
Members	Charles Conrad Jr. Richard F. Gordon Jr. Alan L. Bean
Callsign	CSM: Yankee Clipper LM: Intrepid
Start of mission
Launch date	November 14, 1969, 16:22:00 (1969-11-14UTC16:22Z) 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 (1969-11-24UTC20:58:25Z) UTC
Landing site	South Pacific Ocean 15°47′S 165°9′W / 15.783°S 165.150°W / -15.783; -165.150 (Apollo 12 splashdown)
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 / -3.01239; -23.42157
Sample mass	34.35 kilograms (75.7 lb)
Surface EVAs	2
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 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 program ← Apollo 11 Apollo 13 →

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.