Apollo 12

“The Pinpoint Mission”

Crew: Charles “Pete” Conrad, Jr. (Commander); Alan L. Bean (Lunar Module Pilot); Richard F. Gordon Jr. (Command Module Pilot)

Launch Vehicle: Saturn V

Spacecraft: Yankee Clipper (CM-108), Intrepid (LM-6)

Launch Date: November 14, 1969

Return Date: November 24, 1969

Apollo 12 launched into a cloudy, rain-swept sky. Launch controllers lost telemetry contact when the Saturn V was struck by lightning. The booster’s first stage continued to function and Apollo 12 was cleared to continue to the Moon.

The primary mission objectives of the second crewed lunar landing included an extensive series of lunar exploration as well as the deployment of the first Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP) which was left on the moon to gather seismic, scientific and engineering data.

The astronauts also retrieved portions of the Surveyor III spacecraft, which had landed on the moon on April 20, 1967, a short distance from the selected landing site of Apollo 12.