Second Moon Landing 40 Years Ago Featured All Navy Crew
Navy NewsStand
Story Number: NNS091201-20
Release Date: 12/1/2009 3:23:00 PM
By Dennis M. Conrad, Naval History and Heritage Command
WASHINGTON (NNS) -- As the United States once again contemplates manned flights to the moon, it is fitting to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 12 mission, the second manned mission to the moon and the only one that boasted an all-Navy crew of Cmdr. Charles "Pete" Conrad, Cmdr. Richard F. "Dick" Gordon, and Cmdr. Alan L. Bean.
Apollo 12 lifted off on Nov. 14. The launch proved to be the most dangerous part of the mission. Because of a tight window of opportunity to achieve the desired trajectory for the planned lunar-landing site, Apollo 12 had to take off in rain and thundering clouds. Thirty seconds after lift-off, the astronauts reported a flash of blinding light and numerous warning lights on the instrument panel went on.
Apollo 12 had been hit by lightning and most of the electrical systems of the command and service module failed. Most critical, the guidance control gyroscopes were spinning aimlessly instead of keeping track of the spacecraft's orientation. Luckily, the booster rocket's guidance systems had not been affected or the rocket would have immediately gone out of control and crashed. Other lightning strikes followed until the rocket powered above the storm clouds.
The damage done to the command module, while potentially devastating at the time of the strike, was easily reparable, mostly a matter of restarting systems and shutting off automatic circuit breakers, so that by the time the crew needed to execute the "translunar injection maneuver," or, in other words, to break out of Earth orbit and head for the Moon, the module was fully functional.
After a smooth three-day journey, Apollo 12 entered lunar orbit. Roughly one day later, the lunar module separated from the command module and landed on the moon. Five hours later, at roughly 7 p.m.., EST, on Nov. 19, 1969, Navy commanders Conrad and Bean became the third and fourth humans to walk on the moon.
One of the most remarkable aspects of the mission was the location of NASA'S robot spacecraft, Surveyor 3, by the Apollo 12 crew. Surveyor had landed on the moon on April 20, 1967 touching down on the inside slope of a small lunar crater in the Oceanus Procellarum region (Ocean of Storms).
Two and one-half years later, Cmdr. "Pete" Conrad was able to pilot the lunar module Intrepid directly over Surveyor 3 and land some 600 feet from it. Intrepid had been programmed to land even closer but Conrad and Bean judged the area around Surveyor not suitable as a landing site. Therefore, Conrad took over manual control of the lunar module and piloted Intrepid across the crater to land on the rim opposite Surveyor. Still, when Conrad and Bean exited Intrepid, it was easy for them to walk to the Surveyor. Using bolt cutters, the Navy astronauts removed Surveyor's TV and its sampling scoop, returning them to Earth for study and proof that they had actually seen, touched and photographed the robot on the moon.
The crew of Apollo 12 boasted many accomplishments during this mission, including: the first precision manual moon landing; the first time a pilot maneuvered the Command Module into a different orbiting trajectory, a requirement for future missions; an extended visit to the lunar service--almost three times as long as Apollo 11--including two separate moonwalks and recovery of equipment from an earlier unmanned probe; and finally, the first deployment of an automated scientific analysis package, a small bundle of instruments which Conrad and Bean left on the Moon that remained operational for eight years and provided a wealth of information. The excellent performance of the spacecraft, the crew, and the support personnel ranked this "all-Navy" mission as one of the most successful in NASA history.
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