Science & Tech · Space · 11 hrs ago
Apollo 12 launched for the moon on Nov. 14, 1969
Apollo 12 launched for the moon on Nov.
14, 1969, as the second crewed lunar landing mission in NASA’s Apollo program.
Astronauts Pete Conrad and Alan Bean landed in the Ocean of Storms, while Richard Gordon orbited the moon in the command module.
Apollo 11 had landed far from its planned zone, so Apollo 12 aimed for the Surveyor 3 robotic lander, which had been on the moon for more than two years.
The astronauts visited the probe and brought samples of it back to Earth.
They also collected 75 pounds of moon rocks, mostly ancient basalt formed from molten lava.
The landing showed NASA could put astronauts near scientific targets, enabling more ambitious lunar missions.
Apollo 12 launched to the moon on Nov. 14, 1969, on the Apollo program’s second moon-landing mission.
The crew was commander Pete Conrad, lunar module pilot Alan Bean and command module pilot Richard Gordon.
Conrad and Bean landed in the Ocean of Storms near the Surveyor 3 robotic lander, while Gordon orbited the moon.
The astronauts collected 75 pounds of moon rocks and samples from Surveyor 3.
The mission showed that astronauts could land near a scientific target, helping prepare for more ambitious lunar missions.
- Who
- Astronauts Pete Conrad, Alan Bean and Richard Gordon.
- What
- Apollo 12 launched on a mission that made the Apollo program’s second moon landing.
- When
- Nov. 14, 1969.
- Where
- The mission launched to the moon; Conrad and Bean landed in the Ocean of Storms.
- Why
- To carry out a lunar mission and examine a scientific target, the Surveyor 3 lander.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Apollo 12 launched to the moon.
Conrad and Bean landed in the Ocean of Storms near Surveyor 3, while Gordon orbited the moon.
Conrad and Bean collected 75 pounds of moon rocks and samples from Surveyor 3.
- Launch date
- Nov. 14, 1969
- Mission
- Apollo 12
- Crew
- Pete Conrad, Alan Bean and Richard Gordon
- Landing site
- Ocean of Storms
- Moon rocks collected
- 75 pounds
- Scientific target
- Surveyor 3