Apollo 12

Sixth manned mission in the Apollo program. Second to land on the moon.

Launched: November 14, 1969

Returned: November 24, 1969

Crew members: [Pete Conrad]?, commander; [Dick Gordon]?, command module pilot; [Alan Bean]?, lunar module pilot

Command module: Yankee Clipper

Lunar module: Intrepid

Landed: November 19, 1969

Lunar landing site: 3.2 S, 23.4 W -- Oceanus Procellarum (Ocean of Storms)

On surface: 1 day 7.5 hours

Lunar EVA: 7.7 hours (3.9 + 3.8)

Samples: 34.4 kg

Mission Notes:

• While Apollo 11 had made an almost embarassingly imprecise landing well outside the designated target area, Apollo 12 succeeded in a pin-point landing within walking distance of the Surveyor 3 probe, which had landed there in April 1967.
• To improve the quality of television pictures from the moon, a colour camera was carried on Apollo 12 (unlike the monochrome camera that was used on Apollo 11). Unfortunately, when Bean carried the camera to the place nearby the lunar module where it was to be set up, he inadvertently pointed it directly into the sun, causing the electronics to fry instantly. Television coverage of this mission was thus terminated almost right from the start.