Mission Details
| Mission Name: Apollo 12 |
| Mission Type: Crewed Lunar Lander |
| Operator: NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) |
| Launching State: United States |
| Location: Oceanus Procellarum |
| Latitude: -3.0098 |
| Longitude: 336.5751 |
| Launch Date: 14 November 1969, 16:22:00 UTC |
| Landing Date: 19 November 1969, 06:54:35 UT |
| Crew: Charles Conrad Jr., commander; Alan L. Bean, lunar module pilot; Richard F. Gordon Jr., command module pilot |
| Objects on or Related to Site: Lunar Module Eagle (Descent Stage) Messages of Peace Spring Scales (two left on site) Scongs Hasselblad Data Camera Hasselblad Lunar Surface Superwide Angle Cameras Lunar Surface Close-up Steroscopic Camera Solar Wind Composition Staff Arm rests (four on site) Handle of Contingency Lunar Sample Return Container Small Scoop Trenching Tool Mesa Bracket Document Sample Box Seal Film Magazines (two sets left on site) Storage Container Empty Tripod Handle/Cable Assembly for Television Camera York Mesh Packing Material SWC Bag (extra) Core Tube Bits (two left on site) Environment Sample Containers “O” Rings (two left on site) Sample Return Container Seal Protectors (two left on site) ESC Bracket OPS Brackets (two left on site) Stainless Steel Cover Left Hand Side Stowage Compartment Insulating Blanket Small Aluminum Capsule Passive Seismic Experiment Gold Olive Branch Flag Kit Apollo 1 Patch Cosmonaut Medals Lunar Module Eagle (Ascent Stage) Laser Range Reflector Plaque Filter, Polarizing Portable Life Support Systems (PLSS) (two left on site) Remote Control Units for PLSS (two left on site) Defecation Collection Device (Four left on site) Lunar Overshoes (two pairs left on site) Pressure Garment Assembly Gas Connector Covers (two left on site) Lunar Equipment Conveyor Waist Tether Kit Lunar Equipment Conveyor (LEC) Bag, Deployment, Life Line Bag for Lunar Equipment Conveyor (LEC) Life Line, lightweight Lunar Equipment Conveyor Waist Tether for Extra Vehicular Activity Food Assembly (4 crew days), Beef and Vegetables Food Assembly (4 crew days), Day 3 Meal Food Assembly (4 crew days), Peaches TV Subsystem Lunar Television Camera Wide Angle Television Lens Wide Angle Television Lens Television Cable Assembly (100ft) Adapter, SRC/OPS (two left on site) ECS LiOH Cannister (two left on site) Small Urine Collection Assembly (two left on site) Large Urine Collection Assembly (two left on site) Emesis Bag (four left on site) Disposal Container Assembly Disposal Container Assembly PLSS Condensate Container S-Band Antenna Cable for S-Band Antenna Lunar Equipment Transfer Bag Pallet assembly #1 Central Station Pallet Assembly #2 Primary structure assembly Hammer Large Lunar Sample Scoop Extension Handle Tongs Gnomon (Excludes mount) Early Apollo Scientific Experiments Package |
| Image Source: NASA |
Description
The mission of the Apollo program was to perform a crewed lunar landing. The first four flights, including Apollo 10, tested the equipment used to ultimately place humans on the lunar surface.
The first Apollo flight happened in 1968. The first Moon landing took place in 1969. The last Moon landing was in 1972. A total of twelve humans walked on the Moon as a result of the Apollo program. The astronauts conducted scientific research, studied the lunar surface and collected Moon rocks to bring back to Earth.
er NASA: The primary mission objectives of the second crewed lunar landing included an extensive series of lunar exploration tasks by the lunar module, or LM, crew, as well as the deployment of the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package, or ALSEP, which was to be left on the moon’s surface to gather seismic, scientific and engineering data throughout a long period of time. The astronauts also were to retrieve portions of the Surveyor III spacecraft, which had soft-landed on the moon April 20, 1967, a short distance from the selected landing site of Apollo 12.
Read more:
https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/missions/apollo12.html
Heritage Consideration
Second crewed mission to the Moon. First mission to retrieve material from a human artifact on the Moon. First mission to use a nuclear electrical power system on the Moon. First mission with primarily scientific goals. Command Module Pilot Richard Gordon orbited the Moon while astronauts Pete Conrad and Alan Bean were on its surface
Object on or Related to Site
| Object Name: Passive Seismic Experiment | |
| Cospar: 1969-099C-03 | |
| Norad: N/A | |
| Location: Precise location unknown or undisclosed. | |
| Launch Date: 14 November 1969, 16:22:00 UT | |
| Landing Date: 19 November 1969, 06:54:35 UT | |
| Deployment: 19 November 1969, [time to be inserted] | |
| End Date: September, 1977 | |
| Function: The Passive Seismic Experiment detected lunar “moonquakes” and provided information about the internal structure of the Moon. | |
| Image Source: NASA |
Description
Per NASA: The Passive Seismic Experiment studied the propagation of seismic waves through the Moon and provided our most detailed look at the Moon’s internal structure. The Apollo 11 seismometer returned data for just three weeks but provided a useful first look at lunar seismology. More advanced seismometers were deployed at the Apollo 12, 14, 15, and 16 landing sites and transmitted data to Earth until September 1977. Each of these seismometers measured all three components of ground displacement (up-down, north-south, and east-west).
