|
|
Astronauts Alan Bean and Cha
…
| 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. |
|
Apollo 12: Surveyor 3 and In
…
| Title |
Apollo 12: Surveyor 3 and Intrepid |
| Explanation |
On April 20, 1967, NASA's robot spacecraft Surveyor 3 landed [ http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/surveyor.html ] on the moon, touching down on the inside slope of a small lunar crater in the Ocean of Storms. Over 2 1/2 years later, on November 19, 1969, the lunar module Intrepid, piloted by Apollo 12 [ http://www.nasm.edu/APOLLO/AS12/ ] astronauts Pete Conrad and Alan Bean, flew overhead and landed nearby [ http://cass.jsc.nasa.gov/pub/expmoon/Apollo12/A12_lsite.html ] in the second visit by humans to the lunar surface [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-4214/cover.html ]. Intrepid touched down about 600 feet away and the moon walking astronauts [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a12/a12j.html ] were easily able to reach the Surveyor [ http://cass.jsc.nasa.gov/pub/expmoon/surveyor/Surveyor3.html ] and examine the remote explorer that had preceded them. Intrepid is seen in the background of this striking high resolution [ http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a12/images12.html#HiRes ] picture of Surveyor 3. Surveyor's leftmost foot pad appears dug in while its foreground foot pad has made two distinct imprints in the powdery lunar soil [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap980327.html ] - clear indications that the Surveyor slid and bounced on landing. Using bolt cutters, the astronauts [ http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap961124.html ] removed Surveyor's TV camera (the cylinder shape at the right of the tall solar panel mast) and its sampling scoop (on the arm extended to the right), returning them to Earth for study. |
|
|
