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Astronauts Alan Bean and Cha
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| Name of Image |
Astronauts Alan Bean and Charles Conrad on Lunar Surface |
| Date of Image |
1969-11-20 |
| Full Description |
The second manned lunar landing mission, Apollo 12 launched from launch pad 39-A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on November 14, 1969 via a Saturn Five launch vehicle. The Saturn V vehicle was developed by the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) under the direction of Dr. Wernher von Braun. Aboard Apollo 12 was a crew of three astronauts: Alan L. Bean, pilot of the Lunar Module (LM), Intrepid, Richard Gordon, pilot of the Command Module (CM), Yankee Clipper, and Spacecraft Commander Charles Conrad. The LM, Intrepid, landed astronauts Conrad and Bean on the lunar surface in what?s known as the Ocean of Storms while astronaut Richard Gordon piloted the CM, Yankee Clipper, in a parking orbit around the Moon. Their lunar soil activities included the deployment of the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP), finding the unmanned Surveyor 3 that landed on the Moon on April 19, 1967, and collecting 75 pounds (34 kilograms) of rock samples. In this photograph, one of the astronauts on the Moon?s surface is holding a container of lunar soil. The other astronaut is seen reflected in his helmet. Apollo 12 safely returned to Earth on November 24, 1969. |
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An Apollo 12 Panorama
| Title |
An Apollo 12 Panorama |
| Explanation |
The Apollo 12 mission [ http://www.nasm.si.edu/collections/imagery/apollo/AS12/a12.htm ] was the second [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980503.html ] ever to land humans on the Moon. The mission was dedicated [ http://www.nasm.si.edu/collections/imagery/apollo/AS12/a12mo.htm ] to studying the Moon [ http://www.nineplanets.org/luna.html ], developing techniques, and developing instruments that could be used in future lunar landings [ http://www.nasm.si.edu/collections/imagery/apollo/apollo.htm ]. Astronauts Charles (Pete) Conrad and Alan Bean [ http://www.lpi.usra.edu/expmoon/Apollo12/A12_Overview_crew.html ] spent just under two days on the lunar surface in November 1969, while Richard Gordon [ http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/gordon-rf.html ] orbited above in the Command Module [ http://www.msichicago.org/exhibit/apollo/ ]. Pictured above [ http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/Projects/LunarAtlas/panoramas/ ] in this digitally stitched panorama, Alan Bean works near the Lunar Module [ http://www.nasm.edu/galleries/attm/nojs/a11.am.lm.1.html ]. Scrolling to the right will reveal a dark color panorama [ http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/Projects/LunarAtlas/panoramas/ ] where flat lunar terrain and a tall video camera are visible. Apollo 12 mission [ http://www.nasm.si.edu/collections/imagery/apollo/AS12/a12.htm ] astronauts visited the site [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020713.html ] of the nearby Surveyor 3 [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap031005.html ] robot spacecraft that had landed on the moon three years earlier. |
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