Read more:
https://www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/missions/apollo/apollo_12/experiments/pse/index.shtml
Object on or Related to Site
| Object Name: Lunar Surface Magnetometer |
| Cospar: N/A |
| Norad: N/A |
| Location: Precise location unknown or undisclosed. |
| Launch Date: 14 November 1969, 16:22:00 UT |
| Landing Date: 19 November 1969, 06:54:35 UT |
| Deployment: 19 November 1969, [time to be inserted] |
| End Date: June 14, 1974 |
| Function: The purpose of the magnetometer was to measure the magnetic field on the lunar surface and to determine from these measurements some of the deep-interior electrical properties of the Moon. This experiment also helped to elucidate the interaction between the solar plasma and the lunar surface. The Earth’s magnetic field also extends to the Moon’s orbit. Thus, as the Moon passed through the “bow shock” of the Earth it was detected by the LSM. |
| Image Source: NASA |
Description
The Lunar Surface Magnetometer (LSM) consisted of a triaxial fluxgate magnetometer and was designed to measure the magnitude and temporal variations of the lunar surface magnetic field to yield information on the internal electromagnetic characteristics of the Moon.
Read more:
https://www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/missions/apollo/apollo_12/experiments/lsme/index.shtml
Object on or Related to Site
| Object Name: Solar Wind Spectrometer |
| Cospar: N/A |
| Norad: N/A |
| Location: Precise location unknown or undisclosed. |
| Launch Date: 14 November 1969, 16:22:00 UT |
| Landing Date: 19 November 1969, 06:54:35 UT |
| Deployment: 19 November 1969, [time to be inserted] |
| End Date: N/A |
| Function: The solar wind spectrometer was designed to measure protons and electrons at the lunar surface. |
| Image Source: NASA |
Description
The Solar Wind Spectrometer consisted of seven modulated Faraday cups opened toward different, but slightly overlapping, portions of the lunar sky. The instrument was used to observe the directional intensities of the electron (6-1330 eV) and positive ion (18-9780 eV) components of the solar wind and magnetotail plasma that strike the surface of the Moon. The scientific objectives of the Solar Wind Spectrometer Experiment were to study the existence of the solar wind plasma on the Moon, the properties of the lunar surface and interior, general solar wind properties, and the magnetospheric tail of the Earth.
Read more:
https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/experiment/display.action?id=1969-099C-02
Object on or Related to Site
| Object Name: Suprathermal Ion Detector/Cold Cathode Gauge (SIDE/CCGE) |
| Cospar: N/A |
| Norad: N/A |
| Location: Precise location unknown or undisclosed. |
| Launch Date: 14 November 1969, 16:22:00 UT |
| Landing Date: 19 November 1969, 06:54:35 UT |
| Deployment: 19 November 1969, [time to be inserted] |
| End Date: November, 1969 |
| Function: The Suprathermal Ion Detector (SIDE) measured the energies and masses of positively charged ions near the surface of the Moon and also studied the interaction between the solar wind and the Moon as the Moon moved through the Earth’s magnetic field. |
| Image Source: NASA |
Description
The Suprathermal Ion Detector Experiment (SIDE), part of the ALSEP package, measured positive ions reaching the lunar surface, including magnetospheric ions and those generated from ultraviolet ionization of the lunar atmosphere and from the free-streaming solar wind/lunar surface interaction. Flux, number density, velocity, and energy/unit charge were determined for these ions.
The scientific objectives of the experiment were: to provide information on the energy and mass spectra of the positive ions close to the lunar surface; measure the flux and energy spectrum of positive ions in the Earth’s magnetotail and magnetosheath during those periods when the Moon passes through the magnetic tail of the Earth; provide data on the plasma interaction between the solar wind and the Moon; and determine a preliminary value for the electric potential of the lunar surface. Similar instruments, differing only in look direction and mass range, were also flown on Apollo 14 and 15.
The experiment was housed in a rectangular box which was deployed on the surface of the Moon by the astronauts during their first EVA. A bubble level on top of the box was used to ensure proper leveling. The box stands on a tripod and is connected to the ALSEP central station by a ribbon cable. A wire screen is spread out on the surface under the tripod to compensate for a possibly large (tens of volts) lunar surface electric potential. The screen is connected to one side of a stepped voltage supply, the other side of which is connected to the internal ground of the detector and to a grounded grid mounted immediately above the instrument and in front of the ion entrance apertures. The top of the instrument is roughly 50 cm above the surface.
The Cold Cathode Ion Gauge (CCIG, also called Cold Cathode Gauge Experiment—CCGE) was carried in a compartment of the SIDE instrument and was removed and set up on the lunar surface by the deploying astronaut. The gauge unit was connected by a wrapped wire cable to the SIDE package, because the CCIG and SIDE electronics comprise an integrated system. On deployment, the stiffness of the cold wrapped cable caused problems for proper location and orientation of the gauge head.
Read more:
https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/experiment/display.action?id=1969-099C-05
