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Was Apollo 12 a successful mission?
Apollo 12 was launched on November 14, 1969. Despite being struck by lightning twice during the first minute of flight, it went on to perform the second successful human landing on the Moon.
What was the purpose of the Apollo spacecraft?
Apollo 11 Mission Overview. The primary objective of Apollo 11 was to complete a national goal set by President John F. Kennedy on May 25, 1961: perform a crewed lunar landing and return to Earth.
What went wrong on Apollo 12?
Shortly after being launched on a rainy day at Kennedy Space Center, Apollo 12 was twice struck by lightning, causing instrumentation problems but little damage. Switching to the auxiliary power supply resolved the data relay problem, saving the mission. The outward journey to the Moon otherwise saw few problems.
What happened during Apollo 12 lift off?
50 Years Ago: NASA’s Apollo 12 Was Struck By Lightning Right After Launch … Fifty years ago today, NASA’s Apollo 12 mission launched for the moon — and got struck twice by lightning just seconds after the rocket lifted off at 11:22 a.m. EDT on Nov. 14, 1969.
Did Apollo 12 explode?
Following launch in a rainstorm on 14 November 1969, lightning struck its Saturn V 36.5 and 52 seconds after liftoff. The lightning strikes knocked the Apollo 12 CSM Yankee Clipper’s three electricity-generating fuel cells offline, along with its computer and most other electrical systems.
What was the purpose of the Apollo 12 mission?
The Apollo 12 mission demonstrated the capability for performing a precision lunar landing, which was a requirement for the success of future lunar surface explorations. The excellent performance of the spacecraft, the crew, and the supporting ground elements resulted in a wealth of scientific information.
When did Apollo 12 land on the Moon?
Apollo 12 (AS-507) Beyond Apollo 11. Apollo 12, the second manned mission to land on the Moon, was planned and executed as a precision landing. The astronauts landed the Lunar Module within walking distance of the Surveyor III spacecraft which had landed on the Moon in April of 1967.
Why was Apollo 12 launched during a rainstorm?
The planned launch window extended to 19:26:00 GMT to take advantage of a sun elevation angle on the lunar surface of 5.1°. Apollo 12 was the first Saturn vehicle launched during a rainstorm, following the decision to waive Manned Space Flight Center Launch Mission Rule 1-404, which stated:
What did Conrad and Bean carry on Apollo 12?
Conrad and Bean carried the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiment Package, a group of nuclear-powered scientific instruments, as well as the first color television camera taken by an Apollo mission to the lunar surface, but transmission was lost after Bean accidentally pointed the camera at the Sun and its sensor was destroyed.